One of the most important aspects of any painting job, whether it be the painting of wood trim on a house or a steel I-beam of a bridge, is proper surface preparation. Even the best quality paint will fail over an improperly prepared surface.

This section touches upon some of the issues which are involved in the proper preparation of surfaces for painting in industrial applications. Follow the links below for important information on this topic.

Why it’s Important to Prepare the Substrate

Surface Preparation for Specific Substrates

Specifications and Standards for Surface Preparation

Any surface that is painted should have a clean interface between the surface and the applied coating. This is very important in order to realize the full performance potential of the coating system. Contaminants (e.g., dirt, oil, mildew, salts, etc) at the interface can interfere with both the adhesion and barrier properties of the coating, and lower the overall performance.

In industrial painting, the types of surfaces painted range from steel and concrete, to diverse substrates such as plastic, galvanized steel, aluminum, wood, cinder block walls, and even road surfaces. Of course, when coating previously painted surfaces, one must also consider the variety of weathered paints which could be encountered, such as epoxies, urethanes, acrylics, alkyds, and others.