Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • MATERIALS
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • CONTACT
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest News
  • Market Trends & Reports
  • Price Alerts
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
  • Weekly Featured Article
  • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
  • Product News
  • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
  • Additives
  • Resins/Polymers
  • Pigments
  • Equipment
  • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
  • Adhesives
  • Architectural Coatings
  • FINISHING
  • Industrial Coatings
  • Nanotechnology
  • Powder Coatings
  • Solventborne
  • Special Purpose Coatings
  • Sustainability
  • UV Coatings
  • Waterborne
  • FINISHING
  • Finishing News
  • Finishing Technologies
  • Finishing Equipment
  • Finishing Today
  • RESOURCES
  • Columns
  • Blogs
  • Coatings Supplier Handbook
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • PCI Store
  • Classifieds
  • eBooks
  • Sponsor Insights
  • White Papers
  • COATLE Word Game
  • Columns
  • Ask Joe Powder
  • Did you know?
  • Distribution Dive
  • Focus on Canada
  • Formulating With Mike
  • Innovation Insights
  • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
  • Powder Coating Perspectives
  • Target the Market
  • TiO2 Insider
  • Blogs
  • Editor's Viewpoint
  • Industry Insights
  • Podcasts and Videos
  • COAT-IT! Podcast
  • Videos/PCI TV
  • EVENTS
  • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
  • Paint and Coatings Academy
  • Webinars
  • Calendar of Events
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
  • Buyer's Guide
  • Equipment Directory
  • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
  • Current Issue
  • eMagazine Archive
  • China Issue Archive
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to eMagazine
  • Subscribe to eNewsletters
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • FINISHING
      • Finishing News
      • Finishing Technologies
      • Finishing Equipment
      • Finishing Today
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Ask Joe Powder
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!
Industrial CoatingsFinished Products

For Coating Contractors, Labor Saved is Money Earned

By Del Williams, Technical Writer, Torrance, California
Finished Products
December 1, 2011
With a few simple tips, coating contractors can save labor and make more money without sacrificing quality.



For coatings contractors, time is money, and the labor of applying a coating can be 60% to 80% of a job’s cost. While the quality of a coating’s protection is key to industrial or commercial jobs, cutting the labor in applying the coating is critical to making any job more profitable − but this has been difficult with traditional coatings. Fortunately, a new type of ceramic coating has promise in reducing labor by increasing the speed of application and flexibility of application times.

The essential problem with traditional coatings is that they usually require a prime coat and two topcoats with about eight hours drying time between each. Since this typically requires multiple days of application, the contractor’s crew not only must travel to the job site each day, but also clean and prepare the site to be sprayed, set up spraying equipment, apply the coating, then break down equipment at the day’s end. Traditionally, this labor-intensive process must be repeated for each coating − even though the contractor is only paid for the end result.

Not only must contractors fit the work into busy industrial or commercial production schedules, but also additional − and unprofitable − delays can occur when the contractor’s crew has already traveled to the job site and set up, when environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, or moisture are outside the manufacturer’s specifications for application.

With a few simple tips, however, coatings contractors can dramatically save their labor and make more money without sacrificing the protective quality or longevity of the coating.

Reduce Prep and Application Time

To prepare metal surfaces, many traditional coatings require sandblasting for the initial prime coat, followed by power washing with a detergent in contaminant-heavy industrial environments to clean and prepare the surface for each additional topcoat.



Typical polymer coatings sit on top of the substrate and require a primer. However, it is more labor efficient to choose from a new category of ceramic coating such as EonCoat, which bonds through a chemical reaction with the substrate and provides a complete protective coating in a single coat rather than requiring multiple coats.

Unlike most coatings, this type of protective ceramic coating does not require labor-intensive surface prep. If the substrate is steel, a brush blast can knock off the loose rust so there’s no need to sandblast until there is a bright metal surface for the coating to adhere. Since slight oxidation on the surface allows for the best chemical reaction, this makes it virtually impossible for corrosion promoters like oxygen and humidity to get behind the coating the way they can with ordinary paints. This eliminates the need for a prime coat on most substrates, as well as the need for multiple topcoats on all substrates.

“Doing a brush blast with the EonCoat ceramic coating instead of typical sandblasting to prepare the surface can save time, labor, diesel fuel and sand,” says Joey Taylor, President of IPI Inc., an Elkview W.Va.-based industrial paint contractor that works in several states. “Eliminating the need for a prime coat and multiple topcoats can offer even greater time and labor savings.”

For contractors looking to get the job done faster without compromising on quality, new choices like the ceramic coating are a welcome alternative to traditional coatings such as epoxies or urethanes, which require multiple coats. Because the ceramic coating’s surface is dry to the touch within three minutes of exiting the spray nozzle, high-build coatings to a thickness of 1/4” are possible without run or sag in a single coat. This can often return essential industrial equipment to service in an hour.

“We’d previously switched from epoxies to polyurea for the faster drying times, but the ceramic coating’s ability to do even high builds in a single coat make it exceptional, says Taylor. “A complex job that previously took our four-man crew about 9 to 10 hours spraying with polyurea took about 3 hours spraying with EonCoat. In one day, we saved hundreds of dollars in labor alone.”

Reduce Downtime and Work When Others Can't

One of the most frustrating situations for a coating contractor is to have traveled to a job site, prepped the equipment and cleaned the substrate, only to be stopped dead due to weather or environmental conditions. With traditional coatings, this is too often the case.

“Most coatings manufacturers require a 5 °F spread in the dew point, as stated in their product data sheets, to prevent microscopic moisture build up on the substrate, which can cause premature failure,” says Taylor. “Because of this, your work crew can be at the job site ready to coat, when environmental conditions force them to stop. This alone can cost you thousands of dollars per week.”

The protective ceramic coating can be applied on hot or cold surfaces from 35 ºF to 200 ºF in all moisture conditions except for direct rain, which, unlike paint, makes it suitable for all weather application.

“Not worrying about environmental conditions like dew point, weather or temperature is reason enough to look into a ceramic coating like EonCoat,” says Taylor. “To keep your crew productively working when others can’t is a valuable competitive edge.”

Other contractors also see the environmental versatility of ceramic coatings as an advantage. Ceramic coatings such as EonCoat consist of two non-hazardous ingredients that do not interact until applied by a plural-component spray gun like those commonly used to apply polyurethane foam or polyurea coatings. Since the components are not mixed and do not meet prior to application, the need for hazardous, VOC-generating ingredients is completely eliminated, as is odor, which means that the work can get done in occupied areas.

“With the protective ceramic coating, contractors can high build exterior or interior surfaces immediately − even pipes, substrates or machinery at near-freezing to near-boiling temperatures, which can expedite tight customer schedules,” says Andy Robbins, CEO of A & K Painting, a Charlotte, N.C.-based industrial and commercial paint contractor that does work in five states. “That means many coatings jobs in occupied areas could get done in a single day or weekend, instead of taking several weekends waiting for multiple coats of primer or paint to dry.”

For more information, call 252/360.3110; fax 252/360.3109; e-mail TonyC@EonCoat.com, or visit www.eoncoat.com.
KEYWORDS: Ceramic Coating coatings Pretreatment

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California. He writes about health, business, technology and educational issues.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • pci1022-Kinaltek-Lead-1170.jpg

    A Novel Pigment Production Technology

    Following an extensive R&D program that demonstrated...
    Paint and Coating Pigments
    By: Jawad Haidar and Nitin Soni
  • pci global top 10

    2025 Global Top 10: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    The following is PCI’s annual ranking of the top 10...
    Global Top 10 and PCI 25
    By: Courtney Bassett
  • 2025 pci 25

    2025 PCI 25: Top Paint and Coatings Companies

    PCI's annual ranking of the top 25 North American paint...
    Global Top 10 and PCI 25
    By: Courtney Bassett
You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

The Coatings Minute: Your Guide to the 2025 Coatings Supplier Handbook

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Your Inside Look at PCInnovations

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

The Coatings Minute: Print Returns with PCI’s New Showcase Issue

CTT Registration Now Open

CTT Registration Now Open

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the PCI audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of PCI or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Modern arapartment complex painted in bright colors.
    Sponsored byEPS - Engineered Polymer Solutions

    Architectural Polymers Leading the Way in Coatings Innovation

  • paint sprayer in a workshop
    Sponsored byallnex

    Enabling Performance and Compliance: allnex Introduces a New Line of VOC Exempt Solvent-Borne Resins

Popular Stories

No. 7 BASF Coatings

BASF Comments on Potential Sale of Coatings Business

No. 3 AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel’s $1.4B Divestment Signals Strategy Shift

PCI voices from the top

eBook | PCI Voices from the Top



PCI Buyers Guide

Submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) to suppliers of your choice with details on what you need with a click of a button

Start your RFP

Browse our Buyers Guide for manufacturers and distributors of all types of coatings products and much more!

Find Suppliers

Events

September 3, 2025

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit

The Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT) Summit is an annual conference for both liquid and powder coatings formulators and manufacturers to discuss innovations in coatings technology. This event combines high-quality technical presentations, a resource-rich exhibit hall, and dedicated networking opportunities to connect scientific minds, foster innovation, and cultivate game-changing new ideas!

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Longest-running laboratory experiment

What is the longest-running laboratory experiment?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

CTT Summit Short Courses (Live 9/3/25)

Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit is expanding its offerings with four short courses. These short courses will offer an extensive day of interactive learning.

See More Products
pci voices from the top ebook

PCI CASE EBOOK

Related Articles

  • 100% VOC-Free Ceramic Coating - A Game-Changer for Paint Contractors?

    See More
  • How Many Mils is Your Coating?

    How Many Mils is Your Coating?

    See More
  • Kett mixer

    Choosing the Right Lab Mixer for Your Coating

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • intelligent.jpg

    Intelligent Coatings for Corrosion Control 1st Edition

  • Kevin-Biller-PC-BOOK.jpg

    Powder Coatings - Foundation for the Novice Formulator (ebook)

  • coatings.jpg

    Advanced Coating Materials

See More Products
×

Keep the info flowing with our eNewsletters!

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletters
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey & Sample
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Painting & Coating Industry (PCI) logo Powder coating summit logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Market Trends & Reports
    • Price Alerts
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
    • Global Top 10/ PCI 25
    • Weekly Featured Article
    • COATLE Word Game
  • PRODUCTS
    • Product News
    • Must See Products and Services
  • MATERIALS
    • Additives
    • Resins/Polymers
    • Pigments
    • Equipment
    • Distributors
  • TECHNOLOGIES
    • Adhesives
    • Architectural Coatings
    • FINISHING
      • Finishing News
      • Finishing Technologies
      • Finishing Equipment
      • Finishing Today
    • Industrial Coatings
    • Nanotechnology
    • Powder Coatings
    • Solventborne
    • Special Purpose Coatings
    • Sustainability
    • UV Coatings
    • Waterborne
  • RESOURCES
    • Columns
      • Ask Joe Powder
      • Did you know?
      • Distribution Dive
      • Focus on Canada
      • Formulating With Mike
      • Innovation Insights
      • Moody's Coatings Conundrums
      • Powder Coating Perspectives
      • Target the Market
      • TiO2 Insider
    • Blogs
      • Editor's Viewpoint
      • Industry Insights
    • Coatings Supplier Handbook
    • Podcasts and Videos
      • COAT-IT! Podcast
      • Videos/PCI TV
    • PCI Store
    • Classifieds
    • eBooks
    • Sponsor Insights
    • White Papers
    • COATLE Word Game
  • EVENTS
    • Coatings Trends & Technologies Summit
    • Paint and Coatings Academy
    • Webinars
    • Calendar of Events
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Buyer's Guide
    • Equipment Directory
    • Materials Directory
  • EMAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • eMagazine Archive
    • China Issue Archive
    • Editorial Advisory Board
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe to eMagazine
    • Subscribe to eNewsletters
  • SIGN UP!