Want to speed up project delivery times while reducing costs? Dulux® Protective Coatings offsite intumescent coatings can be of assistance.
When painters apply intumescent coatings on a construction site, they’re often exposed to unique safety risks, as well as changing weather conditions that can disrupt workflow and lead to delays. With many workers needed on site, the costs for onsite application can also add up quickly.
It’s critical these challenges are successfully managed as properly applied intumescent coatings work to protect the stability and structural integrity of steel in the event of a fire.
One solution to addressing these common challenges comes in the form of Dulux Protective Coatings’ offsite-applied intumescent coatings.
“Intumescent coatings are a necessary foundation to ensure buildings are safe, and they’re also needed for compliance,” says Roger Tobler, Business Development Manager at Dulux Protective Coatings.
“We’re already seeing huge benefits from using the offsite product, including longevity of the product, improved safety and cost savings.”
High durability
One of the main advantages of Dulux’s intumescent coatings is its durability. This is already evident early in the process when the painted steel is transported from the workshop to the site.
“Without a doubt, one thing that always comes up in my conversations with engineers, project managers and painters is how our specialty offsite applied coating always remains intact during transportation,” says Tobler.
“They’re able to send the steel to the site without the coating getting damaged. It’s really durable – you can’t just use a scraper or a knife to take off the coating. Even sandblasting, which is typically used to remove thin coatings, doesn’t work.”
The product’s durability can contribute to significant long-term gains as well.
“Companies save on ongoing costs as maintenance is minimal. The topcoat may need to be refreshed in years’ time, especially if a durable polyurethane top is used.
“Intumescent coatings are often used in spaces where architects want the structural steel to be visible, such as a foyer or the exoskeleton of a building. These also tend to be the places where it’s hard to do maintenance because they have a huge amount of foot traffic,” says Tobler.
“It’s all well and good to put in a warranty specifying that maintenance will occur every 12 months but it’s often not very practical.”
Giving careful consideration to the durability of a product is critical, but something that’s often overlooked.
“People often want to quickly lock in the most cost-effective product, so they won’t spend time finding the right applicator or doing research to find a more durable product. If they did their research in the beginning, they’d find there are very effective long-lasting solutions.”
Safety first
Applying an intumescent coating in a workshop poses far fewer safety risks than painting on the site.
With the steel placed at waist height, painters aren’t required to climb a step ladder wearing a safety harness to complete a job.
“You also don’t have solvents or wet paint that you usually get on site,” says Tobler.
“Our product is called Dulux® FirePro® and it’s 100 per cent volume solids. That means when it’s painted on steel, everything that you’ve applied remains on the steel. Nothing evaporates. So, we’re reducing the amount of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that painters and others around them are exposed to.”
This also has an environmental benefit as fewer harmful chemicals are released into the atmosphere.
Driving costs down
When workers perform tasks on a construction site, they’re typically only able to attend to one paint job.
However, in an offsite environment, a painter can often work on multiple projects simultaneously.
“If they’re waiting for paint to dry on an item before putting on the next coat, they can leave it drying in the yard and attend to another item in the meantime,” says Tobler.
Without needing to move from one construction site to another, labourers can paint in one place much more easily.
“That’s the efficiency it brings. People can work in a controlled environment with all the equipment already set up. When working on site, it takes about two to three days for people to find their feet, and there might also be an induction on site which is another day of work.
“Your labour costs go down to a fraction of what you would be paying on site,” says Tobler.
Find out more about Dulux Protective Coatings today.