High Performance Coatings

What is a High-Performance Coating?

Paints are not only intended to beautify our built environment, they also serve as a protective barrier. When you consider the high cost of building materials and the infrastructure arising from those materials, it is easy to see that coatings are an essential part of protecting those assets. Most high-quality architectural coatings do a fine job of protecting against UV light, wind and weather but — when exposed to harsh chemicals, corrosive environments, extreme UV and salt spray — they can fall short in their protective performance. When maximum protection against harmful environmental conditions, chemicals and corrosive environments is required, a high-performance coating is the recommended solution.

High-performance coatings can be single- or two-component products produced with acrylic, alkyd, alkyd-emulsion, polyurethane or epoxy resin systems. Each of these resin systems provide unique protective qualities for a specific kind of service environment. For instance, when color and gloss retention are of the highest importance, a two-component aliphatic-polyurethane may be the best solution. Of course, there is a higher cost associated with these types of coatings but the increased service life of the material far outweighs any increased installation cost. Two-component urethanes are only one example of high-performance coatings; epoxy-penetrating sealers and mastics are other highly specified coatings.

Epoxy-Penetrating Sealers
When dealing with marginally prepared surfaces, such as those encountered in a maintenance painting situation, a two-component, epoxy-penetrating sealer is an ideal solution. Marginally prepared surfaces typically consist of a mix of old, tightly adherent coating and bare substrate. These kinds of conditions require unique products that have the ability to “tie" everything down to create a consistent, evenly prepared and sealed substrate.

Penetrating sealers have the unique quality of being able to effectively “wet out" into all the edges, corners and cut-backs, making the complete substrate ready to accept the next coat of paint. These kinds of epoxy coatings are designed to be applied at very thin wet film thickness (WFT) and can have coverage ranges from 500 to 800 square feet per gallon, depending on the substrate. Dunn-Edwards® offers Rustbond® from Carboline® for industrial maintenance applications requiring these unique penetrating sealers.

Epoxy Mastics — Surface-Tolerant Coatings
Surface-tolerant epoxy coatings are high-performance products that can cover and adhere to a variety of marginally prepared or new concrete and steel surfaces. These products are excellent barrier coatings, helping protect substrates from harmful chemicals, chemical salts and moisture. An example of a high-performance, surface-tolerant coating is a two-component epoxy mastic.

Epoxy mastic coatings are easy to apply and provide excellent chemical and corrosion resistance and are extremely durable. They are often used on interior floor and wall applications where the surfaces may come into contact with caustic cleaners and other corrosive chemicals. Dunn-Edwards® carries a wide range of surface tolerant epoxies from Carboline®, Devoe® and Rust-Oleum® that will meet the needs of these kinds of service environments.

Polyurethane and Polysiloxane Coatings
When epoxy coatings are applied to exterior substrates, they must be top-coated in order to prevent the epoxy from fading and chalking. A typical high-performance coating that is applied over an epoxy is an aliphatic urethane or polysiloxane. These coatings provide excellent protection against UV degradation, allowing for long-term color and gloss retention. They are thin film coatings with excellent chemical and abrasion resistance and are commonly used in harsh environments — such as chemical plants, oil refineries and mining operations — as well as on commercial and architectural projects, theme parks, stadiums, healthcare facilities and transportation.

Whether the project is commercial, architectural, oil and gas, theme parks, stadiums or healthcare, Dunn-Edwards® can provide the right high-performance product solution to meet any need. For more information, please visit one of our Industrial Tint Centers or Tint access locations — or ask your local sales representative.