Painting Structural Steel

Question:

Can I ask which is the best paint to use for painting heavy-gauge steel frame work in the construction industry? Could you give me the name of a paint supplier for this paint? N. E.

Answer:

The “best” paint for any product is the one that provides the required performance characteristics and meets the performance requirements at the lowest applied cost per square foot. The choice will also depend on whether you want a shop primer to apply in a plant, or you are painting structural steel at a job site. Since the policy of Painting Clinic is not to identify brand names, I won’t.

However. I will tell you where to get that kind of information–SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings. Although they also do not mention brand names, they can tell you the best types of paint for your application. Furthermore, they will tell you how to prepare the surfaces and how to apply the recommended paints. Their address is:

The Society for Protective Coatings
40 24th Street, 6th Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Fax: 412-281-9992
E-mail: sowers@sspc.org
www.sspc.org