Cortec® Releases Quick Start Guide on Direct to Metal Coatings for Construction Applications

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Cortec® MCI® is pleased to release a new coatings guide designed specifically for the building maintenance and construction industries. This two-page handout gives a quick intro to Cortec® Micro-Corrosion Inhibiting Coatings™ Technology before getting down to basics on how and where to apply which coatings. The guide is here to help engineers, contractors, and maintenance crews easily protect structural steel and metal equipment around their facility or construction site.

Why Coat Metal?
Construction sites and facilities have countless metal structures or equipment components that need protection—from structural steel to steel plates, from metal platforms to stairs and banisters, from metal HVAC components to decorative architecture. Depending on the surrounding environment (e.g., outdoors vs. indoors), some will be at higher risk of corrosion and require heavy duty protection. Others may need a simple layer of paint to improve appearance and delay gradual oxidation. This quick guide helps simplify coatings selection so workers can get down to the business of protecting their assets with a good coating combo for each specific application.

How Should Metal Coatings Be Applied?
The new guide briefly outlines a critical part of coatings success—how to properly apply a system. For best results, this includes good surface prep (e.g., rust removal), optional rinsing, and the final application of a primer plus one or more topcoats. The actual number of coatings chosen can depend on the durability and aesthetics required on a case-by-case basis. One of the nice things about Cortec® Coatings is that many can be applied directly to metal, and some can function as metal primers, topcoats, or even intermediate coats for more flexibility. The brochure includes a full coating system application example to show how this might be done.

What Features Does Each Coating Have?
Another important part of the new construction coatings guide is the listing of specific features for each primer and topcoat. These characteristics can
mean the difference between which coating will be used inside versus outside, in a strong chemical processing environment versus a dry warehouse, and so on. Some workers will place the most importance on low VOC or water-based coatings. The one- or twopart nature of the system can also factor into the equation, as some users want to go quick and easy with 1K coatings, while others desire to benefit from the cross-linking advantages of a 2K coating.

Where Should Each Coating Be Used?
The best part of the coatings guide is that it brings all the coatings together with a comprehensive chart of recommended system combinations for different applications. This is a great reference when workers know what kind of equipment or structural steel they need to coat but feel at a loss navigating through all the different coatings characteristics to choose the right coating on their own. For those who want a simple answer to the question, “Which coating should I use right here?” this selection guide is a great place to turn immediately. It offers multiple primer/topcoat combinations that go well together and specific examples of where they can be used:

  • Clean structural steel
  • Rusted structural steel
  • Chemical exposure environment
  • Handrails, banisters, steel plates, and mechanical equipment
  • Pipes

The Brainwork Has Been Done – Now Enjoy!
Cortec® seeks to develop products and resources that will improve the ease and efficiency of everyday corrosion protection tasks. The new coatings
guide is a great example and will be a tremendous boost for construction and maintenance workers who need to make a quick decision on protecting metal components without having to become coatings experts themselves. Cortec
® has done the work to make coatings selection easy and positive. Take advantage of those efforts today by browsing “Cortec’s Coatings Guide for Construction Applications” here: https://www.cortecmci.com/mci-coatings-guide-for-construction-applications/

Keywords: Cortec Coatings, direct to metal coatings, corrosion inhibitor coatings, corrosion protection, how to apply a coating, metal primers, low VOC coatings, water-based coatings, construction industry coatings, building maintenance

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For a PDF version please click here.