Our work can be divided into 3 fundamental stages:

  1. Surface preparation
  2. Painting
  3. Inspection of paint coatings

1. Surface preparation

Proper surface preparation is a fundamental condition for the fireproof coating to successfully perform its function.

This is why the removal of impurities such as:

  • grease,
  • old paint coatings,
  • rust

as well as zinc salt from a galvanized surface is so crucial.

We are aware that the protection provided by all coatings directly depends on the correct and meticulous preparation of the surface before their application.

The basic processes used in cleaning steel are:

  • degreasing
  • cleaning with abrasion hand tools (sandpaper, brushes, hammers, etc.) or power tools (grinders, mechanical brushes)
  • blasting (sandblasting machines and shot-blasting machines).

Degreasing

Greasy surfaces are degreased with appropriate solvents and alcohols meant to remove and evaporate grease and dirt from the contaminated surface. The products most commonly used by us are solvents based on xylene, acetone, polypropylene and polyvinyl.

Cleaning with hand tools

Rust and old paint coatings are removed with sandpaper, brushes, strippers and hammers.

Mechanical cleaning

We have machines of all types that are capable of stripping a coating to a certain degree (e.g. Grade 3 B, C, D of the ISO 8501-1:1988 standard). Methods of cleaning with mechanical hand tools methods are described in the SSPC-SP3 and SSPC-SP11 standards.

We use various types of grinders, angle grinders, rotary brushes and drills of the renowned Makita company.

Blasting

Required grade of cleanliness for a particular coating system depends on many factors.

The most important is the type of the specified coating.

The grade of surface preparation indicated in data sheets in this guide refers to the ISO 8501-1:1988(E) standard. It was created on the basis of a slightly more extended SIS 05 59 00 (1967) Swedish standard which was devised by the Swedish Corrosion Institute in collaboration with American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) and Steel Structures Painting Council (SSPC), USA; it is generally used worldwide.

We do not pretend to specialize in this method.

We honestly declare that in this case we use the services of companies with more experience in this area and appropriate equipment.

 

2. Painting

To apply paint coatings and fireproof varnish we use the equipment of the highest quality.

We own 3 "Graco MarkV" painting units and 1 "LP 400/PM21" unit.                                                                                           

                                                                            

Using any of them makes it possible to paint surfaces four times quicker and the capability of one unit reaches 1200 m2 in a day!

 

3. Inspection of painted coatings

Inspection of the thickness of specific coatings is definitely the most important action that must be performed during the whole painting process.

The thickness of each paint layer (priming paint, intumescent paint and topcoat paint) must be measured during the painting itself (wet measurement), as well as after it is dry (dry measurement).

The so-called combs are used for the wet measurement.

We use Elektro-physik combs made from stainless steel of the highest quality.

                                                                                      

For the dry measurement we use the Elektro-physik Minitest 730 electronic meter. The MiniTest 730 coating thickness gauges are the most modern and very innovative devices based on the SIDSP® (Sensor – Integrated Digital Signal Processing) technology. Their high accuracy and repeatability are an indisputable advantage.

SIDSP® probes have high measurement signal stability, moreover, they can take a large amount of measurements in a short amount of time (70 readings a minute). Another advantage of SIDSP® probes is their resistance to temperature changes and the influence of foreign electromagnetic fields.