Is Powder Coating the Best Option for Your Project?

Painting is a reliable stand-by for most cabin, home, and office upgrades. By providing new color, a smart finish, and protection from wear, tear, the elements, and more, paint is a cheap and tasteful way to beautify and protect everything, from gates to statuary to tools to outdoor furniture. For all its benefits, paint is temporary, especially when maintaining remote, woodsy properties. Quite often, it provides the barest protection and lasts a few years at most. As an alternative, consider powder coating! Is powder coating the best option for your project? Here’s a little more information to help you make a decision.

Powder Coating?

Powder coating is just what it sounds like. A dry powder covers a surface, often metal, though powder coating can protect other substances. Then, it cures under high heat to create a protective coating. Powder coating powder consists of several materials: polyester, epoxy, and polyurethane, among others. The finished product has several benefits:

Durability

This is a major selling point for powder coating. Unlike paint, powder coating doesn’t chip, flake, or scratch. Plus, it won’t break or otherwise sustain damage, even under high stress or constant use. The elements have little effect on powder coating, as well. Even under constant sunlight, precipitation, and temperature extremes, it stays intact, unfaded, rust-free, and looking good. 

When you apply a powder coating, it stays there, sometimes for 20 years or more! Tools and other equipment that must sit outdoors gain protection from rust, corrosion, sap, droppings, and more. With a single application, powder coating lasts a long time.

Eco-Friendly

Being made of polyester and similar materials may not sound very environmentally friendly, but because of its chemical makeup and longevity, powder coating is safer than paint in some ways. There are no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to harm humans or nature. There’s also less waste since unused and uncured powder can go toward other projects. Plus, the one-time application means fewer gallons of paint used over the years.

Artistic Variety

Powder coating must lack paint’s variety, right? Wrong! Powder coating comes in numerous colors and can be customized to provide a specific hue or tone. A panoply of finishes are available, like glossy, matte, metallic, and textured. Outdoor furniture, art, and more won’t look tacky and plasticky. Powder coating can be modified in multiple ways to help smart-looking pieces retain their style while benefitting from powder coating’s protection.

Save $$$

At the outset, powder coating can cost a bit more than paint. But when you calculate long-term versus short-term savings, you save more over the course of time. As a less labor-intensive process, you won’t need to vet and hire a painting contractor for powder coating. The cost of materials can be less than what you’d pay for paint. And with its rugged durability, you won’t need to paint, repaint, or even replace the surfaces for many years.So, is powder coating the best option for your project? Discuss it with a powder coating professional. You may be pleasantly surprised at what an ideal alternative it is for your project!