Upload
andrew-patterson
View
213
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/2/2019 Paint Inspection Ltd Newsletter Spring 2012
1/3
WelcomeWelcome to the rst newsletter from Paint Inspection Ltd. We ,as a company, are well into our se-
cond year and we have to thank all of our clients for the support we have been given since we started
on this exciting venture, without certain people taking a risk by trusting us on surveying their assets
to helping support any works programmes, we would not have had the opportunity to show what a
professional and forward thinking company that we are and promote ourselves to be. We now have a
fantastic client base that expands everyday as people recommend us to colleagues and peers within
the industry and for that we are grateful.
So why do a newsletter? Well its a funny old thing this industrial coatings business. Often during the
design, and build phase protective coatings are an afterthought! In reality it only gets attention when
it either goes wrong or there is requirement for maintenance, then further questions arise like com-
patibility? What is the right system? What service life can I expect? What should I be looking for from
my contractors? The questions are endless and the cost in time and money when things go wrong can
be disastrous.
In the newsletter we plan to cover topics that are relevant within the industry for the period we are
working in, for instance in this edition Ian will be covering the importance of ambient condition con-
trol during application and what eect this can have on the surface life of coatings. I will writing
about an unusual creature I recently discovered on an inland bridge. Melissa will cover how, as an
independent ICATS training company, we have been able to help support local authorities getting
people back to work as well as providing contractors with a good source of trained operatives. We
also want you to have your say and recently we sent out an e-mail asking if you had coatings related
questions the response was fantastic and unfortunately we will not be able to put every question in
the newsletter but we do promise to answer every question even if it is a personal response.
Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support in 2011 and look forward to working with
all of you in 2012 to help improve quality to reduce costs.
Andrew Patterson Director
WWW.PAINT-INSPECTION.CO.UK
This IssueWelcome P.1
Our Services P.1Ambient Condions P.2
Microscopic Creatures P.2ICATS Training P.3
Q & A P.3Our Services &
QualicaonsServices
Coangs Condion Surveys Painng Works InspeconSpecicaon WringProject ConsultancyPaint Sampling & AnalysisFailure AnalysisProject Management & Support
QualicaonsAll of our inspectors are ICorr / NACE quali-
ed and have many years experience our
range of cercates include:Icorr/NACE level 2 or 3 InspectorsConned Space TicketsLUL Entry PermitsPTS CardsNEBOSHAchilles LINK UP ApprovedInstute of corrosion sustaining member
Paint Inspecon LtdMonthly Newsleer Edion 1Spring 2012
8/2/2019 Paint Inspection Ltd Newsletter Spring 2012
2/3
Technical Advice
During a recent survey of a highways
bridge one of our inspectors (whilst
using a specialist piece of visual equip-
ment) noticed a large number of micro-
scopic creatures moving along the fail-
ure line of the protective coating sys-
tem. What potential eect may they
have on any protective coating system?Eventually the natural history museum
identied these creatures as Pscoids,
during discussions they were surprised
to hear that these insects had made
their home on an inland bridge, and
this is far removed from their usual
habitat. It appears that the particular
ones observed had managed to nd a
fungi of their particular liking upon the
exposed steel work of the structure,
through some form of rapid evolution
it was possible that they were alsomanaging to survive by extruding
moisture from the surface by burrow-
ing under the protective coating sys-
tem. The history museum believed it
was possible that with enough of them,
they could severely damage the paint
by lifting it away from the surface as
they migrated along the substrate.
Even more unusual is that most
Pscoids are winged making their move-
ments easy when food sources have
been depleted. The Pscoids observedon the bridge were wingless and this
may go some way in helping under-
stand how they have evolved to survive
in such an environment. The picture
below shows an image taken of a
Pscoid on top of a zinc salt grain.
Ambient Conditions
To paint or not to paint this is
the question!!!Its that time of the year when we are getting
towards warmer day time temperatures which
are more suited for external painting contracts,
but beware as we are not entirely out of the
woods with temperatures dropping at sunset
and the dew point hovering around the steel
temperature.
With the current nancial climate and budgets
being slashed, it is critical for painting projects
to meet the specication and be quality con-
trolled so that the coating system can reach its
life expectancy in terms of minor and major
maintenance. During the ICATS training pro-
gramme we drive the importance of good sur-
face preparation and other key factors which
aect the long term performance of the system,
such as mixing the paint correctly, applying the
paint when the ambient conditions are in speci-
cation and application overall from coatingthickness etc.
Specications mainly work to the 85 to 90%
Relative Humidity rule, air temperature above
5c and the steel temperature 3c above the dew
point. This is ne when applying the coating
system but as previously mentioned this time of
year the evening temperatures drop away and in
most cases the coating system is still in the
curing process. A number of factors can take
place when the coating hasnt cured out and the
conditions become less than ideal; one being is
that the solvent will not evaporate to complete
the curing process, the curing Amines will
bloom as the humidity rises and so on. Overall
this is not an ideal scenario and the inevitable
will eventually happen, with either a coatingfailure or a delay in the programme as the
works are revisited.
So where are the solutions? Well a number of
mechanisms can be put into place to prevent a
potential coating failure. One being that the
works are delayed until the summer, but this
presents its own unique problems as the season-
al programme window will be relatively small
and even then night time temperatures and
Relative humiditys are not guaranteed.
Large painting contracts normally have tempo-rary works in the form of xed scaolding
which is sheeted in, so heaters and dehumidi-
ers are employed to avoid any potentially prob-
lems.
On smaller maintenance projects the works are
normally open and controlled heating is not a
solution, so other options need to be looked at
and using a winter curing agent could provide a
solution as it speeds up the curing process and
also looking at coating systems which have a
greater tolerance and proven track record in
low temperature curing.
Overall the importance of the painting pro-
gramme and using the correct coating system
are one of the key factors to long term perfor-
mance, so specications should be written with
these key indicators in mind, along with tech-
nical assistance from the coating manufactur-
ers.
Next newsletter: Amine bloom, what does it
mean and how is the system aected.
Images:
Left: Appearance of amine blush/bloom
Top: Elcometer 319 with steel temperature
probe.
Surface CleanlinessMicroscopic Creatures
Make An Inland Highways
Bridge Their Home.
8/2/2019 Paint Inspection Ltd Newsletter Spring 2012
3/3
ICATS Training News
Equipment News
Paint Inspection Ltd have been trialling the new Defelsko Positector. This gauge is unique
as it only requires 1 body that can adapt to dierent inspection regimes with snap onadaptors. This negates the need to carry multiple units onto site. For more information go
to www.dftinstruments.co.uk
Here at Paint Inspection Ltd,weare delighted with our new oces and ICATS workshop at Trafalgar Wharf, Portchester. It has certainly been a very
usy time for us since we moved here.
We introduced our Industrial Coatings Applicator Training Scheme early last year, serving Indi-
iduals and Companies requiring ICATS Certication. Ian, Andrew and I set up and ran courses
very four to ve weeks, tting them around our Survey and Inspection schedule, and sharing a
workshop with a neighbouring paint spraying company. How things have changed!
After some very successful results working with Companies, Local Authorities, Charities and Gov-
rnment bodies we now run ICATS courses fortnightly and have created a new workshop for our
rainees. Our clients are from diverse backgrounds ranging from new recruits to the Coatings In-
ustry, to seasoned painters with more than 30 years of experience. In conjunction with the local
ouncil we have also completed our 4th full course with another 6 courses booked with the proba-
ion service to assist ex oenders in gaining a new start. These candidates will have also completed
mployability checks and usually CSCS Certication to further elevate their chances of gaining long
erm employment. Currently Paint Inspection Ltd success rate is over 50% of training to employ-
ment and feedback from contractors who have taken trainees from the course has been excellent.
We also send our trainers to companies to administer ICATS and for specialist modules, Paint
praying and Abrasive Blast Cleaning, keeping our trainers and our company very busy.
Melissa Borthwick, Company Secretary
or information on how we can help train operatives, or the availability of ICATS certied personnel then please feel free to contact myself at Tel 023
3233147 or e-mail melissa@paint
-inspection.co.uk
Paint Inspection Ltd understands the true meaning of Corporate Social Responsibil-
ity. They put 150% into ensuring customers and trainees are happy. I have seldomworked with a company that puts so much eort and time back into the local commu-
nity where they are based. It has always been worth picking up the phone to see ifthey can assist with diverse community-based projects. If they cannot help they often
know someone who can help and will make an introduction.
Linda Taylor - Portsmouth City Council
Q & A
I Have A White Powdery Deposits All Over My
Structure What Is It?It sounds like you potentially have chalking. To simply
check wipe your hand across the surface using a little
pressure. You can use a coloured rag instead of your hand.
Choose a dark rag for light paint colours and a light rag for
dark paint colours. If some of the pigment comes o, usu-
ally a light colour when compared to your existing paint
colour, then your existing paint is chalking,
The primary cause is exposure to sunlight!Ultra violet light breaks down the binders in the paintand releases the pigments. Another cause is a reactionbetween the binders and oxygen, this is paint oxidation.Both of these processes occur simultaneously and have aneect on all types of nishes.
While all of this chemistry ishappening, the paint sheenwill become progressively
duller and the paint lm thin-ner. The paint lm thins fromthe eects of rain as it washesaway the chalking paint resi-due.