Triad Coatings and Sandblasting of Morristown, New Jersey is always looking for new products that can increase their efficiency and help them do better work for their customers. They recently had a chance to work with Emerald® Urethane Trim Enamel for the first time.

The project

The job was a repaint at a large pharmaceutical company building where the exterior aluminum insulated panels had begun to fade. The project presented several challenges.

“We needed a good system – fast dry, good color retention, and a single-component acrylic coating,” says Jeffrey Rossi of Triad Coatings and Sandblasting.

“All the work took place over weekends and off hours. We also had to make the panels match another area with pre-finished panels.”

The prep

To prepare the surface, Triad crews applied a heavy duty, water-based alkaline detergent via pump sprayer followed with a 4,500-psi cold water wash with a rotary tip to help remove old chalking residue.

Next, Sherwin-Williams^® Extreme Bond Primer was tinted and applied to help insure good bond. Several pull tests were conducted during this process, Rossi says.

The paint

For the topcoat, Triad used Emerald^® Urethane Trim Enamel, tinted to a color from the Sherwin-Williams 4000 series industrial color charts.

“Based on conversations with our sales rep Nick Brown, we thought this would be a great system,” Rossi says. “It is a new water-based urethane for exterior, which meant great color and sheen retention.”

Availability in a satin finish was a plus.

“We used the satin finish which helped to hide some minor surface defects in the aluminum,” he says.

Due to the close proximity of other buildings and vehicle traffic, spraying was out and crews had to apply the primer and paint via brush and roller.

“The material managed to level out and lay smooth which was a nice feature when rolling such large panels,” Rossi says.

After their first experience with the new exterior-interior product, he says he would use Emerald^® Urethane Trim Enamel again and recommends it to other contractors.

“The coverage was great,” he says.

Behind the brush

Learn more about the guys behind Triad Coatings in our Q&A in the PPC What I’ve Learned interview series.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2018 issue of PPC magazine. Story by Mike Starling, PPC Editor. Photography courtesy Triad Coatings. Read about other successful painting projects in the PPC digital archive.