A coating is only as good as the steel underneath it. Mill scale, contamination and old failed coating left in place is the single most common reason a job comes back in two years.
We take steel back to a sound, bare substrate and give it a profile the primer can key into. That means removing corrosion, mill scale, oils, salts and every trace of the coating that failed — not just the parts that come off easily.
Where a preparation standard is nominated in a specification, we work to it and we record what was achieved. Where there is no specification, we will tell you what grade the job needs and why.
“No flaking, no early rust, no doing the job twice. Done once, done right.”
The standard we work to
| Blast cleaning | AS 1627.4 — Metal finishing, preparation and pretreatment of surfaces: abrasive blast cleaning of steel. |
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| Cleanliness grades | ISO 8501-1 — visual assessment of surface cleanliness. Sa 2, Sa 2½ and Sa 3 as specified. |
| Surface profile | Confirmed against the coating manufacturer's technical data sheet before any primer is applied. |
| Blast media | Silica free. Media containing more than 1% crystalline silica is prohibited for abrasive blasting under the Victorian OHS Regulations. |
| Recoat window | Prepared steel primed inside the window, so the profile we achieved is the profile the primer bonds to. |
Coating manufacturers set their warranty and their stated service life against an assumed preparation grade. Under-prepare the steel and the system you paid for is not the system you get. It is the least visible part of the job and the part that determines whether the finish is still holding in three years.
Blasting is dirty, noisy and generates containment obligations. Pretending otherwise wastes everyone's time, so here is the reality.
| Where we work | Mobile. Your site, yard or depot. A fixed workshop is planned but not yet in place, so weather and site conditions affect scheduling. |
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| Containment | Spent media and removed coating must be contained and disposed of correctly. Discuss the site early, because it affects both method and price. |
| Coated waste | Where the existing coating may contain lead or other hazardous material, it must be identified before work starts. We will raise it if we suspect it. |
| Access | We need power, space and safe access. Confined space and working at height work is assessed case by case. |
| Capacity | Owner operated. Single machines and component batches are our sweet spot. Large simultaneous volume is not. |
Photos of the current condition get you a far more accurate price than a description. The quote form has a place for the detail.