What’s The Difference Between Powder Coated and Coil Coated (Pre-Painted) Aluminum?

Different projects, architectural designs, and buildings have different material requirements. The material you choose can also significantly impact the longevity, aesthetics, and overall performance of your structure. Two options that often stand out and provide extra protection are powder coated aluminum and coil-coated aluminum, but what’s the difference? Both offer excellent protection and aesthetic appeal, so understanding their differences is crucial for making informed decisions in various applications.

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Powder Coated Aluminum

Powder coating is a popular finishing technique known for its durability, versatility, and environmental friendliness. It involves the application of a dry powder to a substrate, which is then heated to form a smooth, uniform, and durable finish. Aluminum, being inherently resistant to corrosion and lightweight, serves as an ideal substrate for powder coating. This product also comes pre-painted or finished, after the powder coat has been applied. This eliminates the need for a painting team to finish the job. Powder coated aluminum is:

• Durable: Powder coated aluminum exhibits exceptional resistance to corrosion, fading, chipping, and scratching, making it suitable for outdoor applications exposed to harsh weather conditions.
• Aesthetically Versatile: Products that are powder coated can then be finished with a wide range of color options and textures, including glossy, matte, textured, and metallic effects.
• Sustainable: Unlike liquid coatings, powder coating generates minimal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous waste, making it a more eco-friendly choice.
• Easy to Maintain: Powder coated aluminum surfaces are easy to clean and maintain, requiring only mild detergent and water to remove dirt and debris.

Powder coated aluminum is used in many different applications, even beyond the architectural realm:

• Architectural Cladding: Powder coated aluminum panels and planks are commonly used in building facades, curtain walls, and exterior cladding systems due to their durability and aesthetic appeal.
• Automotive Components: From rims and wheels to trim and grilles, powder coated aluminum finds applications in various automotive parts, offering both style and protection.
• Outdoor Furniture: Patio furniture, garden fixtures, and decorative elements often feature powder coated aluminum for its resistance to rust and fading.

Coiled Coated Aluminum

Coil-coated aluminum, also known as pre-painted steel, involves the application of organic coatings to steel coils before they are formed into finished products. This process enhances the steel’s corrosion resistance and aesthetic appeal, making it a preferred choice in many industries. Liquid coatings are most commonly used in this process, alkyd resins, solution vinyl resins, and, to a certain extent, epoxy resins are used. Coil coating, is an efficient method for uniformly applying high-quality coatings onto metal surfaces and provides:

• Strength and Rigidity: Steel inherently possesses high tensile strength and rigidity, providing structural integrity and durability.
• Uniform Coating Thickness: Coiled coating processes ensure consistent and uniform application of coatings.
• Weather Resistance: Coated steel offers excellent resistance to UV radiation, moisture, and extreme temperatures, making it suitable for outdoor applications in diverse climates.

Coil-coated aluminum has a wide range of uses across multiple industries:

• Building Roofing and Siding: Coated steel roofing panels and siding sheets are widely used in residential, commercial, and industrial construction for their durability and weather resistance.
• Appliances: Household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and ovens often feature coiled coated steel exteriors for their sleek appearance and resistance to stains and scratches.
• Automotive Industry: Coated steel is extensively used in the automotive sector for body panels, chassis components, and underbody protection due to its strength and formability.
• Industrial Equipment: Machinery, storage tanks, and industrial enclosures benefit from the protective coatings of coiled coated steel, ensuring longevity and performance in harsh operating environments.

Choosing the Right Product for Your Needs

Coil stock finds its utility in crafting items such as gutters and flashings, typically on-site. Skilled tradesmen can tailor-make various components from it, the paint used remains flexible even when the material is bent or shaped. On the contrary, powder coating tends to crack under such manipulation. Powder coating, although offering superior quality, comes at a higher cost, and aligns with the premium quality of aluminum extrusion. In contrast, the more economical thin gauge coil is a better match for wet paint, which is generally cheaper.

While both powder coated aluminum and coil coated aluminum offer exceptional durability and corrosion resistance, their suitability in specific applications varies. Factors such as budget, design requirements, and environmental conditions can play a part in the decision-making process. Understanding the unique properties and advantages of each material is essential for making informed decisions and achieving optimal results in construction, manufacturing, and design projects. Whether you opt for the versatility of powder coated aluminum or the robustness of the coil coat process both materials can deliver superior performance.

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Written by:

Angela Mortimer

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Designing the exterior façade panels for a building project is often considered the fun part but getting your building from the blueprint stage through to the ribbon-cutting ceremony often requires a marathon level of attention to detail. To get the look that you want combined with the durability your clients need and the ease-of-use your contractors demand, requires you to choose the right cladding material. Metal panels are one of the most versatile exterior façade cladding materials and, with the right coating, can achieve an almost endless number of design possibilities. In addition, the coil coating provides a range of benefits that make it a superior choice for exterior façade use, maintenance, and longevity.

How does coil coating work?

Before the pre-finished coil-coated panels arrive at the worksite, the metal used is sent to us in a gigantic coil or roll from our steel and aluminum rolling mills. The coil is unwound and pulled through a highly specialized coil-coating production line that cleans it, primes it, and coats it with paint before winding it all back up again at the end of the process. The continuous nature of this manufacturing process is incredibly efficient and leads to a high-quality and consistent final product.

What are the benefits of coil coating?

The high-tech coil coating process creates metal panels that have many advantages over ones that need to be post-painted after fabrication:

Durability

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As the panels are pre-painted, the coil-coated finish is more resilient against weather, UV rays or installation damage. The coating is continuous, rather than having overlap and overspray that are common disadvantages of using post-painted products. Coil coatings also give better protection to the metal from corrosion therefore providing a long-lasting and waterproof finish.

Consistency

The highly controlled factory process that produces the coil-coated panels ensures that every panel in the batch is the same color as the others. Each section of the long coil of metal is also primed and cured in the same way, so that the coating thickness, and durability of the final product is the same on the entire batch.

Sustainability

Metal is one of the most recyclable construction materials available globally. Coil coated metal panels can be 100% recycled and made into other construction materials for guaranteed sustainability. The coating process also captures VOCs to reduce air pollution and exceed EPA standards. More about recycling aluminum composite panels can be found here.

Adaptability

The metal coils can be used to make custom lengths and widths should you require a non-standard panel size for your specific project. This can reduce the need for awkward joints and seams that could break up the design intent that you are aiming to achieve. Larger, customized panels also require less handling and modification during installation, which could even result in savings on labor costs.

Flexibility

The resins used in coil coated finishes are flexible enough to be formed after painting, allowing manufacturers to bend and curve the panels to the exact design specifications required without the risk of the paint cracking or crazing – a major advantage over traditional post-painted spray finishes because the resins used in spray applied finishes are not flexible, and therefore will crack and craze when the metal is folded. Coil-coated panels can be fabricated either on site or in the fabrication shop, depending on your needs.

Versatility

There are several ways to work with coil coated metal, depending on your contractors’ preferences and level of expertise. Adhesives and mechanical fastening are all able to be used with these products. Our metal products: Vitrabond FR, Edgeline and Vitraplate also offer a virtually endless array of colors and finishes, including various metallic looks, patterned woodgrains and natural metal finishes. Our laboratory also offers a custom matching service so that the only limit to what finishes we can develop is your imagination!

There is a reason why metal façade cladding panels have been used for decades in the construction industry as there is nothing that has come as close to their durability and aesthetic beauty. Find out more about our own metal façade cladding products and how to specify them on your next project here.

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