PREPARATION OF STEEL SURFACES FOR REPAINTING

Perhaps it is true to say that the correct time to repaint is before it becomes necessary! Unfortunately, the economics of modern industry are such that even in efficient industrial organisations, maintenance is not always rated highly in the priorities of budget expenditure. The ideal at which to aim is the gradual build‐up of paint thicknesses, achieved only by repainting at fairly regular intervals, while the original paintwork is still in good condition. If repainting is carried out at this time, preparation can, in the main, be limited to cleaning and perhaps rubbing down of painted surfaces with little necessity for large‐scale preparation of the steelwork itself.