Vinyl siding is often chosen by homeowners because it comes as colored panels with a high-quality finish and doesn’t require more work once it is installed. That factory-applied finish does not last forever, however, and then building owners are faced with the choice of replacing the siding to get that type of appearance or painting on site, which cannot quite...
Read More…
Exterior surfaces experience degradative environmental conditions, such as intense UV exposure, rain, and temperature swings, leading to deterioration. Coatings are low-cost solutions offering decades of protection and preventing significant repair costs for buildings. The coating must withstand UV, mitigate water damage, and express the flexibility required to maintain adhesion to dimensionally unstable substrates (i.e., wood) as they undergo thermal expansion...
Read More…
The fouling of exterior coating surfaces by dirt is no simple matter. The process is complex, dynamic, and varies in length and time. It also includes a range of confounding particle transport, attachment, and release mechanisms. While complex, strategic, multiscale testing and analysis combined with particle and surface science fundamentals can be used to isolate the dominant mechanisms. In this...
Read More…
Interior architectural coatings today do much more than hide blemishes in walls and ceilings. They often play a key role in the overall decorating scheme and are chosen in concert with furnishings and room accessories. In addition, consumers today expect these coatings to have minimal impact on the environment and have low odor while also offering a multitude of performance...
Read More…
It is often assumed that solvent-based sealers give better performance than water-based formulations on concrete because the solvent-based sealers are thought to better penetrate into the concrete matrix. In practice, it can be difficult to measure actual penetration of a sealer into concrete, as dyes and colorants used to highlight the sealer may show different migration properties than the polymeric binder....
Read More…
While there is an intuitive connection between wall brightness and the electrical demand for illuminating a room, there has been little data reported to quantify this relationship. Here, we report the relative electrical load needed to light a room at the 500 lux level specified by European lighting standard EN12464-1:2011, as a function of wall brightness. A room was painted...
Read More…
Insight into the state of the U.S. coatings industry is valuable for many—whether you are directly employed by paint and coatings companies or suppliers of specialty chemicals used within the industry; serve as an industry observer interested in correlating the health of the industry with similar enterprises in the specialty chemicals market space; work for an independent formulating and/or testing...
Read More…
Despite growing interest around the world in the use of concrete and composite materials, wood remains widely used in exterior architectural applications, including siding, decking, fencing, and similar applications. Coatings continue to play an important role in maintaining the appearance and protecting the integrity of wood. “Exterior wood has conveyed quality and beauty for centuries, but that beauty requires significant...
Read More…
