Direct to Metal coatings such as VITRETHANE 470 are designed to provide the same properties and characteristics of traditional primer / topcoat systems, but in one coat.Such coatings are called Direct to Metal or DTM coatings because they do not need a primer. This means they can be applied directly onto a metal substrate without the use of a primer beforehand.
Because they do not require a prime coat, Direct to Metal coatings can be less labor intensive to apply. In many cases, up to 80% of the job is the labour cost and the balance is the actual materials used. By using a Direct to Metal coating, this reduces the labour time required for the application which creates improved efficiency and additional time savings.
Direct to Metal coatings are plagued by poor performance and are regularly chosen for jobs when surface preparation is not possible or for applications in which high quality is not the primary concern.
Primer / topcoat systems such as VITREPHOS 560 primer and Vitrethane 640, VITRETHANE 650 or VITREFLON 790 offer much more superior performance in all applications compared to any Direct to Metal coating.
Whilst the labour time and overall cost is more, the finished result is more than satisfactory and with better durability, the times to first maintenance are longer than when using a Direct to Metal coating.
In a prime / topcoat system, the primer is designed to provide both adhesion and corrosion protection, whilst the topcoat is used for an aesthetically pleasing appearance through the final surface finish, gloss and UV protection.
To aid applicators in reducing labour time when using primer / topcoat systems, we now have a 3rd component, VITRETHANE 193 for VITRETHANE 2 pack topcoats which allows the applicator to apply the topcoat at the correct film builds in a single pass and achieve the same finish as applying the coating in 2 or more passes.
