Industrial Painting: The Best Time to Do It

Busy production schedules can make finding the right time for industrial painting difficult, whether your Warwick facility merely needs touching up here and there or if significant maintenance painting is on the menu. There’s no simple answer since painting needs can depend on a broad range of different factors, many of which we’ll touch on below.

Painting During Scheduled Downtime

Scheduled downtimes are a no-brainer for arranging industrial painting services. With machines temporarily off-line and workers away from the production floor, painters will have plenty of space to get the job done safely without having to work around active equipment or busy personnel. Many downtime periods also coincide with major holidays and inspection periods, giving painters enough time to do a thorough job with excellent results.

Taking Advantage of Off-Hours

Not every facility can undergo a planned shutdown. For facilities that must run 24/7, a slightly different approach that best accommodates both production schedules and the safety and effectiveness of workers is needed. One option involves slowing down or temporarily shutting down specific portions of the facility to allow for safe and effective industrial painting.

Many facilities plan periodic slowdowns or shutdowns during the third shift or overnight hours, when production tempo is at its slowest and worker presence is likely minimal. Weekend hours are also ideal for planning industrial painting, especially at facilities that normally stop production during the weekend. While painters may encounter ongoing production and worker activity during these odd hours, such activity can be planned for and worked around to prevent interruptions.

Painting Outdoors

The best time to schedule industrial painting also depends on whether your facility needs a fresh coat indoors or outdoors. Seasonal differences in humidity and temperature, along with ever-changing weather conditions can impact how well paint adheres to a particular surface. You’re better off waiting for a rain-free forecast with moderate temperatures and winds before calling your industrial painter.

There’s a good reason why you rarely see commercial painters working during nighttime hours – even with good exterior lighting, there’s always a risk for mistakes and/or injuries to occur when painting at night. Daylight is always ideal for industrial painting, but keep in mind how much daylight you’ll have prior to scheduling.