GUIDELINES ON HOW TO REPAIR DAMAGES TO THE INSULATED METAL PANEL

In this blog post, we will write about the scratching and damaging sandwich panel. Firstly, we will share with you a real case of the improper handling of insulated panels. Afterward, we will explain why it is essential to always repair scratches on the surface of the insulated metal panel.

A REAL CASE OF IMPROPER HANDLING OF INSULATED METAL PANELS

I’ve recently seen how workers were handling insulated sandwich panels on the building site of a major American producer of hardware for computers.

They started to take some insulated panels off a pile, by sliding them, one at a time. After the second or third panel had been carefully taken from the pile, a few screws appeared in the pile of insulated panels, right in between two panels, probably left there by a distracted worker. Sliding the insulated sandwich panel over those forgotten screws created a series of huge scratches on the metal surface. Of course, I immediately took a few pictures of the surface of the metal sandwich panel and called the supervisor to tell him what happened. After that, we made sure that those screws were removed from the pile of insulated sandwich panels; the supervisor and the chief architect asked me for solutions on how to fix those scratches.

So, I explained to them that those scratches did not affect the insulation of the metal sandwich panel, but they were damaging the paint and the outer part of the metal sheet. I told them to fix those scratches to prevent the metal from rusting. Hereafter you can read a few hints on how to do that.

FIXING SCRATCHES MEANS PREVENTING THE METAL PANEL FROM RUSTING

Before performing any repair, it’s crucial to clean the old paint surface and let it dry properly. There are four main classes of damages that can affect the surface of an insulated sandwich panel:

1. Minor scuffs: Occasionally damaged sheets during improper handling or during lifting of the insulated metal panel. Don’t treat the affected area, unless the paint surface is damaged. Minor dents will not affect the thermal and moisture performance of the panel.
2. Dents: if the external steel sheet of the metal sandwich panel has been dented, but the coating has not been scratched or damaged, then it is not necessary to treat the affected area.
3. Scratches: Where the coating of the insulated metal panel has been scratched down to the substrate, the affected area should be treated with suitable touch-up paint, following the paint company’s recommendations.

Make sure to apply the paint ONLY on the scratched area. Touch-up paints are by definition air drying; therefore over the years, they will change color differently from the original coating.

So, keep the applied area as small as possible by using an artist’s medium to a fine paintbrush.

4. Heavy dents or punctures on the metal sandwich panel, there are three options to fix them:

• to place a localized patch;
• to overlay with a new metal insulated panel skin;
• replacing the panel.

This work is usually carried out by a specialist from the insulated panel repair company.

UNREPAID SCRATCHES AND DENTS HARM THE SERVICE LIFE OF THE  INSULATED METAL PANEL. CONSIDER REPAIRING THEM ALWAYS.

These rules are the basic guide. Special coating or stainless steel requires a more specific approach. Please contact me for any further info at info@globepanels.com or by completing the form below.

This work is under the license of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.