Intumescent Paint : Explanation of Cost
This article will give a brief summary of the application of intumescent paint and the factors that can effect the price of the scope
United Spray
Like most work in the construction trades, the costs of installing intumescent coatings for fire protection on a project can be both
benefited and harmed by the size of the scope. Most construction tasks can benefit from economies of scale leading to lower overall cost when a larger scope
is present and increased costs relative to scope size when the amount of work is diminished, The latter being especially true when dealing with intumescent coatings.
There are unique factors to take into account when evaluating the cost to install intumescent coatings which can lead to seemingly outrages prices for what might seem
like very small amount of work. This article will look to define what drives these high costs and explain why although the costs may look unreasonable they are usually
rightfully justified.
The Cost of Materials
Intumescent Coating material costs are generally considered an expensive building material. These products are oftentimes used for aesthetic reasons in high end buildings or for their unique durability to hold up in harsh conditions. Different intumescent products have different key characteristics and varying costs across manufacturers but generally fall in the range of $350-$550 for a 5 gallon pail of material. Although there may be a benefit from bulk order pricing for large projects the relative material cost does not increase with small scope sizes and is not a main factor in why small scopes can be so pricey.
The Application Process and The Cost of Labor
The application process to install intumescent coatings is the main driving force behind the increase in cost with smaller project scopes. Required fire ratings are achieved by applying a minimum Dry Film Thickness (DFT) of the specified product usually represented in mils (1,000 mils = 1”), These thickness’ are determined through fire testing performed by the manufacturer and vary by manufacturer, product, steel size and other factors.
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All Intumescent coatings have a maximum Wet Film Thickness (WFT) that can be applied in a single coat, if this WFT is exceeded the product will start to sag and will
require additional repair work before proceeding with additional coats. Intumescent Coating products must be given adequate time to dry before proceeding with additional
coats of material. Generally during the drying period the coating will evaporate off the liquids in the product, this process will cause the product to shrink to its DFT,
The amount of shrinkage depends on the solids by volume present in the product, Each product has different shrinkage factors with water based products shrinking up to 40%.
Generally, and dependent on project environmental conditions it is only possible to apply up to 2 coats of material in a regular working day, These restrictions on recoat
times is what directly drives the increase is cost for smaller scopes. Below will outline a more in depth look at the scenarios that will lead to an increase in cost.
Intumescent coatings can usually be installed by a 2 man crew, In most cases when dealing with a skilled tradesmen with an ability to properly install these products,
and especially when dealing with a unionized work force, workers are paid a full 8 hour shift regardless of availability of work. For this reason when the scope of work
is such that the time to build the maximum WFT on the entire surface of steel being coated is less than 8 hours there is a loss of production which leads to increased costs
for the company performing the installation and a increase in relative cost of the scope.
Lets look at two hypothetical scenarios to show how the size of the scope might effect the price of the work.
Scenario 1
Scope:
Install 300 mils DFT of Intumescent fireproofing to provide 3 hour fire protection 1 steel column. Maximum film build 50 DFT per day. Time to install coat of material to 1 column is 2 hours.
Material Required:
1 pail of material
Labor Required:
300 DFT Required / 50 DFT per Day = 6 days
Job Cost:
1 Pail x $400.00 = $400.00
2 Men @ $500 per day x 6 Days = $3,000.00
Total Price for 1 Column = $3,400.00
Summary:
In this scenario the it only took the crew 2 hours to complete a single coat on all available steel for the day, as there was only 1 column to work on the rest of their day although already paid for can be considered unproductive.
Scenario 2
Scope:
Install 300 mils DFT of Intumescent fireproofing to provide 3 hour fire protection 4 steel columns. Maximum film build 50 DFT per day. Time to install coat of material to 1 column is 2 hours.
Material Required:
4 pail of material
Labor Required:
300 DFT Required / 50 DFT per Day = 6 days
Job Cost:
4 Pail x $400.00 = $1,600.00
2 Men @ $500 per day x 6 Days = $3,000.00
Total Price for 4 Columns = $4,600.00 / 4
Price per Column of $1,150.00
Summary:
In this scenario the it took the crew the full 8 hours to complete a single coat on all available steel for the day, as there was 4 columns to work on they did not have any unproductive time during the day, This in turn led to a much cheaper relative cost per column.
Conclusion
From the above examples you can see that the marginal cost to provide 4 times the required scope is very small whenever performing jobs that require anything less than an entire crew day worth of work to apply the maximum DFT to all available steel surfaces. In this example the relative cost per column reduced to only 1/3 of the original amount. Once the minimum daily work time required exceeds what a crew can perform in a day these relative cost savings quickly diminish as there is no longer opportunity for unproductive time to be taken advantage of. The marginal cost however can increase almost exponentially as the scope smaller, for this reason when considering intumescent coatings on a project it is always advisable to remember the above principals.