Urban legends are, well, false—but still fun, because there is always something believable about them. Is it true that you are never more than six feet away from a spider? Who really knows, and some might say who really cares? But let’s face it—don’t you find yourself wondering, “Hmmm, I wonder if it’s true, and should I be calling an exterminator?” Well, here’s something that is not a legend: You would be surprised to learn how many articles in your home, just feet away from you, are made from prepainted metal.

OUTDOOR

Metal Roofing

Let’s take it from the top. Metal residential roofing is an impressive alternative to the more common roofing material: shingles. It comes in a wide variety of colors and configurations, not just a flat roofing product. It has a long lifetime of about 50 years and performs better than shingles during wind and hail storms. Best yet, prepainted metal residential roofing is formulated with infrared-reflecting pigments that keep the roof and attic cavity much cooler than conventional shingles do. This helps homes use less energy for cooling.

Gutters and More

Gutters, soffits, fascia, elbows, trim coil, and rain valleys and channels are often made from prepainted aluminum. In many cases, gutters, downspouts, and trim work are roll-formed onsite to form a seamless product.

Garage Doors

Your grandparents likely had a wooden garage door. It was functional, heavy, maybe beautiful, but certainly prone to warping and rotting. Times have definitely changed. Today, most garage doors are made from prepainted metal with a woodgrain embossed pattern and a raised-panel design to better mimic the look of wood. These doors are lighter than wood and last much longer.

Windows and Doors

Keeping the elements out of your house along with unwanted visitors—spiders may not be nearby, but they are plentiful—prepainted metal windows and doors will do the trick. Metal-clad windows provide a weather-resistant surface and can be prepainted in virtually any color. Much like garage doors, prepainted metal entry doors are durable and fire resistant and provide better security than wood doors. Custom colors, patterns, and specialty coatings can be used for metal doors, and these exciting options can knock the socks off of homeowners!

Sunrooms and Patio Enclosures

Those gorgeous sunrooms with an abundance of window area are often tied together with prepainted aluminum rails and beams. They are light yet strong and wonderfully corrosion resistant. The sturdy and resilient framing makes installation a snap.

Pool Walls

It’s not just about water and fun. Something has to hold the water in! Prepainted steel walls and frames are the answer. Printing of the pool wall is often done on a coil coating line, just like the painting of metal.

Air Conditioning and Heating Units

During warm weather, when you’re not cooling off in the pool, you’re probably relaxing in your air-conditioned home. Nearly all homes require air conditioning and heating, and the vast bulk of HVAC units are coil-coated metal. The fabrication requirements are demanding (especially all those louvers), but prepainted metal, through a combination of superior pretreating and coating formulations, provides unparalleled corrosion resistance.

IN THE DRIVEWAY

Carports

The simple design of a carport can nonetheless provide your vehicles with valuable protection from the outside elements. Prepainted metal is commonly used for carports because of its ease of installation and lightweight construction.

Pontoon Boats

Now that you are on board with prepainted products, another vehicle sometimes stored and protected during inclement weather under a carport is a pontoon boat. Many of a pontoon boat’s parts are made from prepainted aluminum. Prepainted aluminum is ideal for pontoon boats because it is lightweight and helps protect the boat from the natural elements.

INDOORS

Appliances

You may have noticed: appliances are not just white anymore! The coil-coating process brings color to your kitchen and laundry room. Popular metallic coatings can give your refrigerator, stove, oven hood, dishwasher, and washer and dryer a fingerprint-resistant stainless steel skin. In addition, these appliances can be coated to resist fingerprints, eliminating the need to continually wipe off smudges.

Dry-Erase Boards

Did you know that the dry-erase whiteboard you use to track the family’s busy schedule is made of prepainted metal? Coil coating creates the best surface there is for dry-erase whiteboards. They are produced with an ultra-smooth, optically flat, and highly durable ceramic-on-steel coating that delivers a lustrous and silky-smooth writing surface that is magnetic, scratch resistant, abrasion resistant, chemical resistant, and wear resistant.

Lighting

Let’s “shed some light” on the prepainted metal above you. Ceiling grids for lighting are not only lightweight, durable, and high-heat-resistant, but they also have sound insulation qualities and decorative, too. Prepainted metal is often used for lighting fixtures for its reflective surface.

Venetian Blinds and Door Jambs

Prepainted metal can be slit to a customer’s requirements so it can be stamped, drawn, or roll formed into thousands of products, from mini-blinds to door jambs.

Office Furniture

More people are working from home these days, so an office with the proper furniture and storage is a must. As you swivel your office chair around, it is likely you are looking at sleek prepainted office furniture, including your desk, shelving, filing cabinets, and storage units. These products are not only aesthetically pleasing but durable, and they will last throughout your career.

Prepainted Metal: Longevity With Less Maintenance

Today, homeowners expect their homes to be not only comfortable and beautiful, but to have longevity with less maintenance. Outdoors and indoors, prepainted metal products offer a myriad of benefits to both the specifier and the end user. Prepainted metal products are attractive and functional, offering high quality, durability, low maintenance, and even green properties for many years.

Now that you can see the myriad applications for coil coatings and realize that you already are enjoying many prepainted products—wait, there’s more! There are a few built-in but hidden advantages to using prepainted metal. For starters, no other coating application is as efficient and effective. Most spray-paint processes operate in the range of 80% to 90% transfer efficiency. Coil coating is 100% transfer efficient, and that means less paint waste, which is better for the environment and therefore better for all of us. And speaking of the environment, the coil-coating process emits next to nothing to the air in the form of volatile organic compounds. Coil coating is efficient, effective, and sustainable, which keeps our air clean and our health sound. And spiders are appreciative, too, including that one crawling next to you …