Powder coating
A dry paint finish sprayed on electrostatically and baked hard in an oven. Tougher than wet paint, and available in any RAL colour over galvanised steel.
Also called: powder coated, powder coat
Powder coating is how fencing gets a colour that lasts. Dry pigment is sprayed on electrostatically so it clings to the steel, then baked in an oven until it flows into a single continuous skin. There is no solvent to evaporate, so the finish comes out thicker and tougher than wet paint.
It goes on top of galvanising, not instead of it
This is the point most often missed. Powder coating is a colour and a barrier, not corrosion protection in its own right. Chip it on bare steel and the steel rusts under the coating, which then lifts. Over hot-dip galvanising, the zinc keeps working even where the powder is damaged — a duplex system, and the reason properly finished fencing quotes both.
Choosing a colour
Colours are specified by RAL number so any coater produces the same shade. The ones that come up constantly on fencing:
- RAL 6005 Moss Green — the default for fencing in the UK, and usually the cheapest option because it is held in stock.
- RAL 9005 Jet Black — railings, gates and anywhere the fence should recede.
- RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey — the current favourite on new-build and commercial work.
Anything outside the stocked colours is a special and adds both cost and lead time, because the coater has to change over and run the batch on its own.
Practicalities
Coating happens before delivery, so components arrive finished. Cutting a coated post to length on site leaves an exposed end that needs touching in. Where posts are likely to be trimmed, it is worth confirming heights before the order goes to the coater rather than after.