Norman Noe Co., Inc. - Tank Construction

A system of formal monitoring of the new tank construction should start with the project specifications, and include the soil site boring, construction of the foundations, erection of the steel, and continue through the application of the protective coatings and conclude at the end of the one year performance bond period.

We feel that monitoring of the application of the protective coating system is especially important as it can save the Tank Owner a tremendous amount of money. If the coating systems on a new tank are applied properly they should last up to 20 years. And at that time the adhesion of the coatings should be good enough that the original system can be overcoated. That consists of removing the corroded areas, spot priming and then recoating the tank. This is by far the most cost effective system.

Unfortunately this is not usually the case. Many times when a new tank is constructed, the prime contractor sub-lets the paint work to a sub-contractor and no system of work-in-progress coating monitoring is in place. Many times the sub-contractor is new to the tank painting business and can't acquire the proper bid and performance bonds to perform work under their own name. They sub-contract work from more established contractors until they have enough experience that they can obtain their own bonds. Unfortunately that means they are training on your new water tank!

It has been our experience over the last 30+ years that a coating system that is applied by sub-contractors or with no formal system of inspections on a new tank will only last around 8 to 12 years before it starts to fail, delaminating from the tank, and needs recoating. To make matters worse, the adhesion of this first coating system is usually so poor that overcoating the original system is out of the question! Now the Tank Owner is faced with removing all the original coating and starting over. This requires full abrasive blasting, which in turn usually requires full shrouding or containment of the structure, a very expensive procedure.

As you can see, we believe that the first paint system on a new tank is the most important coating system that the structure will ever have. If the first system is good, then it can be successfully overcoated many times in the future. Each time saving the Tank Owner money! We believe that this system of formal inspections of the coating application, starting with the shop prime coat applied at the factory, and continuing until the application of the coating system is completed is the answer to getting a coating system on your new tank that should last approximately 20 years, and will have the adhesion qualities that allow it to be overcoated for many years to come.