At Tailgunner Mobile Blasting, our mission is to leave you with a clean, perfectly profiled, primer ready surface. However, when dealing with ferrous metals (like steel and iron), the clock starts ticking the exact second the old paint, rust, or powder coating is stripped away.
Because bare metal reacts almost instantly with oxygen and ambient humidity a process known as flash rusting we have established this strict policy to ensure your project stays protected and your next layer of paint adheres flawlessly.
1. How We Protect Your Metal (The 72 Hour Window)
When we use our wet dustless blasting system or perform a final wash on dry blasted steel, we don’t just use plain water. We mix a specialized, professional grade Waterbased Rust Inhibitor directly into our blast and rinse cycles.
- Chemical Passivation: This eco friendly, biodegradable inhibitor completely removes surface contaminants, grease, and microscopic chlorides (salts) that cause rust.
- The Hold Time: Under normal weather and storage conditions, this process passivates the metal and holds off flash rust for up to 48 to 72 hours. This gives you a safe window of time to get your project to the paint shop or apply your primer.
2. Environmental Factors Beyond Our Control
While our rust inhibitor is incredibly effective, it is not armor. It is a temporary treatment designed to give you a window of opportunity to seal the metal. The actual “hold time” can be shortened by local environmental factors outside of our control:
- Humidity & Temperature: High relative humidity (above 85%) or extreme summer heat in the Nebraska/Iowa metro areas will accelerate oxidation and may reduce the rust free window.
- Direct Moisture: Our rust inhibitor is water soluble. If your freshly blasted item is exposed to rain, morning dew, heavy fog, or sprinklers, the inhibitor will wash off, and the bare metal will flash rust immediately.
- Re Contamination: Touching bare, treated metal with bare hands introduces skin oils and salts that break down the protection. Always wear clean rubber or latex gloves when handling freshly blasted metal.
3. Client Coating Responsibilities
To guarantee a successful, long lasting restoration, the responsibility for timely coating falls strictly on the client or their designated paint specialist.
- Immediate Inspection: We ask that you inspect the blasted surface immediately upon completion of our work. Once our team packs up and leaves the site, the environmental protection of that metal becomes your responsibility.
- Priming Window: We strongly recommend applying a high quality automotive or industrial primer as soon as the metal is completely dry, ideally within 24 hours of blasting.
- Surface Preparation Note: Our rust inhibitor leaves zero film or residue behind and is compatible with almost all major commercial primers and paints. However, you or your painter should always follow your specific paint manufacturer’s guidelines for wiping down or prepping bare metal prior to spraying.
4. Limitation of Liability for Subsequent Rusting
Tailgunner Mobile Blasting guarantees that we will apply the proper ratios of rust inhibitor during our process to passivate the metal surface on site.
However, because we cannot control how the item is stored, handled, sheltered, or painted after we leave, Tailgunner Mobile Blasting, LLC cannot be held liable for any flash rust, surface oxidation, or subsequent paint/coating failures that occur after our team has completed the job and departed the site. If a project flash rusts due to rain exposure, delayed priming, or improper storage after our departure, re blasting the surface will require a new service order and additional fees.