Wet Painting: There is no doubt that wet painting is the cheapest and fastest of all finishing processes. However I urge you to consider the following benefits of powder coating: - A much tougher and more chip resistant finish - Much more resistant to corrosion - No dripping - Even thickness throughout the application - Non-toxic and fully organic (simple and safe cleanup) Anodizing: Although anodizing may be more resistant to physical abuse and abrasive environments powder coating offers: - Greater color selection available - Greater color uniformity between batches - Better chemical resistance to mortar, strongly acidic cleaners, and strongly alkaline cleaners - Powder coating is easier to perform - Environmentally safe - Less costly than anodizing on aluminum - Have the best of both worlds by powder coating your anodized aluminum. Galvanizing: Although galvanizing may be more resistant to physical abuse and abrasive environments powder coating offers: - Greater color selection available - Greater color uniformity between batches - Better chemical resistance to mortar, strongly acidic cleaners, and strongly alkaline cleaners - Powder coating is easier to perform - Environmentally safe - Less costly than galvanizing - Have the best of both worlds be powder coating your galvanized steel. Stainless: Here's a few considerations to think about before using stainless steel over powder coating: - Although stainless steel is generally more resistant to corrosion with ATSM B-117 salt spray testing showing results of 1500 hrs or more. It should be noted that there are no correlations between this type of testing and actual results in the field. - Stainless only offers limited choice of appearance - Fusion bonded epoxies (powdered epoxies) offer a slicker surface to prevent build up of unwanted materials (lower flow resistance) - Better in saltwater and any corrosive environment Epoxy Electrocoat: Although this type of coating may provide better corrosion resistance under some circumstances, it doesn't compare with powder coating on the following: - Provides much less choice in color, texture and finish. - Is not resistant to UV and will begin to chalk if used in outside applications. - Powdered epoxies can be applied thicker than e-coat epoxies - Powdered epoxies have higher cross-link properties making them stronger and more chemical resistant. - E-coat epoxies require much tighter tolerances during the application process drastically increasing the chances of finish failure if process controls are not within the narrow tolerance range.