My brother built a sandblasted stone sign in Cody, Wyoming that keeps getting paint balled. The sign is a nine ton boulder about 6' x 13' that has been sandblasted and finished with 23K Gold leaf. The paint cleaned off but left spots where it likely soaked into the stone. After cleaning, the sign was vandalized a second time.
The Sherwin-Williams rep who works with the regional building committee recommended a siloxane anti graffiti coating they carry. They say it will not blister or peel and will stand up to a half dozen pressure washings before needing recoat. The stuff is reduced with mineral spirits. We're concerned about what it will do to the gilding. We'll try to make a test panel but I also wanted to see if anyone here had ever used such a coating on a similar job.
Posted by Sean G. Starr (Member # 1549) on :
Hi David, Graffiti is a huge problem here in San Francisco. Ecological Coatings in New York has some amazing anti-graffiti coatings, including a clear coat that can be applied to stone surfaces. Nick Patenaude is really knowledgeable and helpful and works in their New York Office, his number is 518-664-3468.
Their anti-graffiti coatings are all water based, and eco-friendly. Check them out.
Here's a blurb from their site: Ecological Coatings Anti-Graffiti Coating and Anti-Graffiti Paint are water-based, green, low voc products, formulated for effective graffiti protection and exhibit high cross-linked densities, non-stick properties and excellent chemical resistance. Graffiti spray paint, permanent marker and pen sit on the surface of the coating but do not penetrate. Graffiti removal is simple using our Water-based, Non-toxic Graffiti Remover. Our coatings are permanent, so once graffiti spray paint or permanent marker is removed from the surface the coating remains, ready to protect against the next graffiti attack.
Posted by Bruce Evans (Member # 44) on :
I use grafitti coatings pretty regularly. We've used a pretty harsh VOC one from American Polymer. I wouldn't trust it on Gold Leaf. It will go right through screen printed inks pretty often as well as digital solvent inks.
We've recently switched to a water based grafitti coat called Perma Shield by Monochem. Both are two part a/b mixtures, but the water based one seems to be working out pretty well. We've used it on everything from digital prints, to painted signs and stone statues. I don't see why gold leaf would be a problem. It's very tricky when it comes to second coats though. The second coat has to be applied within a few hours of the first coat or else your S.O.L. on getting that second coat to stick. We only use one coat anyways and it works out just fine for us. It's also very important to get you measurements right when mixing the 2-to-1 ratio. Otherwise it will want to stay a bit soft.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Sean and Bruce,
Thank you for your help. This does give us more options. I'll pass this on to my brother.
Posted by TJ Duvall (Member # 3133) on :
I just used Clear Shield's anti-graffiti clear and it worked really well. 2-part mix that sprays really nicely. and you don't have to mix a whole gallon when you use it. Just mix what you need with the correct ratio.
Posted by jack wills (Member # 521) on :
What Duvall, says. Highly endorsed. A lot of my products are with the Clearstar Co.
