Industries — Pipe and Valve
Abrasive Blasting & Coatings for Pipe and Valve Applications
Pipe and valve work is high in surface area and full of detail — flange faces, threads, stems, bolt holes and tight junctions all sit within a few centimetres of each other, and each needs a different decision about whether it is blasted, coated or masked. We handle this work in house at our Bayswater workshop, which means those decisions get made once, with the item in front of us, rather than being negotiated between a blaster and a painter on separate sites.
What we handle
Typical pipe and valve items
Typical items include pipe spools and straight runs, bends, tees and reducers, manifolds and headers, valve bodies and bonnets, flanges and blanks, pipe supports, brackets and hangers, and small fittings sent through in batches. Work splits fairly evenly between new fabrication needing a first system and in-service items being stripped and recoated during maintenance.
Batches are common and they are worth organising before they arrive. Pipe and valve jobs frequently involve dozens of small components with different substrates and different masking requirements mixed together, and a list identifying what each group is and what it needs saves a lot of back and forth once the pallet is here.
- Pipe spools, bends, tees and reducers
- Manifolds and headers
- Valve bodies, bonnets and covers
- Flanges, blanks and gaskets faces (masked)
- Pipe supports, hangers and brackets
Coating systems
Which coating systems tend to suit this work
Pipework systems are usually specified around the service the line carries and where it runs. These families are the ones we most often see nominated for this work.
| Coating family | Where it commonly comes up |
|---|---|
| Zinc | Commonly the first coat on blasted carbon steel pipework where corrosion protection over a long service life is the aim. |
| Epoxy primers | The usual adhesion and corrosion-resistant base under industrial pipework systems. |
| High builds and finishes | Applied over primer to reach a specified thickness on exposed runs. |
| Hi-temp silicone coatings | For hot lines and pipework where operating temperature rules out standard systems. |
| Chlorinated rubbers | Where the surrounding environment is wet or chemically aggressive. |
| Polyurethanes | A durable, colour-retentive finish where lines are outdoors, visible, or colour coded. |
This is general guidance rather than a recommendation for your item. We apply specified and non-specified systems — if you are working to a paint specification, send it through and we will work to it.
Preparation
Surface preparation considerations
Masking does more work than blasting on a typical pipe and valve job. Flange faces, threads, valve stems, seats and machined surfaces generally must not be blasted or coated, and getting that right is the difference between a component that bolts up cleanly and one that has to be reworked. Mark those surfaces or list them clearly, and tell us if bores are to be treated or left.
Internal surfaces are a separate conversation. Whether the inside of a spool can be blasted and coated depends on its diameter, length and geometry, and we would rather tell you plainly what is reachable than imply full internal coverage. Send the dimensions with your enquiry along with the substrate — carbon steel and stainless in the same batch need different media, since the wrong choice risks contaminating the stainless.
All blasting and coating happens in house at 46 Malvern Street, Bayswater. We do not offer mobile or on-site blasting, so items are dropped off or sent by courier and collected once finished.
Services
Services used for pipe and valve work
Garnet Abrasive Blasting
The standard process for carbon steel spools, supports and valve bodies, taking off mill scale, rust and old coatings and leaving a profile for priming.
About Garnet Abrasive BlastingGlass Bead Abrasive Blasting
The right process for stainless fittings and valves, cleaning them without the iron contamination and heavy profile that an unsuitable media would leave.
About Glass Bead Abrasive BlastingProtective Coatings
Specified systems applied in house across a batch, so the same components get the same treatment and finish.
About Protective CoatingsThe cylindrical pressure vessel and dome lid work in our gallery is closely related — the same masking discipline and multi-coat approach applies to sealed and flanged components.
See the gallery →Questions
Pipe and Valve FAQs
Yes, and it is a normal part of this work. Identify the surfaces that must stay clean — flange faces, threads, valve stems and seats, machined surfaces — when you send the item or batch, and we will mask them before blasting.
More general questions are answered on our FAQs page.
Talk to us about your pipe and valve job
Send photographs, dimensions and any paint specification you are working to, and tell us whether you will drop the item off at Bayswater or need transport arranged.