Saw this going to a friend’s house- they bagged the fire hydrants….one thought was snow; but this is the first year apparently. And snow has been a mild issue this year compared to most.
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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Apparently, it is too keep salt off of them.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/why-are-some-fire-hydrants-wrapped-in-plastic/89-162a801f-4d70-4bc1-9cad-b2399bfa7200
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/why-are-fire-hydrant-covered-in-red-plastic/
Isn't that what paint's for? Seems like a lot of unnecessary plastic trash.
Cheaper to do bags than re-paint off-schedule. Usually cities have a schedule for maintenance, and the bag, in this case, is preventative for rust without being off-schedule for painting.
Salt resistant paint is industrial, and it’s expensive. Depending on the product, it can also be a two part system and need special preparation. And by expensive, I mean it can cost over a hundred dollars per gallon, if you aren’t getting a deal on it. That’s a big investment for a smaller town.
That seems like chump change for something that probably already costs over $1000, won't take a gallon of paint, and is meant to last for decades.
You’re forgetting the cost of removing them from the ground to have them sandblasted beforehand. This isn’t latex water based paint for your wall. You don’t just toss it on top of whatever is already there.
You don't remove them you strip clean and paint in place.
Lol down votes I've painted hydrants. You have obviously never. There would be no reason to remove them. Since you would also be disabling the hydrant to do it and what do you do if there is a fire? Here you dumb bastards.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MJnfpo0YcaI
Thats why you paint it with the correct paint before you install it in the first place.
Are you sure the correct kind of paint was available when it was installed? And how long of a lifespan does that paint have? Surely not the life of the hydrant. This isn’t a one and done sort of thing. This is something you have to do every few to several years, depending on the specific coating you use. Every so often, the laws change regarding what can be used where, and advances in coating technology means a specific product might only be available for a few years before it’s replaced with something else, if it’s replaced at all. Working in the paint industry, I can tell you that some products died when COVID hit and the companies that made them went under.
I imagine a fire hydrant is pretty expensive as well. Can't imagine covering it in salt resistant paint would be that much of a price increase and even if it is I don't imagine it would be cost prohibitive if it means a 20 year replacement cycle vs. a 10 year cycle.
If anything this may be protecting them from dog piss.
You also need your pay to have each of them taken out of the ground and sandblasted before they are coated. Industrial coatings aren’t like house paint, you can’t toss on extra layers and move on.
Well ya, that's why you put it on when the thing is being installed. Not talking about a Reno/repair.
If they didn't put salt resistant paint on it when they first installed the thing because it was a few hundred dollars more that would be stupid.
Whatever paint was on it when it was put in will last for several years at best. What do you propose they do when the coating starts wearing? Advances in coating technology and the laws regarding them change every few years, so will you guarantee the coating used will be available to them the next time they need to apply it? What budget will they take money away from to strip the hydrants when that time comes so they can be repainted? Painting a hydrant is more than a few hundred dollars for the coating. You have to pay to have the previous coating removed. You have to pay for the new coating and any two part additives it needs, like hardeners or accelerators. You need to pay for the painters with the experience with whatever type of coating you’re repainting them with. For a hydrant, it would probably be some kind of industrial oil-based alkyd. Hopefully a direct to metal, although they might need a suitable primer for the coating they’ve picked if they don’t go with a DTM. That’ll be another hundred or so per gallon. You also have to pay for hazmat disposal of any leftovers from the job.
If you haven’t guessed, I work in the painting industry, specifically dealing with commercial and industrial grade architectural coatings. A job like painting all the hydrants in a town would be many thousands of dollars. In a city, it would be hundreds of thousands. A five gallon bucket of the product I would recommend for the use would retail about $900 per five gallons, although the sales rep would work with the city and whatever painter they hired for the job to negotiate a lower price based on how much they needed.
I’m not writing all this to put you down, or try to make you feel stupid. I’m doing it to point out that things that might seem like they have simple, straightforward solutions oftentimes turn out to be a lot more complex and expensive than people realize. Especially when it comes to maintaining critical infrastructure. This picture might be from a small town that doesn’t have the money to afford repainting their hydrants. It’s a lot cheaper to toss a plastic bag with some zip ties over it. If I’m being honest, it’s probably better for the environment too.
Paint gets scratches, especially where things turn and rub against each other. You don't want the turning bits becoming seized and finding out at the worst time
Apparently, the same gets in and corrosion starts. The second article mentions a city that stopped doing it.
Isn't the paint also unnecessary plastic trash?
Maybe they reuse the bags. Bag up 5th Street, salt it, collect the bags and prep 6th.
hmm thanks for that.