The Auto Body Blog

Estimate refinish times will not change for waterborne paint

I have been reading a lot of articles across the internet lately and I came along a great article talking about how the two major estimate programs will use the same refinish times for water borne base coat as they used for solvent base coat. Apparently both companies have done independent studies on water base and have concluded the times will remain the same. For me as a painter this will increase my productivity as water borne base is faster drying than solvent base coat.

Canada’s two main providers of estimating systems have concluded that the refinish times in their databases do not need to be adjusted for waterborne basecoat. Mitchell International has performed studies comparing the two systems. Mitchell has studied the effects of waterborne paint systems vs. solvent borne paint and concluded that our current published labor times were in line with the actual time spent performing the required tasks for refinish with either system.

Audatex reports that its refinish times are suitable for either refinish method. Rick Turri, an Audatex executive, says in the latest edition of Audatex Directions: “Audatex around the world and specifically in North America has sufficient data to provide assurance that the refinish times in the estimating system apply to both waterborne and solvent-based refinish systems.”

In the booth air is used to dry the water base so the more air flow used to dry the base, the faster it will dry. I use a hand held Iwata air blower for one or two panel repairs and I use two blowers on a tree stand for larger refinish jobs. Proper heat and sufficient air flow lets me not leave the paint booth between coats of base. So the moral of the story for the flat rate painter is water borne is faster so more money goes into your pocket.