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Founded in 1921, Tnemec Company Inc. is one of the largest, privately-held protective coatings manufacturers in North America. Tnemec specializes in protecting surfaces and structures from corrosion with high-performance coatings and linings.

The company is known for its reliable, innovative, high-performance products and its stalwart commitment to delivering an outstanding customer experience to its partners.

Tnemec has a rich history of innovation. 

The company invented the first cement-filled coatings in 1921, which are still used today in an updated form to prevent corrosion. Many innovations have followed,  including Perma Shield Protection and SWAT testing protocol for the wastewater industry; zinc-rich primer for water tanks; and most recently, the creation of Aerolon, a spray-applied thermal insulation coating that offers unrivaled protection for steel and concrete surfaces against condensation, corrosion under insulation (CUI), and thermal bridging.  

Mike Cochran, president, and co-owner of Cochran & Mann, a leading mid-Atlantic commercial paint and wallcovering company, recently sat down with Travis Gold, a coating consultant with their long-time partner Tnemec, to discuss the company’s recent innovations. 

“Talking about innovation is cool but actually seeing it on jobs is even better,” Gold stated. “We’ve seen Cochran & Mann using our Aerolon product recently. Aerolon is a solution to a long-standing problem. It is a spray-on product that prevents thermal bridging.”

Thermal bridging is the transfer of heat across an object where areas that are more conductive create a path of least resistance out of which heat escapes. Formulated using aerogel, the world’s best insulating solid, Aerolon provides thermal stability and controls condensation on steel and concrete building components, such as relieving angles, lintels, cantilevered beams, canopies, and balconies.

Aerolon can be applied in-shop or onsite, giving specifiers and applicators a more flexible and effective option to combat thermal bridging. Aerolon is easier and more cost-effective than installing structural thermal break pads or shims. No special construction is required.

“Being able to spray on a product to prevent thermal bridging and then applying your traditional high-performance coating is groundbreaking. Thermal bridging was often designed around or just dealt with, now we are solving this issue. Aerolon is cost-effective, it doesn’t throw off the schedule, requires no special equipment or reengineering,” stated Gold.

Aerolon helps create environmentally friendly, energy-efficient structures and also meets many LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards. 

Tnemec’s Series 118 Unibond Mastic Primer is another terrific, innovative product offered by the company. This product is environmentally friendly and is often used to prep water tanks for their final coating finish.

“Series 118 is another product that people don’t think of as an environmentally friendly product. Series 118 is the primer that Cochran & Mann used at Guinness. You love it and the owner loves it because they don’t have to pay for sandblasting,” Gold said. “Sandblasting when done properly involves containment ... especially on lead-coated tanks. To apply Series 118 and not have to sandblast that tank brings this environmental concern into the background.”

“A lot of the work that Cochran & Mann does is in Washington D.C., maybe on a rooftop. Sandblasting is not a cost-effective option up there. So, the ability to reduce environmental impact, not sandblast, not have to do the cleanup and then you can topcoat it with Fluoronar. This is a trend. Sandblasting is no longer the desired method of prep in urban environments. People look away from it and often compromise performance but they no longer have to,” Gold stated.  

Cochran & Mann values its strong relationship with Tnemec and its team, which consistently provides them with outstanding, high-performance products and great customer service that empower Cochran & Mann to deliver efficient, long-lasting projects to its clients.