Never Paint Your Tower Again
Tower owners with FAA Style A marking, which includes painted towers with red obstruction lighting at night, should be aware that there are cost-saving options to consider when it comes to periodic painting required for compliance. Here at LumenServe℠, our Never Paint Your Tower Again program eliminates the need to repaint your tower for obstruction lighting purposes. First, let us clarify some background information.
Painting of the structure:
FAA Style A towers are painted to ensure visibility for air navigation, with specific requirements for painting the structure. The most important requirement is that the paint must meet the FAA's Aviation Orange color standard, which is Federal Standard 595 color #17875 for white and color #12197 for aviation orange. Additionally, the number of bands required on the tower depends on its height. You can visit our website for helpful information on each FAA Tower Style.
Cost of painting of the structure:
When evaluating the cost of painting a structure, there are five primary cost drivers:
- Material cost of paint – Paint costs approximately $70 per gallon with each gallon covering roughly 400 sq. ft.
- Tower type – There are three primary tower types - Guyed, Self-Supported, or Monopole. Each tower type is unique and requires a different amount of labor to complete depending on total surface area and other factors.
- Height of tower – As one would expect, the height of the tower is directly proportional to the amount of labor required to do the painting.
- Tower location – Tower crews charge to mobilize to the site. The more difficult it is to get to the location, the more the tower crew will charge to get there.
- Tower crew labor cost – The labor cost to paint your tower is typically based on the hours of work required for the project. Typically, labor will range from $25 per tower foot to $80 per tower foot depending on tower type, height, and location.
Annual paint test:
The Federal government rules require that an up-to-date FAA “In-Service Aviation Orange Tolerance Chart” be used as the benchmark for determining whether a structure needs to be cleaned or repainted. Importantly, the requirement specifies that the annual paint test be performed at the midpoint of the tower or higher. After all, the top portion of the tower is the part that is most exposed to the elements and is most important to be visible for air navigation.
Summary of tower painting costs:
The cost of tower painting varies widely based on materials, labor, and mobilization. Prices range from $6,000 for a 200-foot guyed tower to over $70,000 for a 1,000-foot broadcast tower in a remote area.
Options to Not Paint Your Tower Anymore:
If you want to eliminate the cost of painting your tower, you can consider getting a new determination from the FAA to convert it to a different style of tower that requires no paint marking. For instance, it is possible to transform a 400-foot A2 style tower into a dual-mode E2 style tower. This conversion does not necessitate paint marking; instead, the tower is delineated with white lights during daylight hours and red lights during the night. By doing this, you can avoid future painting costs and upgrade your lighting system to state-of-the-art LED lighting. LumenServe℠ can help you assess the costs and benefits of all your options. Also, remember that as the first Tower Lighting as a Service® company in the country, LumenServe℠ can offer eligible customers a lighting solution with no upfront costs. Let us evaluate your situation and find a way to help you never have to paint your tower again.
For more information, please contact LumenServe℠ at:
