Why do you need bollard covers? This is a question we hear all too often here at Ideal Shield. Customers on the fence want to know why they should spend the extra money on a bumper post sleeve rather than just paint their bollards or leave them raw.
Ideal Shield’s red bollard covers used to protect an electrical box at a Costco gas station
So, why do you need bollard covers?
Let’s be honest. Bollard covers are not a life or death product. This isn’t the same as why you should wear a seatbelt in the car or why you should have smoke detectors in your home. Or why pedestrian-friendly areas, like school dropoff areas, business storefronts, and walking and biking paths should have steel pipe bollards installed.
Bollard Covers are a bit of a luxury. A rare affordable luxury that will actually help businesses and property owners save money and time while also improving the appeal and protection of their property.
Sound a little too good to be true? Check out why you’ll want and need bollard covers at your facility or property:
Save Money
Based on using a union painter’s estimates (which includes taxes, insurance, benefits, etc.), it would cost an average of $35.00 per bollard to paint.
Using Ideal Shield’s pricing, it would also cost an average of $30.00 per post to cover.
Not only does the price make up for it right off the bat but when you add in the five-year “no fade” guarantee from Ideal Shield offers and the likelihood of painting the bollards at least once a year in that same time period, the price difference is dramatic.
Example: A fast food restaurant has 16 bollards in need of covering/painting. To paint the posts (based on the union painter’s pricing above), it would cost $560 each time. To cover the posts, it would cost $480 the first year. If the owner goes with the painting option for five years straight, it would cost around $2,800. For covers in that same time period, it would still only be the same $480 in total, which would save the owner over $2,000 in the five-year period.
It’s easy to see that bollard covers are big money savers in comparison to bollard painting. That’s especially true for owners with multiple locations/more bollards, saving business and property owners hundreds over the years. That’s especially true for owners with multiple locations/more bollards.
Painter preparing bollards for a new paint job.
Save on Labor and Time
To prepare and paint a bollard, it can take (an estimated) 30 minutes per post. That obviously depends on the quality of paint job and the size of the post but, if the owner is looking for a quality paint job, it’ll likely take at least a half hour to clean, prime and paint the bollard.
As for how long it’ll take to put on a bollard cover, let our salesman Dennis Knittel show you how quickly the bollard cover can be installed:
If you were keeping track at home, you’ll see (while explaining the steps) that it only took 30 seconds for Dennis to install the bollard cover. And here’s the best part, now that it’s installed, there’s no more maintenance time needed on the posts, outside of cleaning the bollard covers from time-to-time to keep them looking good.
Comparing 30 seconds to 30 minutes is like comparing a microwave to an oven. The only difference here is the speed of the microwave and the quality of the oven both come with the bollard covers. Painting the posts are basically like waiting longer for a lower quality, higher priced result.
Improve Aesthetic Appeal
There aren’t any metrics or estimated measurements to use here as aesthetic appeal is subjective. Or is it? While painted bollards can look good right after the first painting, the corrosion and rust that develops on the steel pipe thanks to being open to the elements is never a good look. It’s also extremely tough to get rid of or fix once it has appeared.
As for bollard covers, you won’t have to worry about the look of corrosion or rusting on bollard posts. While the bollard below the cover may experience some natural corrosion, the outside will continue to look good for years.
Our wide array of bollard covers here at Ideal Shield is another huge advantage over painting bollards. We offer ten different bollard cover styles, including our Original dome top bollard covers and our Decorative bollard covers.
Thinking that painting gives more flexibility with matching branding needs with colors and logos? Not so fast. Our bollard covers are available in any custom color you could want and we also offer mold on graphics to really match your branding needs.
Before and After: Ideal Shield’s dome top Bollard Covers installed over rusted bollard posts.
Before and After: Ideal Shield’s 6″ Metro Decorative Bollard Covers installed along a sidewalk
Improve Bollard Protection and Visibility
While bollard covers won’t make much a difference in a bollard stopping a car from ramming into a storefront, bollard covers will help protect both the bollard posts, car doors and other minor accidents that happen daily. This includes everyday occurrences like opening the car door at the gas pump or local bank, or pulling in or backing into a parking spot. The bollard cover works like a bumper post and cushion, limiting the damage that would normally occur with metal on metal contact.
The cover not only protects the car doors and bumpers but will also protect the bollard itself from minor damage.
Bollard covers also can improve the visibility of bollard posts. While we suggest installing the correct sized steel pipe bollards that the covers perfectly fit over, we know that the majority of facilities and properties already have a bollard or bollard-like post in place. Sometimes these older bollards are too short for drivers to see, which can cause an accident. But that isn’t a problem with bollard covers as we can custom cut our covers to “extend” the height of the post.
Ideal Shield’s bollard cover used to extend the height of the bollard post to increase visibility
It’s really quite simple. If you’re a fan of the time consuming, more expensive, less effective option, go ahead and paint your bollards. But if you want to save money and time, improve the look of your property, and improve the visibility and protection of your bollards, then you’ll want and need bollard covers.
For more information on the industry’s most trusted bollard covers, as well as our schedule 40 and schedule 80 steel pipe bollards, please contact Ideal Shield today. Our experienced and knowledgeable sales team will be more than happy to help improve the look and feel of your facility.