Fire Escape Painters | RayAccess, Inc. 

Proudly Serving Los Angeles and the Surrounding Areas

RayAccess proudly helps building owners restore and protect their properties by performing affordable fire escape painting services. Whether you are looking to attract new tenants by repainting your building’s exterior or you need to reinforce the structural integrity of your existing fire escapes, our commercial exterior painting crew is here for you.

Deteriorated fire escapes can be an eyesore that makes your building look old and unsafe. Even worse, building owners and property managers can be liable for an injury due to a poorly maintained fire escape. Tenants can fall or a piece of rusted metal can come loose and hurt someone below.  

Getting an estimate for fire escape painting is easy with RayAccess. If you send us an inquiry, a member of our customer service team will provide a quote or schedule a complimentary job walk.

Service Area:

RayAccess is based in Marina Del Rey, but will travel throughout Los Angeles County for fire escape painting projects. No job is too small for our team. Whether you need fire escapes repainted on a small apartment building in Hollywood or a large historic building in DTLA, RayAccess can help. 

Types & Components of a Fire Escape:

Fire escapes go back to 1860, when NYC established “An Act to Provide Against Unsafe Building in the City of New York.” Since then fire departments have used fire escapes for search & rescue, hose line placement, and ventilation. Fire escapes are a secondary means of egress for people that live in multi-level buildings constructed in the 20th century. 

The three main types of fire escapes are the exterior screened stairway, the party balcony, and the standard fire escape. Each of these types can include a gooseneck ladder, drop ladder, or counterbalance stairways to enable access to the roof and ground level. Fire escapes are made of iron or steel which makes them fireproof. 

Benefits of Painting Fire Escapes:

Curb Appeal:

Are you looking to sell your building? Realtors are known to recommend exterior painting as a cost-effective way to increase property value and sell faster. Fire escapes don’t have to be an eyesore, painting them with a new color can create a dramatic effect to improve the look of your building to potential buyers. 

Maintaining Safety:

Most fire escapes were erected decades ago. Many of these vintage building structures are poorly maintained. Given that they are made of metal, parts of your fire escape will oxidize and rust over time. A severely rusted fire escape may not provide adequate support during an emergency.

If your tenants use the fire escape as an extension of their home, you could be liable for fire escape injuries. Fortunately, paint has protective qualities that prevent rusting. 

Avoiding Fines:

In big cities, Fire Departments enforce strict safety protocols to ensure safe and functioning fire safety protection systems. Los Angeles Fire code declares that fire escapes need to be inspected every 5 years. If necessary your fire escape may need to be repainted to pass a fire escape assembly test. To avoid fines, make fire escape painting part of your building’s routine maintenance plan. 

Challenges of Painting Fire Escapes:

As long as it’s maintained properly, fire escape assemblies can last as long as the building itself. Unfortunately, many fire escapes are not properly maintained due to the challenges of repainting them. 

1. There are obvious safety concerns when painting fire escapes. Painting the entire surface area of a fire escape requires hiring painters that can safely access difficult-to-reach and high areas. 
2. Fire escape painting is often neglected by property managers. Disruption to tenants is the number one reason why this important task is put off. 

Industrial Rope Access for Fire Escape Painting:

The preferred way to paint fire escapes is via industrial rope access. Industrial rope access provides a safe and disruption-free method to access/paint fire escapes.

Industrial rope access is a non-motorized work positioning method that was perfected by the oil exploration industry. Certified technicians use anchors and a two-line rope system to access high platforms. There is no need to enter apartments from the inside to access and paint fire escapes. 

RayAccess employs a crew with industrial rope access certifications. In addition to our industrial rope access crew, RayAccess has members of the team that have experience using boom lifts, swing stages, and ladders. 

How to Paint Fire Escapes:

4 step Process of painting fir escapes:

Building Inspection:

RayAccess reviews the building envelope, protruding elements, and environmental conditions that may impact fire escape painting. If fire escapes are very old we consult with historical preservation and/or environmental agency to confirm the appropriate color and test for lead paint. Our proposal will outline which access method(s) our team will use for painting.

Surface Preparation:

Painted metal needs to be prepared for adhesion. All rust must be scrapped off. Our team uses a wire brush and pressure washer to remove any loose or peeling paint. RayAccess tests for adhesion and color. 

Priming:

A coat of primer is applied to the fire escapes first. The primer coat needs to be compatible with the new paint. 

Painting:

Painting is the final step which may require several coats. RayAccess strictly follows paint manufacturer protocols regarding thickness and temperature range for the application.

Alternative Services:

Mullion Painting:

Painting window mullions just like fire escapes can be challenging given the access difficulty. 

Sign Painting:

Commercial sign painting is a sure way to attract attention or rebrand. RayAccess can paint signs on high-rise buildings over 20 stories high.

Hotel Painting:

RayAccess proudly serves hotels for exterior painting. Our hotel painting services include the painting of hotel signage, exterior walls, high atriums/lobbies, balconies, rafters, gutters, canopies, and window mullions. 

Building Painting:

Ray Access performs building painting for high-rise buildings and mid-rise buildings.

Industrial Painting:

RayAccess will maintain the durability, appearance, and regulation requirements for your industrial painting project.

The RayAccess Difference: 

High Access Expertise:

RayAccess is experienced in using the full spectrum of fall protection methods. Our high access capabilities include using ladders, boom lifts, swing stages, and industrial rope access.

Cross Trade Experience:

Besides being a fully insured and licensed commercial paint contractor we have years of experience in the window cleaning trade. RayAccess is a one-stop shop for exterior painting, window cleaning, and building maintenance.

Satisfaction Guarantee:

If you have any doubt about the quality of our workmanship, we offer warranties. Simply ask us to furnish a 12-36 month workmanship warranty for your fire escape painting job.