Every well we make starts as the same material: 20-gauge G-90 galvanized coil. The choice is whether it ships as-is or goes through the powder line first. That decision affects three things — price, lead time and appearance — and, contrary to how it is usually sold, only marginally affects how long it lasts.
What G-90 galvanizing actually is
G-90 is a zinc coating weight: roughly 0.90 ounces of zinc per square foot of steel, counting both sides. The zinc protects the steel two ways — as a physical barrier, and sacrificially, corroding in place of the steel at any scratch or cut edge.
That second mechanism is why a galvanized well tolerates being cut, drilled and dragged across a driveway. Bare steel exposed at a scratch is still protected by the zinc around it.
Mill galvanized: the default
Bright spangled grey, shipping in one to two business days because it is stock. It is the cheaper option, starting at $174.99, and it is the right answer for most installations. Browse the galvanized range.
Buried in properly drained ground, a galvanized well lasts decades. The ones that fail early failed because they were packed in clay that held water against them, not because the finish was inadequate. Fixing the drainage buys more life than upgrading the finish does.
It does weather visually. Over a few years the bright spangle dulls to matte grey. That is the zinc oxidising and it is the coating working, not failing — but if the well is somewhere you see from the kitchen window, you may not like it.
Gloss black powder coat: the upgrade
Powder coat is an electrostatically applied polymer, baked on over the galvanizing. It does not replace the zinc — it sits on top of it, so you get the barrier plus the sacrificial protection underneath. See the powder coated range.
Three reasons to pay for it:
- Appearance. Gloss black on a front elevation reads as deliberate. Mill galvanized reads as a utility part, because it is one.
- An extra barrier. On an exposed coastal elevation — Halifax, St. John's, Victoria — a second layer over the zinc is worth having.
- UV and weathering. The coating holds its colour where bare zinc goes matte.
Two costs: money, and time. Powder coated wells are finished to order rather than stocked, which adds one to two weeks before dispatch. On a job with a schedule, that is the constraint that matters, not the price.
Powder coat is also a barrier, which means it can be breached. A deep scratch through to steel is a worse problem on a coated part than on a bare galvanized one, where the surrounding zinc would cover for it. In practice this matters at installation — handle coated wells carefully going into the hole.
The heat question
Gloss black runs hotter in direct sun than mill galvanized does. On a south-facing well in the dry interior — Kamloops, Kelowna, Medicine Hat — that is a real temperature difference on a surface next to a window. It does not damage the well. It is worth knowing if the room behind it already overheats.
How to decide
Buy galvanized if the well is at the back of the house, below a deck, behind a fence or otherwise out of sight; if you need it this week; or if you are doing several and the budget is finite.
Buy powder coated if the well is visible from the street or from a room you use; if you are on the coast; or if you are matching black window frames, which is most new construction at the moment.
Either way the steel is identical, so the finish is a decision about appearance and schedule rather than about whether the well will last.