Painted and coated surfaces
You are attaching to the paint, not to what is underneath it.
Coatings often help
A smooth paint or powder-coat system can convert a porous substrate into a sealable one. Painted block, coated steel and sealed concrete all attach better than their bare equivalents.
The failure mode
Your attachment is only as strong as the coating's adhesion. If the paint can be peeled, the vacuum can peel it — taking the tool with it.
Old, flaking, blistered or poorly prepared coatings are genuinely dangerous for vacuum attachment.
Checking
Inspect for blistering, flaking and crazing. Press and scratch-test discreetly.
Be sceptical of thick, soft or textured coatings — they may deform under vacuum rather than seal.
Surface finish
Gloss and satin seal better than matt. Textured and hammered finishes seal poorly.
At a glance
| Vacuum sealing | Often good — but you are trusting the coating's adhesion |
|---|---|
| Recommended mode & tooling | Per the substrate beneath |
| Limits on this tool | 40 mm max bit diameter, 200 mm max length, 145 mm max depth |
Common mistakes on this material
- Attaching to flaking, blistered or poorly bonded paint.
- Assuming thick textured coatings seal — they often deform instead.
- Not scratch-testing a suspect coating first.