Steel Aprons

Overview

Steel Aprons are the panel system used to skirt and finish out a billboard structure, backed by an industry-best 40-year warranty. Built from steel and finished with a factory-applied coating system, they’re designed to hold their appearance and structural integrity over decades of outdoor exposure, not just years.

Material and Finish

Steel Aprons are built from the best G-90 steel and painted at the mill for a superior finish rather than field-coated after fabrication. Both sides of each panel are primed and top coated, protecting the apron on the back side — the side that’s harder to inspect and maintain once installed — as well as the front. The factory-applied coil coating uses AkzoNobel CERM-A-STAR 1050 and Valspar Weather XL, two coating systems specified to stand up to sustained outdoor weathering.

Sizing and Configuration

Steel Aprons are available in two profiles to fit different structure designs. The Vertical Grooved Apron comes in 24”, 32”, and 36” heights, in 6’ or 8’ lengths, allowing for a wide range of size combinations across a structure’s face. The Horizontal Grooved Apron is available in 18”, 24”, 30.5”, and 36” heights, with lengths of 10’, 12’, 16’, or 18’, and is engineered to span up to 16’ between uprights with 5’ end overhangs — giving installers flexibility in how support is spaced without requiring a support point at every panel edge. Optional hangers can be installed for 2” stringers, simplifying how the apron attaches to the structure’s existing framing.

Warranty and Color Options

The coating system carries a 30-year warranty against chalking or color changes and a 40-year warranty against flaking or peeling — a distinction worth understanding, since a coating can fade or chalk well before it would ever flake or peel off the substrate. Steel Aprons are available in five stock colors: White, Black, Cedar, Gray, and Brown. Custom colors are also available, though they require a 100-piece minimum order.

Why It Matters

An apron panel that fails prematurely becomes a recurring maintenance cost and, eventually, an eyesore on a structure that’s meant to be selling advertising space. Mill-applied, double-sided coating and a long-rated warranty are meant to take that maintenance burden off the table for the life of the structure, rather than shifting it onto the owner a few years after installation.

Contact your Formetco Hardware Sales Representative to discuss apron profiles, sizing, and color options for your next structure build.

See more of Formetco’s Steel Aprons products, engineered for outdoor advertising use. This hardware is engineered to hold up to the demands of outdoor advertising structures, consistent with standards tracked by OAAA.

Formetco stands behind every steel aprons sold through the shop.