If you could see the writer of this particular missive you’d be staring at a visage that could never encounter sealant again and yet live a full life. Don’t get me wrong, I know that caulking and its ilk have their place, but I’ve seen just about enough of it—and its failure to adequately inhibit entry of wind, rain, cold, what have you—to move on to a more sophisticated solution. Luckily, the very name of “Dri-Design Painted Aluminum” seems an auspicious answer.

Painted Aluminum Panels. Manufactured by Dri-Design.

Dri-Design’s Painted Aluminum Panels Promise A Superior Barrier To All Manner of Seepage

While I realize that the number one reason to seal an apartment, house, building (or tool shed, for that matter) against the elements is to protect the integrity of the structure as well as that of the occupants therein, the very idea of a leak poses an existential challenge for yours truly, as it represents a certain collapse of order, a breaking down of “in” and “out,” a virtual descent into epistemological chaos…

Tongue firmly in cheek, then, Dri-Design Painted Aluminum Panels just may preserve my increasingly fragile world view. The 100% recycled product features easy interlocking installation with a completely dry joint system. That means no tape, no compound, no smelly silicone or bulky, oozing Bituthene.

The product is ideal for building exteriors, whether we’re talking new construction or retro-fit, as it can be made to match any curtainwall or metal roof: “Sure we have stock colors, but unlike other Metal Wall panels, we can paint any Kynar paint color for just a couple of cents extra per square foot.”

Dri-Design Painted Aluminum is not only easy to install, aesthetically versatile, and dry as the Mojave in August, it’s also extremely durable and wind/weather resistant. Fully tested to ASTM standards for air, water, and structural performance, Dri-Design Aluminum Panels pass muster as a pressure equalized rain screen. Not only that, but they’re Hurricane tested and approved for Dade & Broward counties in Florida—a pair of municipalities that know a thing or two about the perils of unwanted water entry.

Dri-Design Painted Aluminum Panels can be installed over many varieties of building substrates, including 5/8” plywood, DensGlass Gold®, or exterior grade gypsum board. Stock panel sizes include 48” x 48”, 30” x 60”, and 24” x 120”, but custom sizes are also available. Thicknesses range from .050” to .125”.

About the Manufacturer: A metal panel brain trust based out of Holland Michigan, Dri-Design is helmed by President Brad Zeeff, who—back in 1995—took it upon himself and his assorted cohorts to improve the form, function, and face of metal panels. “The result of Dri-Design’s meticulous engineering is a 100% recyclable, pressure equalized rain-screen architectural metal wall panel system that attaches to nearly any substrate without the use of clips or extrusions.” To the lay-person, that means an aesthetically versatile and sustainable exterior cladding system that’s easy to install, easy to retrofit, and resistant to hurricane rains and the most ferocious gusts of winter.