City of Toronto · Mimico, Islington, The Kingsway and the west end
Etobicoke, Ontario.
Two expressways, an airport corridor and a lake that keeps everything damp for longer. Permanent paint protection, applied by a certified ICON Rocklear shop serving Etobicoke and the west end of Toronto.
As featured in
The specification
RK / ON-12Film thickness
Built in a single application, not a stack of layers.
63microns
Tensile strength
Measured against a ceramic coating under laboratory conditions.
75x
Independent testing
Third-party ASTM methods across adhesion, impact, abrasion, salt spray and UV.
12ASTM tests
Automotive warranty
Written coverage on painted exterior surfaces. Marine gelcoat runs 7 years.
15years
Re-application
One install, then you drive it. One inspection at 18 months keeps the coverage active.
Oneapplication
Applied by certified installers only · Est. 2016
Two expressways and an airport corridor.
Etobicoke traffic is not one road, it is three. The Gardiner and the QEW run into each other at the Humber, and the 427 carries the length of the west end from the Lakeshore up past Eglinton and Dixon toward the airport lands, where freight and airport runs keep it busy well after the rest of the city has gone quiet. Heavy vehicles moving at speed throw a fine film of grit and salted water onto everything travelling behind them, and a car that commutes on any of those three collects it twice a day.
The west end parks differently too. A lot of vehicles here live on an exposed deck in the lake wind or on an open driveway through every freeze and thaw, which means the film that went on during the drive is still there in the morning. ICON Rocklear bonds permanently to the factory paint and is not consumed the way a sacrificial layer is, so the surface taking that abuse is the coating rather than the clear coat.
- 63 microns bonded to the factory paint in a single pass
- Salt spray and UV sit among the 12 independent ASTM methods behind it
- Expressway film settles on the coating, not on the paint
- Corrected or re-coated on the panel rather than stripped back
Expressway film. One application.
LAKESHORE AT BLUE HOUR · COATED PROFILE
How it compares
SPEC / CMP-01| Attribute | ICON Rocklear | Ceramic coating | Paint protection film | Wax or sealant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film thickness | 63 microns | 1 to 3 microns | 150 to 200 microns | Under 1 micron |
| Application | One pass over existing paint | Correct the paint first, then coat | Cut and fitted panel by panel | Applied by hand |
| Repairability | Corrected or re-coated on the panel | Removed, then reapplied | Damaged film is replaced | Reapplied |
| Scheduled service | One inspection within 18 months | Annual inspection to hold coverage | Replacement at end of life | Every few months |
| Warranty | 15 years automotive, 7 years marine gelcoat | 6 months to lifetime | 5 to 10 years typical | None |
Ceramic coating
- Film thickness
- 1 to 3 microns
- Application
- Correct the paint first, then coat
- Repairability
- Removed, then reapplied
- Scheduled service
- Annual inspection to hold coverage
- Warranty
- 6 months to lifetime
Paint protection film
- Film thickness
- 150 to 200 microns
- Application
- Cut and fitted panel by panel
- Repairability
- Damaged film is replaced
- Scheduled service
- Replacement at end of life
- Warranty
- 5 to 10 years typical
Wax or sealant
- Film thickness
- Under 1 micron
- Application
- Applied by hand
- Repairability
- Reapplied
- Scheduled service
- Every few months
- Warranty
- None
ICON Rocklear figures are from independent ASTM testing. Other columns are typical industry ranges.
Etobicoke, road by road.
The Gardiner, the QEW and the Humber ramps
Where the Gardiner becomes the QEW there is an elevated deck, a tight set of ramps and a river crossing within about a kilometre of each other. All of it is salted and sanded through the winter, and an elevated road sheds its meltwater and grit downward, onto the ramps and the streets underneath.
ICON Rocklear puts a hard, closed 63-micron surface over the factory paint, so the daily spray has something to sit on other than the clear coat.
The 427 and the airport corridor
The 427 is a freight and airport road as much as a commuter one, and Dixon, Belfield and Carlingview stay busy with heavy vehicles at hours when the rest of the city is empty. Sand and de-icing material get carried out of the airport lands and along those roads for days after the weather that put them down.
Salt spray is one of the 12 independent ASTM methods ICON Rocklear was tested against, and because it bonds to the paint rather than resting on it, there is no sacrificial layer to use up.
Lake-facing decks and open driveways
Etobicoke parks in two extremes. Along Humber Bay and the Islington towers a lot of cars sit on an exposed upper deck in wind coming straight off the water, and on the older streets behind Royal York they sit on an open driveway through every freeze and thaw of the season. Either way the car is outside, and whatever it picked up on the drive home is still on it the next morning.
A permanent coating is the sensible answer to that, because there is nothing to renew before each winter. One installation, then a single inspection within 18 months to keep the 15-year automotive warranty active.
Getting to the bay from around the west end
The Etobicoke installer serves Mimico, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood, Islington, The Kingsway, Markland Wood and Humber Bay, and east across the river through Swansea, Bloor West Village, the Junction and High Park as far as Keele and Parkside.
North of Steeles, up the 427 or Highway 27, Vaughan is the shorter run. East along the 401 past the Allen, North York is closer.
The rest of the Ontario network
NETWORK / ONEtobicoke is one of thirteen certified Ontario shops. Every installer is trained on the same standard and writes the same 15-year automotive warranty, so the bay you choose changes the drive and nothing else.
Book your Etobicoke installation.
Tell us the vehicle and which part of the west end you are in. The certified shop serving Etobicoke takes it from there.
Installation starts at $1,799 Final price depends on vehicle size and paint condition
Book an installation