Part 2 - Too Beautiful To Be This Tough: The Virtues of Epoxy Paint

Epoxy and Chemical Resistance

Chemical resistance is another virtue of epoxy that opens up many industrial and commercial uses. Epoxy stands up to the abuse that many common industrial substances dish out. Epoxy coating systems are resistant to acetone, alcohols, solvents, and many hydroxides and chlorides across a wide range of temperatures. Epoxy is often used in industry because the hard plastic coating is impervious to many common industrial acids and fuels.

The same chemical process which gives epoxy its hardness also makes it very chemically resistant. In fact, vinegar and acetone, which can be used as solvents for uncured epoxy, are largely ineffective against epoxy that has had a chance to cure.

When you think chemical resistance, sea water does not readily come to mind as a reactive substance. However, sea water is highly reactive. For marine use, epoxy coatings are a standout choice as a primer for metal surfaces.

Epoxy and Electrical Resistance

Epoxy used as a coating provides a level of electrical resistance, as it is an insulator much like glass. In factory conditions, epoxy is often augmented with anti-static coatings to prevent static charge from building up on the floor.

Epoxy and Beauty

In addition to standard clear coating, epoxy is also readily available in formulations that create a beautiful working surface. Combined with aggregates and colored chips, epoxy coatings can closely simulate the look of treated granite at a fraction of the cost of using real stone. Sparkling mica, paint fragments and other additives can create just about any look desired, plus, the coating retains the strengths of an epoxy coating.

Epoxy can be used in almost any setting as a high performance coating. Ask your painting contractor if an epoxy coating can be put to work in your facility.

Part 1 - Too Beautiful To Be This Tough: The Virtues of Epoxy Paint

Where can you use epoxy?

You can use epoxy almost anywhere that you need a durable, chemically resistant surface finish. Epoxy has many virtues which make it a coating of choice for many commercial and industrial applications.

Use Epoxy for Excellent Adhesion

Excellent adhesion characteristics expand potential epoxy uses to any setting where impact resistance is a prime concern. By making a very strong bond with a treated surface, epoxy has the tenacity to perform where other paints come up short.

Repair and renovation of floors and decking is possible by using epoxy as the primary coating. The two component paint locks into the surface and leeches deeply into the substrate. When properly applied, epoxy provides superior adhesion to almost any other coating.

Adhesion for chemical and electrical resistance will be covered in part two.

Part 2 - What is Epoxy? Here’s the Rundown of Everything You Need to Know About Epoxy Based Coatings and Curing

The Secret to Epoxy Coatings: Proper Curing

Epoxy coatings have two parts, the base and the curing agent. These components are stored separately from each other, and are mixed just before the epoxy paint is going to be applied. The secret to getting a good epoxy coating is found in the curing process.

Once mixed together, your painting and coating contractor has a limited amount of time to apply the paint before it has dried too much for further use. This time is called pot life, and the drying process is called curing. Although the pot life for epoxy paint can range from ten minutes to an hour, epoxy can take several days to fully cure.

The curing process affects the final finish of the epoxy coating. If the process is rushed by various factors, the coating will not be as tough or as durable as the project requires. Similarly, if the curing times are extended for too long, the final quality of the coating will suffer.

Epoxy paints are best applied within a narrow range of temperatures, typically from 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with an ideal applicant temperature of 65 to 70 degrees. Temperatures outside of this range affect the pot life and drying time of epoxy paints.

Moisture also affects the application process. Like most paints, epoxy coatings are best applied in conditions of average humidity. More importantly, the surface material has to be absolutely dry when the epoxy paint is applied. High humidity will slow down the curing process, although some special formulations of epoxy paint contain additives which allow the paints to be applied in high humidity environments.

Epoxy coatings are durable, long-lasting products with great adhesion, and are an excellent choice to finish a wide range of surfaces. Talk to a painting and coating contractor for more information about these versatile coatings.

Part 1 - What is epoxy? Here’s the rundown of everything you need to know about epoxy based coatings

Epoxy coatings are durable, long-lasting products with great adhesion, and are an excellent choice to finish a wide range of surfaces.

Epoxy Paint Basics

Epoxy paints are hands down some of the toughest coatings on the market. Auto garages, parking decks, factory production floors and other high traffic areas are the typical places you will find an epoxy based coating. When properly applied, epoxy paints can take a beating, and still look good.

In addition to being tough, epoxy paints are also chemically resistant. Greases, acids and solvents find that an epoxy protected surface offers them no way to bite into the finish and attack the material beneath the coating. Epoxy paints are also versatile. The highest performing epoxies are used in marine environments, where they are expected to resist the corrosive action of seawater.

Epoxy may be applied by brush, roller or trowel, and has excellent adhesion characteristics. Typical surfaces for epoxy coatings are concrete and metal. Like all paints, adhesion is strongly influenced by preparation and application techniques.

Part two will include the cure.

Part 3 - Painting Green: Commercial Painting Products and Procedures that Build a Greener Reputation

Certification for a Greener Commercial Building

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an independent certification program developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC is made up of building and construction professionals who believe that greener buildings are viable and sustainable.

LEED publishes a set of procedural guidelines for commercial buildings. Participation in the program is completely voluntary. If a company chooses to take part in LEED certification, the company is graded according to its compliance with the LEED guidelines. Platinum certification indicates the highest level of compliance, and is a verifiable credential for companies wishing to establish a greener reputation.

Part 2 - Painting Green: Commercial Painting Products and Procedures that Build a Greener Reputation

Greener Commercial Painting Products

A host of new products are entering the market every year to fill the green products niche for commercial buildings. Some of these products are cleaner variants of traditional paints, while others use high tech production techniques to achieve their effects.

100 Percent Acrylic Paint:

Using this paint helps out a company’s performance on indoor air quality tests. From a performance standpoint, the 100 percent acrylic paints are a great choice for most indoor applications. They resist dirt and cracking and have a good dry time. From a green commercial painting standpoint, 100 percent acrylics have a very low VOC content, which helps in locations where chemical sensitivities are an issue.

Silicate Paints:

For exterior commercial painting projects, silicate paints are a great way to make your facility a little greener. Silicate paints are made from natural materials and are suited for covering concrete, masonry or gypsum wallboard. Potassium silicate binders give silicate paints good adhesion capability, and additional natural minerals add color.

Soy Ester Paint Stripper:

Commercial restoration projects are often big sources of toxic products. Thinning agents and chemical strippers create a soup of harmful chemicals. By using products that replace the harmful ingredients with soy esters, your painting project can help improve the green image of your building. Soy esters are also used to make more environmentally friendly graffiti removers. These products allow you to incorporate greener practices with everyday maintenance routines.


This is a partial list of green painting products for the commercial building and more are being introduced to the market everyday. Part three will include information about certifications.

Part 1 - Painting Green: Commercial Painting Products and Procedures that Build a Greener Reputation

Presenting a greener reputation to the public is becoming a matter of business survival. As environmental consciousness becomes a mainstream concern, proving your company’s commitment to green thinking involves adopting practices that make sense for your business and are earth friendly.

Painting Green: Commercial Painting Products and Procedures that Build a Greener Reputation

Going green? In the wake of films like An Inconvenient Truth, presenting a greener reputation to the public may be a matter of business survival. As environmental consciousness becomes a mainstream concern, proving your company’s commitment to green thinking involves adopting practices that make sense for your business and are earth friendly.

Selecting green products and adopting greener practices is not enough. For the most credible commitment and the greatest impact for your company’s reputation, certification is also required to present a best practices reputation for your company.

Going green, this is one of three parts to going green. Next we will look at some green products for commercial painting projects.

10 Tips for Hiring an Industrial Painting Company

Not all industrial painting companies are created equal, here are some tips for hiring a industrial painting company:

1. Correctly specify the work that you need done. If your needs are not accurately proposed, your quote may not be correct.

2. Get a quote from more than one company, in writing. You may be able to negotiate a lower price with a better company if you have more than one option on hand. Don't hire on low prices alone, it may end up costing you more in the long run.

3. Ask for references. Follow-up on these references and remember the industrial painting company is not going to give you any bad reference. To get a true view of the companies work ask their references if they know of any other work the company has done.

4. Pay attention to the professionalism and courtesy of the representative, it is a good indication of the industrial paint company standards.

5. Question their knowledge of paints, application and decorating. If they have a good knowledge of these things it will make you feel more comfortable placing your property in their hands.

6. Industrial painting companies should be a member of a trade association, this shows their commitment to the paint industry.

7. Is the company licenced and insured. Make sure that the insurance covers your property and any accidents with persons not employed. Are both the licence and insurance valid?

8. Have all your bases covered in a WRITTEN contract. Such as; surfaces to be painted, preparation, time schedule, methods of painting, quality of paint, personal property protection, safety standards.

9. What type of training have workers gone through, and how long have the workers that will be working on your property been with the company?

10.Clean-up and disposal policies and methods. No one wants to be picking up after they have paid for a complete job, make sure that all equipment, trash and left over products will be removed and taken to the appropriate destination.

Part 2 - Prep for Success: Avoid Paint Failure and Increase Service Value

Avoid Paint Failure: Use Professional Application Techniques

Every paint manufacturer lists a coverage guideline for each of their products, which is usually expressed as the square footage covered per gallon at a set thickness of application. The coverage guidelines are what the manufacturer recommends to get the most benefit from the product. Failing to put those coverage guidelines into practice invites paint failure.

Professional painting contractors follow coverage guidelines because they know that cracking and flaking, a type of paint failure, can result from stretching a coat too thin. When a painting contractor is making an estimate, the square footage that is to be covered is factored into the costs of materials for the project. Cutting corners on the materials budget may result in serious problems with cracking and flaking later on.

On the other side of the application issue, laying it on too thick may result in a different type of paint failure called alligatoring. Another cause of this type of paint failure is not letting a coat dry properly before applying more paint. Consistent application and good dry times are needed to insure a quality finish.

Extend the lifespan of your coating by asking for suggestions to avoid paint failure at your facility. Your painting and coating contractor may have more advice to help your facility stay looking great.

Part 1 - Prep for Success: Avoid Paint Failure and Increase Service Value

Quality products, good surface prep and expert application can help you avoid paint failure at your facility.

What’s the expiration date for paint?

If improperly applied, or applied after hasty or incomplete preparation, the lifespan of paint will be short. Painting contractors know that using quality products on properly prepared surfaces and using professional application techniques is the only way to get the most out of a coating.

Cut corners on any part of the process, and you risk paint failure and decrease the benefits that a coating offers for your structure.

Avoid Paint Failure: Choose Quality Products

Paint, like most material goods, comes in high and low grades. Cheaper paints cannot offer the same performance characteristics found in more expensive brands of paint. A painting contractor can help you select paints that have the right pigments, binders and additives that will give you the best performance for your building. The right high quality paint for the job is less likely to experience paint failure than a cheaper paint.

Avoid Paint Failure: Choose Proper Prep Techniques

Ask any professional painting contractor for the number one thing that helps prevent paint failure, and proper surface preparation is the most likely answer. The pros know that the time and effort you put into preparing the surface will directly affect that paint job’s performance. Cleaning, blasting and other procedures allow paint to bond with the surface.

Poor surface adhesion is behind a host of paint failure issues, such as peeling and flaking. By making sure that a surface is optimal for paint adhesion, a painting contractor is helping you avoid paint failure.

Using quality products and preparation is just the begining part 2 will include professional technical applications.

Top Ten Reasons to Repaint Your Commercial Building

Number 10: Regulatory Concerns

Meeting regulations is one of the most basic reasons for repainting a commercial building.

Number 9: Safety Concerns

Safety concerns are another basic reason for repainting a commercial building. Repainting signs and markings in the parking area keeps traffic flowing smoothly and safely, and helps insure a pleasant shopping experience.

Number 8: Corporate Changes

Taking a business into a new direction may require you to alter the appearance of your facilities. Repainting the interior and exterior of a commercial building is a fast way to reinvent a business and face the challenges of the future.

Number 7: Historical Restoration

Older buildings have a history that may be beneficial to your business. Repainting your commercial building in authentic historical colors may help you integrate your business with a municipal historic district, and may invite a new clientele.

Number 6: Creating an Identity

If you have recently acquired a new commercial building, repainting the structure is the clearest signal that you can send to potential customers that the building is under new management.

Number 5: In Place of Replacement

Compared to replacement of materials, painting your commercial building is very cost effective, and can help you stretch a facility budget to met other challenges and keep your building looking its best for workers and visitors.

Number 4: Faded Glory

You may need to repaint your commercial building when colors start to fade or discolor. Although exterior building paints are crafted for long-life, ultraviolet light breaks down the coating’s structure and causes the color to fade or change over time. Repainting your commercial building gives the structure a facelift and presents a clean and fresh aspect to visitors.

Number 3: Add Value

To prop up the building’s value with minimum expense. In addition to being cheaper than material replacement, repainting a commercial building helps improve the value of your facility.

Number 2: Early Paint Failure

Suffering from paint failure? It is definitely time to repaint your commercial building. Paint failure is the painting industry’s term for cracking, peeling and other issues that arise with coatings. Generally poor surface preparation lies behind most paint failure, although some paint failure is due to using cheap or improperly mixed paints. Using the wrong type of paint for a given surface can also lead to paint failure.

Number One Reason to Repaint Your Commercial Building: Customer Perception

If visitors and guests are asking about the last time you repainted your commercial building, your facility is overdue for a new paint job. Customers notice the condition of your building first, but are not likely to say anything out loud. If they do say something about the appearance of your building, listen carefully. What they have to say could change your business. Your potential customers may look elsewhere after seeing your dilapidated exterior. Your aesthetic appearance may not necessarily represent your company’s abilities, but that’s how your customers will likely interpret them. Customers do judge a book by it’s cover!

Understanding the Deck Coating Preparation Process

Deck coating is one of the more challenging aspects of professional painting and coating. The deck surface takes repeated impacts and abrasions, as well as the general wear and tear of heavy traffic. All of this abuse makes the preparation stage of deck coating extremely important. If the prep work is not up to par or things are missed, the deck coating will have a dramatically shorter working life.

Professional commercial and industrial painting companies routinely develop very effective deck coating strategies and applications for their clients. Here is a quick look at some of the important basics involved in preparing a deck surface for coating.

Clean Surfaces for Deck Coatings

Any painting surface has to be very clean to ensure a tight bond between the paint and the surface material. Stains, dust and grease all act as wedges between the primer coats and the surface, and create opportunities for the deck coating to fail.

Mold and mildew may be a larger problem on some deck surfaces. If so, this issue must be addressed quickly during the prep stage, or else the mold can create complications with the deck coating material. If mildew is sealed under the deck coating, it can grow unchecked resulting in a potential health hazard. The mildew and mold can also weaken a deck coating’s adhesive qualities.

Repair Damage on Decks before Coating

Damaged or marred surfaces must be repaired or replaced before starting the deck coating process. Loose materials or broken materials can create serious complications in the deck coatings integrity. Depending on surface conditions, sand or shot blasting may be necessary to thoroughly clean the surface and prepare it for deck coating.

Most deck coating professional companies prefer to do their own prep work before application. By taking care of the cleaning and sanding, the professional contractor is ensuring and guaranteeing that the deck coating will be able to take the deck’s day to day working conditions.

Final Words

If you need assistance selecting and implementing deck coatings for your commercial or industrial facility, please contact a professional painting company for more information and advice.

Part 2 - Weather Effects on Painting Applications -- Exterior Painting Concerns: Moisture

Exterior Painting Issues: Moisture

Of course, the sun is not the only harmful element that takes its toll on your exterior painting job. Rain, dew, condensation, snow, and ice can all create blisters, stains and peeling. Moisture blisters are typically deeper than a heat blister and can reach all the way down to the base of the coat. These can be slightly harder to repair, which makes prompt fixes a must. Moisture blisters are also somewhat harder to repair because the source of the moisture may be difficult to pinpoint and eliminate.

Of course, other weather phenomena can also radically impact your exterior painting attempts. Winds whipping particle grains, pollen, or other debris can wreak havoc on your paint job. Wind damage over time can also erode the long term quality of a finish.

Getting a high quality finished product requires a painting company with extensive experience dealing with the effects of weathering. Please contact a professional painting contractor for more information about painting weathering effects and suggestions for dealing with environmental damage to exterior painting projects.

Part 1 - Weather Effects on Painting Applications -- Exterior Painting Concerns: Sunlight and Heat

Weather can dramatically impact your exterior painting job. Heat, sunlight, rain and wind all create conditions that require extra care during the application phase to produce a professional quality coating.

Exterior Painting Issues: Heat and Sunlight

Excessive heat or sunlight can cause a fresh coat of paint to develop blisters known as temperature bubbles. These blisters can pop up relatively quickly following application of the exterior paint. Thick coats of paint are more prone to developing temperature bubbles. Dark paints are also more susceptible to the phenomenon. The remedy for heat blisters is simple. A scraper is used to smooth off the affected area. Once smoothed over the damage to the coat is repaired.

When a professional painting company does an exterior painting project in the summer heat, they constantly check for temperature bubbles in the coat and take care of the problem as they form, so the blisters have no chance of ruining the coat.

Another sun related exterior painting problem is chalking. This occurs when old stains, paints, or other coatings atomize and dry over time due to the sun’s UV radiation. Chalking is only the first part of the problem. The real damage only becomes visible when wind, water, ice, or snow absorbs or washes away the chalk, leaving a patchy or uneven mark on the surface.

Exterior painting concerns are not limited to sunlight and heat, moisture is also an issue if not managed properly. Part two will focus on the issue of moisture.

Part 2 -- Hiring Quality Employees -- Hiring and Retaining

Retaining: What to Do

Retaining employees comes down to four simple actions: listening, making room, evaluating and rewarding. Do these four things well, and you will keep good employees.

Listening

Listen to your staff. Communication is the most powerful tool you have in your company, if you choose to use it. Ask questions about how employees feel about their jobs. If they complain about things, ask the employees what they want to do to fix the problem.

Making Room

Give your employees and supervisors the room to do their jobs. Once their training is complete, you should let them make competent decisions that benefit your company. Doing so elevates the employee to the status of a real team member instead of just another face on an assembly line. This increases employee satisfaction and encourages employees to build a career with your company.

Evaluating

Evaluating is the fine art of asking the right questions. The right questions promote growth and valuable change. Does an employee’s suggestion work? How well does this employee perform under pressure? Am I giving my supervisors the room to demonstrate their skills?

Rewarding

Reward the behavior you want to encourage. The method of reward doesn’t matter as much as its sincerity. A few words of thanks that are heartfelt and honest can be as effective as a gift certificate, provided the sincerity of the gesture is without question. Did the employee do something so well that it left you speechless? When you recover, tell him or her about it. Employees leave when honest praise is in short supply.

Hiring and Retaining: The Final Word

In the end, your company’s success at hiring good employees and retaining them is directly dependant on your ability to create an environment conducive to career-growth. As long as an employee sees your company as a fertile place for their abilities to grow, they will set down roots.

Part 1 -- Hiring Quality Employees -- How to Attract and Retain Quality Employees

Whether you run an independent painting company or you’re contracting with an outside painting company, you want to know how to forge lasting bonds with your employees. Changes in personnel cost your company time and reduce the efficiency of your painting crews. One way to prevent this from taking its toll on your company is to carefully select employees from the applicant pool.

Hiring: Where to Look

When searching for good painting company employees, start with your success stories, the employees that have developed into solid members of your team. How did you find this guy? If you discover that certain channels (Internet, newspapers, job boards, and lumber yard referrals) delivered more than their fair share of great employees, and then focus your attention on employees who come in through those channels.

The method does not matter. Build your pool of employees through word of mouth only, if that is what gives you high-quality employees. The key is to build on your past successes.

Hiring: Who to Hire

Aim for stability when it comes to hiring your crew. If you select employees who desire stability, you will soon have a crew of project tested veterans who are with you for the long haul. Potential employees with little or no experience should be screened for their desire to learn the painting trade as a long term career. Training is costly, and if your employees are leaving after a matter of months, those training costs can cut into your profits. Plus, work crews with a revolving door are less efficient than a stable crew.

Now that the hiring pool has been identified, next, what to do with employees.

Part 2 - What Product Is Right for Your Painting Project? -- A Brief Look at Commercial Paints

Standard Commercial Painting Paints -- General Purpose

Standard commercial paints, such as the various paints, primers and stains produced by companies like Benjamin Moore and Cabot, are used for general purpose coverings. Commercial painting products have a wide range of properties, so you should discuss your needs and immediate requirements with a knowledgeable commercial painting contractor company.

Specialty Commercial Painting Paints -- Heavy Duty

Specialty commercial paints offer radically different coating properties for a demanding commercial painting environment. Here are a few examples of products that are designed for heavy-duty commercial and industrial applications:

• Covercrete, a specialized concrete coating
• Griggs Paint, unique aerospace ready coatings
• Polymerland, special engineered resins for use with polymers
• Armorpoxy, a tough floor coating system

Final Words

If you have a commercial project coming up soon, please contact a professional painting company. A skilled and experienced commercial painting contractor will be able to suggest the various products and coating techniques that are right for your building project.

Part 1 - What Product Is Right for Your Painting Project? -- A Brief Look at Commercial Painting Delivery Systems

The commercial painting product market has literally hundreds of applicators, paints, sprays, and types of coatings. If you are in charge of a facility, knowing a little bit about the types of products contractors use can help you make better maintenance decisions about your commercial building.

Commercial Painting Delivery Systems

Airless Spray
Airless spray systems offer versatile and modular functioning. Airless systems can be used to apply lacquers, elastomerics, stains, and other coatings, and may be outfitted for either indoor or outdoor use. These sprayers are available in gas or electric powered models. The gas powered models are powerful, but are more suited to outdoor projects. Inside jobs are best handled with the quieter electric airless sprayer.

High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP)
HVLP systems use a large volume of air reduced to a very low air pressure to turn a liquid paint into a spray. This commercial painting delivery system is often used to coat detailed woodwork and for ceilings. Spray painting works by either combining the paint with air, or convert the paint to tiny droplets and accelerate these out a nozzle. Commercial examples of this include the popular product the Wagner PowerPainter.

Maintenance systems have been briefly discussed as the primary methods for building maintenance. Next, commercial paints will be highlighted.

Part 2 - Understanding Painting Preparation -- A Facility Manager’s Guide to Preparing Painting Surfaces

This guide continues from part one that includes what the owner should do to prep the building. The guilde continues to include what the paintign contractor is responsible for.

Sand or Blast Painting Surface: Your Painting Contractor

The actual sanding of the painting surface should be left to your painting contractor. Depending on the types of coating products that will be applied to the surface, the contractor may have specific manufacturer’s recommendations for sanding. Plus most painting contractors hold to a high standard for surface prep because it is such a huge component of a quality job.

Prime Painting Surface: Your Painting Contractor

After the drying cleaning and sanding, the painting surface is ready to be primed. A primer coat acts as the foundation for the coating. All subsequent layers of paint depend on the adhesion between the primer and the bare surface. Most painting contractors will insist on applying the primer coat to ensure that it is properly done and capable of producing a good finished product.

For more information and advice on preparing a surface for painting and coating, please contact a professional painting company.

IMPORTANT: You should consult with your painting contractor and determine if lead-based paints or other hazardous materials are present before cleaning the painting surface. If a hazardous material issue exists, the painting surface will need to be cleaned by a certified professional for safety reasons.

Part 1 - Understanding Painting Preparation -- A Facility Manager’s Guide to Preparing Painting Surfaces

Proper painting surface preparation is one of the most critical factors to getting high quality results. It doesn’t matter whether the job is complete repainting of a 1,000,000 square foot warehouse complex or a simple touch up job in the gymnasium of a small elementary school. Proper surface prep sets the stage for success. Here are some tips for perfect surface prep that you can take care of.

Dry Painting Surface: You or Your Contractor

First and foremost, your painting surface should be dry. So long as safety permits, you can make life a lot easier for your painting contractor by drying the painting environment beforehand. Dehumidifiers and fans can be employed to speed air circulation. Mop up standing water if necessary to improve the safety of the project site.

Clean Painting Surface: You or Your Painting Contractor

Painting surfaces have to be thoroughly cleaned to ensure good paint adhesion. Your contractor will often include an estimate for prep work in a project bid. You may be able to perform some of the work and thus reduce the estimate; however, some tasks must be performed by a professional. Get rid of old flaky paint, sand down blisters and other imperfections.

IMPORTANT: You should consult with your painting contractor and determine if lead-based paints or other hazardous materials are present before cleaning the painting surface. If a hazardous material issue exists, the painting surface will need to be cleaned by a certified professional for safety reasons.

A guide to the prep work that should be left to your painting contractor will be included in part two.

Inspecting Finished Surfaces -- Tips from Professional Painting Contractors

During the final stages of your commercial painting project, taking a tour through the area and assessing the quality of the job should be one of the first things on your to do list. Here are a few tips from professional painting contractors for a quality, professional finished surface inspection. If possible, examine the painted surfaces in both natural daylight and artificial light for better results. Different anomalies and conditions may be visible in different lighting conditions depending on the time of day.

Even Coverage of Paint

Look for paint coverage that’s evenly and consistently applied. For finding uneven or patchy coverage, your best bet will be to check around window frames and adjacent corners. Make sure that the lines of the paint job are clean and even and that there are no gaps in coverage.

No Blemishes

Look for bumps, cracks, strange adhesions, and other anomalies on the surface. These blemishes are often the sign of improperly applied coats, or unforeseen complications in the painting process. If something is wrong, point out the area to your painting contractor and ask for an explanation. Ask the contractor to fix the affected area at no extra cost to you.

No Bleed Through

A properly finished painting job requires several coats of product for even coverage and good protective qualities Check to make sure that you can’t see any of the old paint through the new paint layers. Similarly, watch out for primer bleeding through the fresh paint.

Looks Good Up Close and from a Distance

Finally, step back and look at the overall results of the project. Occasionally, subtle problems do not reveal themselves until you take a step back and look at the big picture. If you spot something that is just a little off, it may be a sign of a flaw that slipped by a close-up inspection. Take another swing through the project to discover any hidden flaws.

Replicating Method for Surface Finish Inspection

A method of inspecting the surface finish of a component comprising providing an original surface to be inspected. A release agent is applied onto the original surface and an epoxy mixture is applied over the release agent. The epoxy mixture is allowed to harden into a replicated surface. Once the epoxy mixture has hardened, the replicated surface is removed and a metallic coating is applied thereon. The coated replicated surface is then ready for inspection.

Final Words

You don’t need to do a rigorous inspection all on your own. Good painting contractors will help you appraise their work and walk through the finished project with you.

Part 2 - Painting versus Replacing -- A Guide to the Economic Advantages of Painting

The Costs of Painting: Lower Direct Costs and Greatly Reduced Indirect Costs

Painting usually has lower manpower costs. However, if a surface needs to be specially treated or prepared, the manpower costs for painting can be comparable to the costs of replacement. Material costs of painting are usually far lower than replacement costs. An experienced industrial painting company is able to deliver a refurbishment solution to a facility with lower direct costs.

Indirect costs are lower as well. A good industrial painting company is often able to fit work schedules around your production schedule, minimizing downtime, and saving the company a fortune in indirect costs.

Industrial painting can be a very cost effective part of your building refurbishment strategy. Contact your industrial painting company to ask about industrial painting costs and services.

Whether completing emergency repairs or a major project, industrial operations require a contractor who gets the job done quickly and at a competitive price while causing minimal disruption to on-going facility operation. Moreover, work in most facilities requires a contractor who responds quickly and innovatively to unforeseen problems and roadblocks.

Contact an industrial painting company who will partner with you and your facility engineers to provide value engineering before your project begins, find solutions to your problems throughout the work, and deliver a project that works for your operational and maintenance teams.

Part 1 - Painting versus Replacing -- A Guide to the Economic Advantages of Painting

The Costs of Replacement: High Direct Costs and Indirect Costs

When you are planning to refurbish a manufacturing facility, municipal building, office building or warehouse, you always have to consider the costs of painting versus the costs of replacement. While it is true that replacement is a very long term solution, it is also a very costly solution, both in direct costs and in indirect costs.

The direct costs of replacement are obvious. Materials, man-hours and installation eat up most of the project budget. Unfortunately, the project budget only shows part of the true costs of replacement. Structural components are by definition linked together. If you remove one component, you affect the remaining components. This drives up direct costs, usually after a project budget has been approved.

Compared to indirect costs, though, the direct costs of replacement are strictly minor league. Often, replacement strategies require downtime, and for an industrial facility, downtime is extremely costly. While machines and workers are idled, a company can lose tens of thousands of dollars or more every minute of every day.

Part two will address how to lower direct costs and indirect costs.

Building Great Client/Contractor Relationships -- A 5 Step Guide for Clients

Building a long-standing relationship with your commercial painting company can pay off big time. Here are five important tips to keep your relationship open, honest and good for you and good for your business.

Step 1: Share Your Priorities

Share your priorities with your commercial painting company contractor. Communication is essential to building long lasting business relationships. Your contractor can’t read your mind. You need to lay out your priorities, objectives and expectations as precisely as you can – as early as you can in the painting process. Don’t worry if things come up – just make sure to communicate why and how they need to be changed or fixed and how that should impact the painting contractor’s process.

Step 2: Negotiate Terms and Listen

A commercial painting company contractor can be a great planning resource. A painting contractor may be able suggest an otherwise overlooked solution to a difficult commercial painting project. Treat your contractor as an interested partner by soliciting opinions, listening to his or her recommendations, and adjusting your expectations and budget (if possible) to accommodate needs.

Step 3: Make a Written Contract

Establish a written detailed contract with the commercial painting company before the contractor preps a single surface or spray paints a single girder. Contracts help to clearly define the business relationship and - in a sense - liberate it. If you and your contractor are not clear on the terms of your mutual arrangement, it’s easy for frustrations and bad feelings to spoil a working relationship.

Step 4: Touch Base Often

Schedule regular meetings to discuss progress. By putting a meeting on the calendar, you and your contractor commit to maintaining an ongoing dialog. Ongoing communications as a project develops is absolutely essential to maintaining a good working relationship. These meetings do not need to take very long, nor do they need to be face to face. Figure on fifteen minutes a week for a routine progress meeting. Follow-up your meeting with an email to the contractor to clarify any significant issues.

Step 5: Trust Experience

Your commercial painting company contractor should know his or her business. Once you have found a painting company with the experience that your facility needs, stand back and let them take care of your projects. Trust your contractor’s experience.

Looking Ahead

Like a personal relationship, a business relationship evolves over time. Periodically review your relationships with contracting firms and outsourcing organizations and discover if there are areas that need touching up and improvement.

Part 2 - How a Professional Painting Company Picks the Right People

Leadership Qualities for a Professional Painting Company Crew

If you want to put together an outstanding painting crew, start by looking for a leader, someone who can understand the larger picture of a project and is able to consistently communicate that knowledge as needed to the other workers on the crew. Other leadership qualities that are highly desirable include the ability to interpret directions from a project manager, solid professional painting experience, diplomatic skills, sound judgment and excellent problem solving skills.

Front Line Workers for a Professional Painting Company Crew

Some employees are natural craftsmen, and prefer to work on the fine details of a project. Other employees are workhorses, able to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. A professional painting company encourages crew leaders to match the natural strengths of the workers to the tasks presented by a project.

Morale for a Professional Painting Company Crew

Morale is a very important part of a successful work crew. Fighting, rivalries and personal complaints will interfere with the work at hand. In order to produce quality results every time, a work crew must be able to do more than just get along. The people and personalities have to click, and if they don’t click, the crew leader needs to be perceptive enough to notice the problem and skilled enough to deal with the issue before it affects a project negatively.

Recognizing the value of people is key in the success of all companies.

Part 1 - The Right Way to Building a Good Painting Crew

How a Professional Painting Company Picks the Right PeopleCrew

In the commercial and industrial painting world, the basic working unit is the painting crew. Knowing how to put together a tightly knit, highly efficient work crew is the defining activity for a painting company. If the company can field great painting crews, then financial success is a lot more likely.

A professional painting company considers the painting crews as the front line of their business. Sure, the clients’ project managers and facilities directors talk with the home office, but the crews at the job site see and talk to clients face to face every working day. Add in the contact time between the crew and the employees of industrial and commercial clients, and there is a lot of potential for a painting company’s people to make a great impression when and where it really counts.

Putting together the ideal painting crew is about recognizing the value of people, and putting that recognition and skill set to work for the company. A well-tuned painting crew does more than accomplish work. The right people can actually drive business for a painting company. So consider carefully before your company makes that all important hiring decision. Hiring the wrong person can cost your company valuable time and money, not to mention the time it takes to find the right replacement.

Part two will include the details of putting together the crew.

Part 2 - How To Choose A Commercial Painting Contractor

When you've finally decided on a painting contractor you would like to discuss your commercial painting project with, you should first verify their license and/or certifications. These key elements are important to not only the quality of work they can provide, but can also validate their level of expertise. This verification can make or break your decision to hire this painting contractor.

Perhaps the most important element of hiring a painting contractor involves insurance. Any reputable commercial painting contractor will have current general liability and worker's compensation insurance. It's required by law. Do they have insurance? What is covered and what limits of coverage do they maintain? The vital details of liability in different situations should be discussed with your attorney. It is ultimately your responsibility to ensure the contractor you hire is covered adequately for your project. If you didn't perform due diligence yourself, don't be surprised if a situation arises and you are not covered. Ask questions now, not later.

Finding a professional and experienced painting contractor doesn't have to be difficult. Once you find a reliable painting contractor to complete your project, you can also contract with them on an as needed basis for maintenance of your facility.

This initial search may be time-consuming, but the end result, will be worth the effort in the long run.

Part 1 - How To Choose A Commercial Painting Contractor

Deciding to hire a professional painting contractor for a project at your corporation or small business. Whether you've contracted this work out before or not, finding an experienced and professional commercial painting contractor can be a daunting task. Ultimately, the list of professional painting contractors may seem endless, but upon closer inspection of their qualifications and resources, your list of choices narrows drastically.

What elements are important when beginning the hiring process?

Professional painting contractors offer varying levels of services, but their experience level and knowledge of your particular project can differ significantly. What each professional brings to the table will help you to narrow down your potential list of companies.

Also, make the most of your networking circle. You may have a person whose opinion you value that has hired a painting contractor in the past discuss the pros and cons of their project. Utilizing their experiences may allow for a more successful outcome with your selection of a painting contractor.

Next, when you have prepared a short list of prospective painting contractors, call and ask for a list of jobsites or photos of similar projects they've done in the past for you to review. A qualified and honest contractor will readily supply you with a list of locations to visit or photos. This will help to determine their capabilities and whether their skills suits your project needs. They also can answer any other questions you may have discovered while researching your options. A true professional, and one with integrity, will take the time to help you understand your options and any limitations of your project.

The decision has been made to for a commercial painting contractor, what next? Part 2 will open the path to a successful project.

Part 2 - Industrial Painting Contractors: Safety Certification for Painting Contractors

The SSPC offers additional certifications for specialized industrial painting contractors.

SSPC Specialty Certifications for Industrial Painting Contractors
QP6: Thermal Spray Prep/Metallic Alloys
QP8: Polymer Coating/Cement Surfaces

The QP6 designation deems an individual safe and capable to perform work relating to prepping thermal sprays and coating surfaces of certain metallic alloys, such as aluminum and zinc. The QP8 certification, on the other hand, relates to an individual’s ability to manage polymer coating and cement surface jobs acceptably.

You can also look to other work certification boards, like OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to determine the “safety IQ” of a given industrial painting contractor. Of course, the SSPC and OSHA are only two of many organizations designed to promote and objectively evaluate industrial safety.

When hiring an industrial painting contractor, get a full report on their team’s safety training. Also, be sure to provide information on special hazards or potentially dangerous materials at your facility. If necessary, get a lawyer to read over your contract and advise you.

Remember - a single accident or careless error could potentially lead to a series of lawsuits that can harm your business. Avoid the headaches by choosing an industrial painting contractor with an outstanding reputation for safety and the certifications to back up that reputation.

Whether you are the owner of a small office building or the facilities manager at a large office complex, you want to know how to forge lasting bonds with your industrial painting contractor. Changes in personnel cost your company time and reduce the efficiency of your painting projects. One way to prevent this from taking its toll on your company is to carefully select industrial painting contractors with a stellar safety record.

Part 1 - Industrial Painting Contractors: Safety Certification for Painting Contractors

Whether you’re an owner of a massive facility that’s about to undergo a restoration or you’re a small business manager who’s contracting out a warehouse refinishing job, you want to know that your industrial painting contractor is properly trained in safe and effective painting practices. Fortunately, the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) has developed a sophisticated set of certification programs to help business owners like you make smart, safe decisions about their hires.

SSPC Safety Certifications for Industrial Painting Contractors

QP1: Industrial Coatings, Steel Surface Prep
QP2: Hazardous Paint removal
QP3: Indoor Facilities Surfaces and Coating Apps

The SSPC Safety Certifications break down into three main classes – QP1, QP2, and QP3. A QP1 certified individual is deemed safe to do work relating to industrial coatings and surface prep for steel work. QP2 certified painters are qualified to remove hazardous paint. QP3 certified industrial painting contractors are qualified to prepare surfaces and coating applications for an indoor facility (open or covered).

As saftey is a big issue on all industrial painting contractors, specialty certifications are just as important. Part 2 will include specialty certifications.

Part 2 - Commercial Painting Budgets: Budgeting For Commercial Painting Projects

2. Changing the Contracting Process

As a commercial painting budget solution, changing the contracting process may seem like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. However, the savings from a new way of administering contracts can be significant, especially if your facility does a lot of outsourcing.

Many large organizations adapt a job order contracting system (JOC ) to handle their contracting process. A JOC system is a type of indefinite demand and indefinite quantity contracting system which relies of pre-defined base prices for services. Contractors bid by multiplying the base prices by a selected co-efficient.

JOC systems are often used by schools, government agencies and other organizations to streamline their contracting process. The real savings come from reduced advertising costs, reduced administrative needs, and a quicker RFP to finished project time. According to a white paper published by Centennial Contractors Enterprise, Inc., the savings associated with a JOC system can be up to 21 percent of standard costs.

The advantage of a JOC system is that once in place to cover a painting project, the system is equally applicable to virtually every other outsourced aspect of facilities budgeting. However, if you are not currently using a JOC system, you should strongly consider hiring an expert consultant to help you implement the program.

Final Words

Facility budgets are not likely to increase anytime soon, so creative solutions are a must to find room in the budget for commercial painting, construction and maintenance projects. In the end, whether your company chooses purpose driven spending or changing the contracting process, the ability to establish a companywide logical decision-making process and get management buy-in is critical to the company’s success in managing your commercial painting budget.

Part 1 - Commercial Painting Budgets: Budgeting For Commercial Painting Projects

If your maintenance budget for the current operating year has a taken a hit, you may be wondering how to get a commercial painting project accomplished along with everything else. Two possible solutions to project budgeting are purpose driven spending and changing the contracting process.

1. Purpose Driven Spending

The most common view of a commercial painting project is simple maintenance and facilities up-keep. Justifying painting and coating projects as preventative maintenance is relatively easy because the surface treatment can prevent damages to the underlying structure. If the budget separates preventative maintenance funds from operating costs, you could package and combine the painting project according to its true purpose to get the funding from your management team.

However, painting and coating can be a lot more than simple up-keep. In a retail setting, the appearance of a structure can a have a direct impact on the amount of business the facility is able to attract. If the current maintenance budget cannot support a painting project, perhaps the marketing budget could.

As the maintenance budget is reduced the solution is to change the contracting process. In Part 2 we will discuss a viable soultion for any-sized business or project.