PPC PROfile: Our interview with Brad Bueschel, owner of Brad’s Painting in Coal City, Illinois.
Coal City is a village of about 5,000 people about an hour southwest of Chicago. It’s a tight-knit community where a contractor’s reputation means everything. It is here that Brad Bueschel has earned the trust of his neighbors as a true professional in the local painting field.
Your first career was as a teacher and school principal. How did you get started in the painting business?
In 2004, I bought a new house and needed a painter. There were only five painters in town, so I called all five and never received a call back. Decided to try painting myself, I went to a local retired painter who showed me a few things and have been painting ever since. I have been painting for over 20 years now and will hire employees as needed. I mostly do residential interior paint jobs. I paint a lot for elderly people so they do not get taken advantage of by bad characters scamming/ overcharging them.
You recently completed an important historic building repaint in your area – the Carbon Hill School Museum. Can you tell us more about this property?
The building was originally built in 1892 as a two-story schoolhouse. In 1935, the second story was taken off the building and it was re-sided for the last time. It has been a public museum for 25 years.
How did you get involved in the project?
I was selected because I had previously done some painting for Michele Micetich, the president of the local historical society.
What steps did you have to take to get the substrate ready for painting?
The building was in bad shape after the last paint job. It was peeling all over from improper prep work. The last person to paint it was someone forced to do it as community service hours, not a professional who had pride in their work. My prep included powerwashing the building, hand scraping all the loose paint off, and spot priming any bare surfaces. I scraped the rust off of the door with a side grinder and primed the door.
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What products did you use?
I spot primed the siding with ProBlock® Premium All-Purpose Water-Based Interior/Exterior Primer and primed the door with Pro Industrial™ Kem Bond® Primer to block remaining rust. The siding paint was A-100® Exterior Acrylic Latex in the satin sheen and the door paint was Pro Industrial™ Multi-Surface Acrylic in the eg-shel sheen.
What qualities did these coatings have and how did they work for you?
The products worked fantastic. ProBlock was selected for spot priming the siding because of its stain blocking abilities and adhesion to the siding. Kem Bond was selected for its rust-blocking capabilities. A-100 was selected because it is one of the more flexible exterior paints from Sherwin-Williams. With the siding being so old – from 1935 – there was a fear that weather and temperature changes would cause the siding to fluctuate more than modern siding would. Past coatings had popped and peeled off so A-100 was chosen based on flexibility over color retention and UV protection since the color was Extra White, a package white color. Multi-Surface Acrylic was chosen for the doors based on adhesion and durability.
Any other special challenges unique to this job?
Just the fact that everything was so old. The windows were the originals from 1892. The siding was last replaced in 1935.
What role did your paint supplier play in the success of this job?
My Sherwin-Williams rep Nick Nihill was very helpful. He recommended the products I used and came out to the job site on a regular basis to check our progress. He showed concern for the job to go smoothly. Whenever anything was needed, he came through for us.
What would you say is the greatest reward in being involved in the restoration of such a historical building in Carbon Hill?
It was like saving history and keeping it intact. Paint is important to protecting a building and preserving it. There is a certain satisfaction in properly fixing up an old schoolhouse that is now serving its community as a museum. Especially in such a tight-knit community like this, it means a lot.
©2026 Fusable. Brad Bueschel was interviewed by Mike Starling, PPC/Pintor editor. Photo by Lori Cora.
