Save Time on Sanding

5 min read

How to get a better finish faster

It was a disaster. The contractor and his crew had been contracted to paint a $4 million house for a new homeowner. But while power sanding to eliminate overspray from a knockdown ceiling, the painting crew hit a snag. The temporary heat wasn’t fully keeping the March moisture and condensation at bay, and the recycled drywall paper on the sheet rock was getting damp. Add to it that the 2000 RPM power sanders had raised the paper on the sheet rock, and the resulting texture of the walls could only be described as “furry.” For efficiency’s sake, the contractor decided to paint the prime coat over it with sprayer. He succeeded at making the texture no longer furry—except now it felt like 80-grit sandpaper. When the homeowner walked in, he could see every butt joint, flat, and nail spot in the wall under natural light. The homeowner was livid.

At this point, the contractor asked Kent Annis, president and owner of Full Circle International, for help. Kent took in the scene, told the crew to pause what they were doing, and asked the painting contractor to follow him into the basement. The contractor brought a roller and a fan, and Kent brought Full Circle’s Radius 360.

Continue reading Save Time on Sanding

Advice for a Young Painter

3 min read

What experienced painting contractors wish they’d known when they started

The painting industry may be constantly changing thanks to new trends, products, and technology, but experience never goes out of style. With new painters joining the market every day, we invited veteran painting contractors to share their wisdom with the next generation. Here’s what they said they’d tell someone getting into the trade.

Continue reading Advice for a Young Painter

Keep Wood Finishes Looking Fresh All Season Long with New WoodScapes® Rain Refresh™ Solid Color Stain

3 min read

For years, professional painting contractors have relied on the top quality performance of WoodScapes® Exterior Stains to give their customers’ properties a rich, beautiful appearance that stands the test of time.

Now, with the introduction of WoodScapes® Rain Refresh™ Solid Color Stain, you have yet another option in the Woodscapes product line-up to offer your customers. Designed to keep vertical exterior wood surfaces looking beautiful with minimal maintenance, this new exterior wood finish features an advanced self-cleaning formula that blocks tannin bleed and offers excellent adhesion, all while keeping wood surfaces cleaner.
Continue reading Keep Wood Finishes Looking Fresh All Season Long with New WoodScapes® Rain Refresh™ Solid Color Stain

Bolstering the Family Business

3 min read

Relationship with Sherwin-Williams rep strengthens this contractor’s bottom line

Since its founding in 1948, Tilden A. Bonin Contractor, Inc. has served clients throughout the greater Lafayette, Louisiana area with high-quality painting. The business has stayed in the family for three generations, being most recently purchased by brothers Todd and Durk Viator from their uncle in 1995.

Shortly after taking over the company, the brothers decided to start buying paint from Sherwin-Williams instead of a rival chain. It was a simple decision at the time, driven by convenience.

Continue reading Bolstering the Family Business

4 Things You Need to Know About Respirators

6 min read

Be prepared with these safety tips from the experts at 3M

Respirators are important. You know that well as a painter. After all, a properly chosen respirator can help keep you breathing easily even when you’re surrounded by paint chemicals and airborne particles. It’s not just you, either; more and more people have learned about the value of respirators since the pandemic.

“Since COVID-19, many more people know what N95s are,” says Jason Lunn, Application Engineer at 3M. “Plus, many people now understand the difference between a mask and a respirator—that it comes down to the fact that NIOSH-approved respirators are designed to form a tight seal to the face, while masks are not and can have gaps around the edges.”

But there’s still plenty of things many people—even veteran painting contractors—don’t know about respirator safety. Lunn believes it’s because most people were never taught it.

Continue reading 4 Things You Need to Know About Respirators

PROFESSIONAL PAINTING CONTRACTOR