What do you know about Paint and Paint Systems?
If you are a decorator, then you should know all about paint. After all it’s your area of expertise. However, when speaking to decorators up and down the country this does not appear to be the case. They are a little sketchy in their knowledge. They rely on the guy behind the counter at the paint suppliers just a bit too much. If a customer asks them for advice on a certain situation that need painting, then they will get back to them with the answer.
Have a look at the following questions and ask yourself if you know the answer.
1. What would you prime concrete with? It’s a swimming pool so it will be underwater?
2. What do I prime the tiles in my bathroom with? Will the paint stand up to the high humidity? How long will it need to cure before I can use the bathroom?
3. What paint should I use to paint my kitchen? Should I use a two-pack paint? There is a single pack available and you can use a crosslinker, would that work okay? What would be the advantage of that system?
4. Is water-based paint better or solvent-based? I am based in Florida and I am painting the outside of the house.
Need I go on? There are a thousand different surfaces, a million different situations and a thousand new paints coming out every year. You do not get that with wood, do you?
Understanding paint systems is essential if you are a decorator and you want to provide a first-class service to your customer. You cannot rely on asking your mates for the information and you certainly cannot rely on the guy behind the counter at the local decorating supplier.
There are a number of strategies that you can do so that you never fall into the trap of using the wrong paint system that breaks down in 6 month’s time, do you know what they are?
There are two approaches that you should take. Firstly, you need to get advice from your paint manufacturer. These guys employ paint chemists who formulate the paint and specifiers who will give you a proven system. Speak to these guys, they are just a phone call away and they are free.
Secondly, you need to test your own products. Ok you have had some good advice but get a small amount of the paint and try it in the place that you are going to paint to be sure that it does what the manufacturer claims. I have tested paints that have failed to do what the manufacturer claimed so beware. It’s you the customer comes back to. In my experience, any attempt to pin it on the paint manufacturer will fail 9 times out of 10.
I look at this process in more detail in my book “Fast and Flawless Systems” available here on Amazon in both Kindle version and print.
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