Our Services

Photo Gallery

Quick Facts

Top 10 Mistakes

Price Quote

Choosing price over value.

When comparing the different painting options available to you, amortize the cost of the coating system option you are considering over its expected life to get an annual cost. Then compare that to other options available before deciding which option provides the lowest annual cost. People paint for a variety of reasons. If you are merely cleaning up the overall appearance of your facility to sell it, then you might not be overly concerned with the longevity of the paint system used. If on the other hand you have a vested interest in the property and want the lowest cost per year associated with painting, then you need to do your homework.

For example: If Coating System A will last 5 years before noticeable deterioration and costs $10,000, then its yearly cost is $2,000. If System B costs $7,500 but lasts for 3 years, it has a yearly cost of $2,500. So despite being higher priced upfront, System A is actually the better choice and offers the greatest value with the lower annual cost.

Sometimes the only difference between a low and high cost paint job is the quality of paint used. It is normally much wiser to spend the additional 20-30% for higher quality material, as it costs the same to prepare the substrate and apply it. In addition, remediation can be expensive once the cheaper system fails and needs to be redone.

"It’s unwise to pay too much. But it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balances prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better. There is hardly anything in the world that someone can’t make a little worse and sell a little cheaper -- and people who consider price alone are this man’s lawful prey."
-- John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Failure to ensure proper insurance coverage.

One would assume that all contractors are insured for injury while working at your building and carry Workers Compensation Insurance Board (WSIB) to protect your company from any liability, but this is not always the case. Contractors who are sole proprietors, partnerships, or incorporated companies that do not have any employees are not required by law to have WSIB coverage. In these cases, you are considered the employer and thus responsible for making the contributions to the WSIB. Also if there is an accident, the accident will go on your record and affect your WSIB rates. It is a good idea to get a clearance certificate every 45 days to show the that contractor is fully paid up.

Concerning public liability and public damage insurance, don't assume that if a contractor had insurance at the start of the year that their policy is paid in full or that it has not been cancelled. It is always a good idea to ask for a certificate of insurance specifying your company and location as being insured. That way, if there is a problem, your insurance company can deal directly with the contractor's insurance company.

Choosing the wrong type of paint for ceilings.

There are literally hundreds of paints to choose from when deciding to paint. Over the past 10 years, environmentally-friendly paints with low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) such as acrylics have become very popular. While low VOC coatings can be a good choice for a new building, if you are repainting an existing facility (whether it is currently painted or not ), they may not perform to your satisfaction. That is because over time, manufacturing processes and other activities can leave behind residual oils on painted surfaces.

With acrylic/latex paints these residual oils can cause two adverse effects. Firstly they affect adhesion of the paint, and secondly they can cause the paint to turn brown (discolor) within a few weeks. Using alkyd or oil-based paints (which are solvent-based) is not a problem, because the solvent in the paint will migrate through these residual oils and provide better adhesion to the underlying substrate.

When painting surfaces with an existing gloss, it is important to know what type of underlying paint you are painting over. Oils or alkyds can be applied over oils, alkyds, or latex/acrylic paints with great success. Latex/acrylic paints however, can only be applied over latex/acrylic systems, or, over properly prepared surfaces (cleaned and sanded and/or primed). Acrylic/latex paints will exhibit very poor mechanical bonding on oil-based paints. If you are unsure of what type of paint is currently on the surface, simply rub some acetone on it. If the paint rubs off, then it is an acrylic/latex paint.

Telling the contractor how many coats of paint to use.

In residential painting where brushes and rollers are typically used, most jobs have to be done in two coats for complete coverage. In industrial painting however, the surfaces are large and complicated enough to make spray painting the application method of choice.

When spray painting, the painter can adjust how much paint is being applied to the surface in one coat, thereby eliminating the need for a second coat (and the extra cost). Thus, it is more important to talk about coverage in terms of "customer satisfaction" rather than to worry about how many coats are applied. You will get much better prices this way, as contractors experienced with your type of project will know how much paint will provide full coverage. Demanding a two-coat system on a ceiling can cost an additional 30-40 cents per square foot. That could translate into tens of thousands of dollars in extra cost -- yet with no appreciable benefit to you.

Not understanding their responsibilities once the job is started.

Many customers think that once a job has been agreed upon and the purchase order issued, that their part of the job is done. Not true. For a job to go well, the contractor and customer must work together to ensure the project goes smoothly.

Clearing a room of all movable items such as bins, skids, product, etc. will enable the painters to move about easily with their lift equipment, thereby getting the job done more quickly, safely, and with less risk of damage occurring. If you don't have a location to move items to, consider completing the job in smaller stages, or, temporarily renting trailers to store excess items.

Not covering the floors.

With new-technology "dryfall" paints designed specifically for ceilings, the paint turns to a dust after it has fallen approximately 8 feet. The paint companies will tell you that it is easy to clean up the fallout by sweeping it up with a broom. What they neglect to tell you is that yes, the paint does fall as a dust onto the floor, but then the 2-ton scissor lift commonly used to access ceilings will crush and force this dust into the pores of the floor, leaving unsightly tire tracks (usually white). These marks can require extensive floor scrubbing to remove. To avoid this, it's best to cover the floors whenever possible.

Using tape to cover sprinkler heads.

This is dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, the tape prevents the sprinkler heads from functioning correctly by insulating the temperature sensor from the heat that would cause it to be triggered. Secondly, the tape will leave behind a sticky residue that may require the sprinkler head being replaced if inspected by your fire company or the fire department.

Failure to conduct preliminary tests.

In many situations, there can be a wide range of potential coatings to use. When you want to get the best value and prevent future problems, it is a good idea to conduct preliminary tests to check the performance of various systems.

For example, there are ceiling paints available that can be applied over moderately oily surfaces with excellent adhesion, thereby eliminating the extra step of hand cleaning and dangers of power washing in an existing facility. There are also special direct-to-rust coatings available that can be applied over tightly-adhering corrosion, thereby saving the cost and mess of abrasive sandblasting.

Not understanding the material your metal ceiling is made of.

Corrugated metal decking has been used for ceilings in factories and warehouse for decades. It comes in various forms including: satin coat galvanized, passive galvanized, active galvanized, spangle galvanized and treated. Not understanding exactly what type of material it is can have dire consequences.

As an example, standard alkyd or oil dryfall coatings will react with a spangled galvanized decking, forming a soap and causing the paint to have poor to no adhesion. You may notice this in a couple weeks or a couple years, but eventually, all the paint will fall off. There are special coatings designed for use on this type of galvanized decking offering permanent adhesion, and the extra cost is usually minimal.

Contact us today to find out... We're here to help and provide expert advice for your ceiling painting project.