Here it is, almost February and winter is just arriving. Sure, we have had a few cold days, but no rain to speak of. Now it is starting. So now the question comes up, Will we have a late winter (that goes into the spring)? or will we have a short winter? Now that work is picking back up, planning becomes more important.
No question that the painting trade has changed. New construction, notably housing, went from “full Throttle” to “dead in the water”. Repaint and maintenance went from “really busy” to “hardly any”. This fall has shown both to start reviving. New projects won’t get close to the 2006 pace for a long time, if ever. Repaint and maintenance is now on it’s knees; from flat on it’s face. I am seeing projects that needed to be done 4 years ago, starting up. Because of this stall, the maintenance work has degenerated from maintenance to repair. So, the extra cost of waiting to be done, will slow some of it’s recovery. Ironic, isn’t it? But deferring maintenance has always cost more.
Thinking of deferring costing more…. This applies to airless rigs as well. If your pump is leaking at the piston, not repairing it right away jeopardizes the piston. This can easily double the cost of repair. So as soon as you notice leakage, schedule the machine to be repaired. This will allow you to repair the machine at a known time, rather than causing a panic when it completely fails during the middle of a project.
