the Heat is on

Oh Oh.  dating myself with an old Glen Frye tune from the Miami Vice days.

It seems that we went straight from Winter to Summer.  Spring was maybe 2 or 3 days.  The good news is that the repaint market is now waking up.  There is 4 or 5 years of deferred maintenance waiting to be started.  The prices will still be low for the start of the summer, but as demand grows, so will the bid prices.  Don’t be discouraged by these starting low prices.  Bid everything you can and build up your calendar.  Then start raising your prices, slowly, to where they should be.  There will be quite a bit of repair work that will need to be done.  Don’t underestimate the time that it will take.  Wood trim that is cracked and bare will need to be completely caulked or replaced and primed before finish painting.  Talk to your customers and explain the long term difference between cosmetic paint jobs and professional repairs.  One will look OK for a short time and the other will look good for a long time.

Don’t skimp on material.  The easiest thing to use to cut your costs is thinning out your paint or using really cheap material.  Either of these will come back and bite you in the future.  Paint is the cheapest thing in your bid.  Pile it on to manufacturer’s spec’s.  Your jobs will look better and last longer and send you more referrals.  Referrals are the best jobs to get.  Unless you cut your own throat bidding the previous job, you will be expected to charge accordingly on the referred jobs. This is another reason to avoid bidding cheap.  It is better to bid more and then DELIVER more.  Do all of the extra touches, like painting their address on the curb, painting the address numbers that are on the house so that they really show up.  Paint a corresponding planter box.  Or whatever they have.  Make your service what they remember.  Remember to work for referrals.

Groaning Pains

It looks like construction has stopped it’s freefall and is now leveling out.  Maybe even starting back up, although slowly.  We are starting to see quite a few parts being back-ordered.  It seems that the manufacturers let their stock get quite low.  When they go to reorder, THEIR suppliers have let THEIR stock get quite low and can’t fill the order!  So the supplier can’t get the part to the OEM, who can’t get the part to us……

Some of the suppliers have closed their doors.  So now new suppliers have to be found.  Some of the back-order times are quite long.

So much for the bad news.  The good news is that the painting industry is starting to reawaken.  There is so much deferred maintenance from the past 3 years that when the economy comes completely awake, the business will thrive again.

The contractors that are doing OK, and will always do well, are those that never forgot the fundamentals of business.  ALWAYS return phone calls asap.  ALWAYS bid on all available jobs.  If you are too busy or don’t really want the job, bid it high; but ALWAYS bid everything.

We’ve MOVED

I have now opened the new location.  Our new address is: 3351 Business Drive, Sacramento, Ca. 95820

The web address, phone numbers and emails are still the same.

Our new address is a much better location.  I am in the front corner of the building, easily seen from the street.  I also have a view of the street out my office window.  The footage is less, so I am being forced to be really organized.  Not needing a showroom anymore, that footage wasn’t needed.  I will continue to sell used machines, but only new machines on a prepaid order.

Since Graco has purchased both ASM and Airlessco, they will consolidate into 1 company.  So 1 less parts department wall.  Since SprayTech purchased both Titan and Speeflo, another wall gone.  Binks and HERO are almost defunct, so less walls there too.  So I shrunk the parts department by 1 complete bay and shortened all of the wall from 10 foot long to 8 foot long.  I will now have to reorganize the parts, but will have plenty of room.

eXfuze is still going to be displayed in the office and will have a small display in the shop.  As it grows, it’s counter space will increase…….

Grand Opening at new location

I now have the new address.  As of the 3rd week in February, I will be open at:

3351 Business Dr.  suite #100  Sacramento, California.  95820

It is a total of 6 blocks from the old location.  The Grand Opening will be March 1st, 2010.  I will be between both places from the second week in February to March 1st.  All of my customers will receive a 10% discount from their total invoices, dated Feb 15th to March 31st.  This is to show my appreciation during this moving transition.

Our phone number will remain the same, as will the website and all of the email address’.

eXfuze will still show a presence on the counter and curio display for all of my cross over customers.

on the map above, Business Dr is on the left side of the Little League Park, North of 14th Ave.  between 65th and Power Inn Rd.

map link to our new address: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/6-S73rvmqAUdf0uTkt

Winter has set in

With the onset of winter weather, remember to protect your equipment.  Any machines that have not been prepped for winter need to be protected NOW.  If a machine is stored in any non-insulated, non-heated area; it WIL freeze.  I have had machines come in with split pressure controls, split cylinders, burst hoses, etc. that were in a camper shell, a van, a storage shed, even a garage.  Water freezing is one of the most powerful forces on Earth.

So.

Really clean your machine, hose and gun with warm soapy water.  Rinse until water is clear, not milky.  Either fill with anti-freeze and leave prime valve open or, better still, fill with anti-freeze and disconnect all hoses.  Yes, you can store with all systems empty, but leave prime valve open anyway or disconnect hoses.

Remember, just like you tell your customers; prevention and protection is the cheapest maintenance.

Winter coming on

Here we are in November with a cold front moving in.  Winter will be here really soon.  If you have any ongoing relationships with property managers, real estate agents and homeowners, let them know that the deferred maintenance of the last few years will add up to substantial repair costs if let go through another winter.  I see many building and houses that are showing premature age and decay.  The reluctance to spend money on upkeep now is going to get expensive later.

Again, I expound on the importance for anyone in construction, or any seasonal work, to have a secondary income.  If you spend even a small amount of time during your busy times, when business slows down, like it has now, you will reap the benefits.  My secondary business, www.extractfuzion.com has grown 25% to 30% every month since it’s April inception.  It is paying it’s own bills and contributing net dollars to the family income.

New News

I just had a conversation with the chemist that recommended that we use dishwashing detergent to clean out our painting equipment.  I explained to him that the only problem with using the liquid dish soap was that if it didn’t get completely cleaned out, it may make the valve balls stick.  So I had changed my instructions to using at least 3 gallons of clear, cool water to flush out the soapy water.  He said that the foaming properties of the soap are what help get the nooks and crannies clean, it also makes it more difficult to flush the soap out.  He said that laundry soap would work also.  It doesn’t foam much and would be easier to flush out with clear water.  He thought that it might be cheaper also.

So I will now change the flyers that I send out to reflect this change.  Also of note is that we have had 3 machines come in this month with paint that had dry-packed in them.  All of the owners stated that they had been using new Behr paint purchased from Home Depot.  1 was a medium and 2 were deep tint base.  Lots of color in these.  The paint dry-packed inside the pistons, on up through the hose nipple coming out of the fluid section cylinder.  Keep this in mind on these really hot days too.  If your pump seems to be losing volume, flush it immediately.  You may use soap and water, shellac solvent or lacquer thinner; whichever is pertinent to the material that you are using.