Most painting contractors have been confronted with the question of whether or not something can be painted, or at the very least sought valuable consultation from one of their manufacturing reps on how to properly coat some unfamiliar substrate. After 30-plus years in the business, we thought we were pretty close to having seen it all. We were wrong. This tale is about painting more than 200,000 ft2 of damp limestone, underground, some covered in shotcrete, with the level of surface prep that would make a product rep stare at his shoes in disbelief.
Getting what would be considered a late invite to the party in most contractors’ worlds, Major Painting had to go to work. Running production and spread rate tests in the 11th hour, we had to get it right. There was no playbook for this substrate, yet.
In less than two weeks we had to deploy a handful of industrial aerial units, bring in high-volume rigs, and ready our people in process, safety, and communication standards to work in this environment. It was a tall task, one that Major Painting was ready for.
