Alexandria, VA www.patrickspainting.com 703-862-7873

Too Much More Than Meets the Eye

Safety for the painters and passersby was paramount.

It seemed quick enough: The company was hired to paint two homes in Alexandria, Virginia. Pressure wash, primer, topcoat, topcoat again, pack up. “The quote was based on all of the brick of both units being the same color,” reported company owner Patrick Coye. There were the usual extras, removing and painting the downspouts, then reinstalling after the paint dried. Paint fascia, windows, frames, headers, footers, keystone, remove and repaint the burglar bars, then reinstall after painting the windows. They would use a level 2 prep on the woodwork throughout the house.

Access to the house was occasionally limited. “We had to keep one of the alleys open at all times for cars to pass through, so we were forced to concentrate on one side at a time throughout the day while trying to limit our time working in direct sunlight,” said Patrick.

The prep, famously the king’s ransom of any paint job, was a lot more involved than they thought – after pressure washing, Patrick and crew were treated to surprise after surprise. “The paint started to peel heavily and was coming off in large strips. The concrete patches that were previously done did not hold up well, and we had to remove [them] and apply new concrete. All of the windows were peeling/flaking badly and needed to be scraped, sanded, repaired and fully primed,” said Patrick.

Fortunately, no one stole the burglar bars, but when they tried to reinstall, the screws wouldn’t hold them to the concrete so they had to re-drill the holes to make the installation successful. It was windy, so a lot of the planned spraying had to be scuttled in favor of a cut and roll so as not to land paint on the cars going through the alley and parked in the nearby parking lot. . At the end of the project, thanks to their attention to detail and willingness to work though obstacles, the property was in much better shape than when they started.

Before pic: the faded façade.   The crew was surprised by prep issues popping up on the back wall.

Key Products

• Sherwin-Williams Products: Loxon, Multi-Purpose Primer, Duration, Resilience