ImageWorks Painting, Inc. www.imageworkspainting.com

Paint party!
Mockup building helps in massive concrete project.

ImageWorks did a lot of testing to make sure the coatings used will stay in place.

Paint party? You bet! Penn United Technologies, a Saxonburg, Pennsylvania-based provider of precision metal manufacturing technologies solutions, wanted to celebrate its 50-year anniversary with, among other things, an exterior paint project. About a thousand gallons were poured into the festivities as ImageWorks Painting covered all exterior wall surfaces, including vertical rib steel panel siding, CMU (concrete masonry unit) and split-faced CMU, precast concrete retainer walls, and deep grooved soldier brick.

There wasn’t a hard deadline, but then there was, as “get it done by fall” turned into “Due to a COVID shutdown we had to start two months later than we’d planned.” With sixty days cut off at the get-go, the company had to divert equipment and manpower from other jobs to meet its commitments.

This required extra coordination from front office to crew, and everyone got on board with scheduling and project management. “Thanks to the flexible scheduling efforts of our production manager Steve, our schedule coordinator Regis, and the great efforts of our project foreman Will and his crews, we were able to complete the job in good time,” said the company’s HR and Safety Manager Sarah Sinegal. Just as important, she added, they kept their commitments to other customers as well.

An indispensable part of this project was the mockup building, where coatings could be tested out before applying them over the entire project. “We had peeling issues when painting the roll coated metals,” said Sinegal. “To mitigate those issues, we applied PPG’s Prep88 cleaner to the previously unpainted metals and added a prime coat of SW’s DTM Bonding Primer. Adhesion tests showed this system worked well and we proceeded problem free.”

It also helped them figure out what primer to use where, as some of the company’s usual arsenal didn’t solve the problems posed by the anniversary buildings. Sherwin-Williams’ Loxon Primer, usually great for this type of work, wasn’t a fit for dealing with the degrading mortar joints, but Loxon conditioner filled in (literally) in its place.

The job took approximately eight weeks; reimagining the timeline as well as a stellar performance in the field earns ImageWorks a place in TOP JOB.

Penn Union’s buildings were due for an upgrade..   A half-finished building shows a combo of old and new color schemes.

Key Products

• Sherwin-Williams Loxon Conditioner
• Sherwin-Williams Duration Exterior Satin
• 3M Scotch (Green) Rough Surface Painters Tape