Category Archives: ONLINE EXTRAS

Expect the Unexpected

These 3 products are at their best even when the weather’s at its worst

Working exterior jobs in early spring can mean dealing with unpredictable and suboptimal weather. Rain, sleet, snow, and cold temperatures can delay or ruin your best-laid plans.

But if you’re stocking the right products, you and your team can be prepared to perform at your best, even when the weather’s at its worst. Depending on your regional demands, we recommend these three paints for your spring exterior projects.

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Unlock Your PRO Advantage Today

Put Sherwin-Williams resources and innovation to work for you.

Your needs as a professional painting contractor are evolving. Whether it means finding more time in your day, being more productive on the job site, or seeking advice on tackling a difficult job, staying competitive in this fast-paced industry is tough.

As your supplier, Sherwin-Williams understands your needs and has developed Sherwin-Williams PRO+, an exclusive program of pro-level services designed to help you grow and manage your business. PRO+ benefits allow you to take advantage of exclusive discounts, productivity-enhancing tools, personalized support, and more.

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Faster Color Choices, Faster Finishes

Provide guidance and expertise with Sherwin-Williams color tools and services

One of the trickiest challenges pros face is helping customers make color choices. As a contractor, you may not feel like an expert on color or have the time to dedicate to help homeowners through the possibly overwhelming color selection process. Thankfully, with Sherwin-Williams in your corner, you have all the tools necessary to help even the most indecisive customer imagine the perfect palette.

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Delivering Durable Results

3 reasons Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel may be right for you

Paint choices matter. Knowing which paint to use is key to a successful and profitable interior paint job–especially one that needs to withstand the wear and tear of high-touch surfaces like cabinets, windows, doors, and trim.

With up to 4x faster dry-to-recoat time*, Emerald® Urethane Trim Enamel (EUTE) is one of many PRO+ductive Solutions Sherwin-Williams offers as part of their PRO+ program. PRO+ductive Solutions help contractors save time by completing jobs quickly and generate profit through innovative products and services.

Part of the latest wave of PRO+ductive Solutions, EUTE is a water-based urethane modified alkyd with the look and feel of an alkyd/oil finish. This bold product combines contractor-friendly dry times with the highest quality paint Sherwin-Williams can offer. Consider these three reasons why EUTE may be right for your next job.

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Design-Driven Color with Impact

Capitalize on expert advice to give your property a competitive advantage

First impressions are important. A fresh coat of paint in a stylish new color can go a long way to help your property get noticed from the crowd and attract new residents.

Sherwin-Williams’ team of color experts can help guide you through the color selection process.

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The White Glove Experience

Dedicated reps offer solutions to your everyday challenges

When you’re managing a property, every day can bring new and unexpected challenges. Even if you’re part of a larger national property management company, you still need to make decisions at the local level using every resource at your disposal.

Thankfully, through your company’s national account agreement with Sherwin-Williams, you have access to a suite of tools and services. Whether you’re based in Minneapolis or Miami, Boston or Boise, Sherwin-Williams offers unrivaled coast-to-coast consistency of products, color and industry expertise. Your national agreement ensures that you get the same benefits no matter where your property is based, with convenient access to top-tier service.

“We aim to give our local properties the white-glove experience,” says Chris North, Sherwin-Williams Director of Property Maintenance National Accounts. “It’s about customer service. Property managers work hard, and we want to give them the quality treatment they need and deserve, and no other competitor can offer that same level of service.”

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6 Steps to Better Floor Protection

Insure yourself against spills, drips, and accidents

All it takes is a single drip on a client’s carpet or quality hardwood to change the trajectory of your crew’s workday. Cleaning up accidents costs you valuable time and money, yet many painters ignore floor protection altogether.

Even if you have the world’s most experienced team of painters, accidents can still happen—and that’s why good surface protection is so important.

Maria Costello, vice president of supply chain management at Trimaco, and Josh Jobe, regional sales manager for Trimaco’s South Central region, offer these six tips to painters to make sure that their floors are properly prepped before every job.

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Stronger Together

Why pro painters should join the PCA

Running a painting business may sometimes leave you feeling alone, like you’re on a remote island figuring out how to survive on your own—but it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a community of painters ready to connect with you and elevate your business. If you’re not part of the Painting Contractors Association (PCA), you may be missing out on cost-saving resources and a network of fellow painters who want to support you.

PCA has come a long way from its 1884 origins as a negotiating arm of the painters’ unions and, later, as a kind of social club for professional painters. Today PCA is focused on equipping painting businesses with the resources, training, and personal support necessary to succeed.

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Use Color to Win

Turn color into your competitive advantage

Even though you may feel like more of an expert in products than color, that’s no barrier to helping your customers in their color journey. Thanks to a suite of innovative tools from Sherwin-Williams, you can direct your customers to find the color they’re looking for, learn which colors are trending, and meet virtually with an expert design team to find the perfect palette for them.

These three services can help you leverage color to succeed.

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From Flashing to Flawless Finish

How to make drywall patches invisible

How often have you run into this? The drywall has been perfectly patched, but even after multiple coats, you can still see the patch through the paint.

Whether you made the problem or you’re fixing someone else’s work, this issue—often referred to as “flashing”—can be a real problem for painters, acting as a literal blemish on your work. Thankfully, it’s easily repaired.

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Start the Year Right

3 proactive ways to build your business

A new year means a new opportunity to find fresh ways to expand and improve your business. Whether you have been running your own business for decades or you’re just getting started, you likely want to know how to take your team to the next level.

Thankfully, Sherwin-Williams offers several productivity-enhancing tools that can help you make 2023 your business’ best year yet, with unique services that can help contractors recruit talented employees, train them in best practices, and save time on the jobsite.

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Tips On How To Be More Productive On Interior Paint Jobs

Success on interior jobs doesn’t just happen. It hinges on using the proper prep and application tools and knowing the right paint for the job on walls, trim, cabinets and more. In this article, we’ll offer tips to help you maximize productivity with the appropriate coatings and tools. Continue reading Tips On How To Be More Productive On Interior Paint Jobs

The Pros and Cons of Taking on a Business Partner

Is partnering the right path for you and your business?

Adding a business partner may give your business an extra boost in revenue. After all, twice the brainpower and effort could add up to twice the productivity and profits.

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5 Tips to Prevent Floor Coatings Failures

Proper prep will save you from costly callbacks

If you’re a painting contractor thinking about expanding your business into floor coating, then you’re not alone. Whether it’s bidding on a large-scale industrial project or staining a customer’s garage floor, contractors are increasingly expanding their services to include floor coatings.

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Keep Your New Sprayer in Day-One Condition

Get high-level performance for years to come

Buying a paint sprayer is one of the most significant investments you will make as a painting contractor. Thankfully, with a bit of proper maintenance and upkeep, you can keep your new sprayer performing at a high level for years to come.

Sherwin-Williams can help with that maintenance. It has over 100 Spray Source™ spray equipment service centers across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada that offer quick turnaround, on-site demonstrations, training, and more. Factory-trained technicians provide quality service for leading paint spray manufacturers, such as Graco, Titan, Mi-T-M, Champion, and Finishing Brands — Binks/DeVilbiss.

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The Benefits of Spray Training

How your team can master spraying techniques in no time

Talk to almost any painting contractor, and you’ll hear a familiar story: It’s hard to find good painters. Recruiting new painters remains one of the toughest challenges for painting business owners.

“It’s more difficult than ever to find tradespeople,” says Mike Collins, senior marketing channel manager at Titan. “Owners are now looking into new markets for hires. For example, hiring cooks because they’re detail-oriented, or former waiters or waitresses, because they’re personable and great at connecting with people. However, these are workers who have never painted before. They require training.”

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On-Trend Color Choices

Propose these stylish designs for homeowners

Have you been in this situation before? A potential client is asking for input on which colors to choose for their new home or repainting their existing home, and you don’t have any idea what to tell them. You’re not alone. Many painting contractors say they’re more comfortable recommending products than colors. And even if you’ve brushed up on your color theory, you may still feel uninformed about current design trends.

For contractors seeking resources to help their customers in the color selection process, the 2023 Commercial Colormix from Sherwin-Williams makes an excellent starting point. It offers distinct color palettes for contractors working in the commercial, education, hospitality, new residential, multi-family, and healthcare markets.

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