“Scheming” to Help Your Customers!
Often, home owners know that they want to improve appearance of their home through use of multiple colors together. But often, the customer is unsure what colors to choose. You can utilize the 12-color color wheel to help in suggesting color combinations – for example, one or two or even three colors that may go well with a customer’s favorite color. Here are some examples using the color wheel.

To See the PQI Digital Color Wheel CLICK HERE.

market news:
“Return” Still High, Even With Rising Cost of Paint
SELLING A QUALITY PAINTING JOB AS A SMART INVESTMENT
When it comes to investments, most people think of stocks, bonds or real estate. But one of the best homeowner investments a painting contractor can offer their prospective customer is a top quality paint job which includes a top quality paint.

Even though the rising cost of petrochemicals has made paint a little more expensive of late, painting with a top quality acrylic latex exterior coating can still save the homeowner hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the form of long-term home maintenance costs and provide you with a delighted customer. Share with your customers the benefits of using quality paint products, just as you share the purpose of thorough surface preparation. Here’s how:
 
Longer Lifespan
Top quality latex paints made with 100 percent acrylic binder last at least twice as long as ordinary housepaint: up to10 years or more, versus a lifespan of only three or four years with ordinary exterior paint.

The cost of the longer-lasting coating? Only $8 to $10 more per gallon. And since it takes only about 20 gallons to apply two coats of paint on an average size house, the added cost of a top-quality product is just $160 to $200. By using quality paint, your customers will enjoy a longer lasting paint job and you will benefit from a satisfied customer.

In the final analysis, top quality acrylic latex paint should be on your “buy” list as a way of protecting your customer’s biggest investment – their home and increasing your customers satisfaction. To help identify the top quality paint that’s best for a paint job, ask for advice at your local paint or hardware store, or at a decorating center. And to understand why top quality paint outperforms ordinary exterior paint, visit www.paintquality.com.

Contractor Education Q&As:
Here are Some Questions Submitted Recently
via the PQI Web Site

Q: Does 1 coat of acrylic primer and 1-2 coats of acrylic house paint make a waterproof coating on masonry surfaces, especially with wind driven rain?
A: The system you describe would likely pass the wind-driven test used to qualify elastomeric coatings if you first sealed all existing cracks. However, there is the possibility that cracks will form in the masonry at some point, which will extend through the paint and allow moisture to enter. Elastomerics are designed to bridge the cracks.

Q: We are seeing the paint on walls and ceiling get darker where rafters and studs are behind the drywall… ??
A: This can be caused by a couple things: first, if the temperature shifts dramatically during and/or right after the application of the paint, it is possible that rafters and studs are changing temperature at a much lower rate than the air around -- thus, if the temperature is dropping, the paint will be drying (over 24+ hours) effectively at a lower temperature to form a lighter color in the areas away from the rafters and studs. This is more likely to occur with flat paints, than with paints having a higher sheen.

Another factor can be moisture: if it is very damp, and then things begin to dry out, drying can be slower over rafters and studs, resulting in a darker appearance there. This effect may disappear once all has reached equilibration. Or if it has occurred when the paint is applied and is drying, the effect can be permanent because if has affected film formation of the pant.

These may seem like they would result in only subtle differences in color, but when the color differences are side-by-side, they can be noticeable.