Never Paint Again!

35504 Views 39 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Nathan, May 28, 2008

Nathan

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2007

I'm getting pretty sick of hearing companies that sell ceramic paints and other specialty coatings claim that you will never have to paint again if you hire them. One guy near me in Central Florida was giving a life time warranty with each paint job.

These claims are bogus. I knew the guy who was giving away life time warranty and he had never lived anywhere for more than 3 years so he had no intention of following through on that piece of paper he handed out to all his customers. What's worse is he charged then at least double for this "miracle" ceramic paint. When I asked him about it he said he was basing his claim on what the manufacturer was telling him.

Do you guys have guys like this in your area and if so how do you bid against them? Its hard to look a customer in the eye and tell them that the other guy is lying so I never did that. I did tell them that I didn't believe in the product though and that I was leaving a lot of money on the table by not offering that service. That usually helped my case.

Thoughts?

Reactions: 1

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Brian

· #2 · Apr 10, 2007

We have lots of these in Houston. They'll be around for a year or two, and then disappear. I will point this out to customers if the issue comes up. I also mention that I'm suspicious of a lifetime warranty-- whose lifetime?

Brian Phillips

slickshift

· #3 · Apr 10, 2007

There are not many of those outfits around here
I do get inquires about them, a fair amount considering most houses here are not candidates for them (most houses are clear/natural cedar shingles on three sides, painted front and trim only)
It usually goes like : "So...what do you think of those..."

My response is simply the truth
I don't know of, or have I heard of, any reliable contractor offering the service
Any contractor I see advertising the product is either new, or gone very quickly, or both
None of my suppliers offer the product, which is marketed directly to Homeowners rather than contractors (which is a warning flag)
I know of no responsible contractors that think highly of the products

Other than that I really don't know much about the products, good or bad
I really don't know anyone that's used them, or can tell me they are good or bad, the wave of the future or a hoax

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Brushslingers

· #4 · Apr 11, 2007

I normally tell people thus - Yes, it's your lifetime... not the lifetime of the house, it's up to you.

They normally get the picture.. sorta like those lifetime alignments for your truck.

Reactions: 1

slickshift

· #5 · Apr 11, 2007

I've never seen a warranty on a product that covers normal wear and tear
This includes so-called "Lifetime Warranties"
They only cover manufacturers defects

Even the Rigid (tool) Lifetime Warranty, one of the -if not the, most liberal warranty policies I've ever seen, doesn't cover nearly what people think it does, nor all the Rigid tools people think it does

The Warranty Wars are tough on marketing depts. though
Even SWP's Duration does have a Lifetime Warranty
I guess they felt they had to do it
(It's against bubbles btw-again, not normal wear and tear)

Reactions: 1

slickshift

· #6 · Apr 11, 2007

Nathan said:
...I knew the guy who was giving away life time warranty and he had never lived anywhere for more than 3 years so he had no intention of following through on that piece of paper he handed out to all his customers. What's worse is he charged then at least double for this "miracle" ceramic paint. When I asked him about it he said he was basing his claim on what the manufacturer was telling him.

Your the first person I know that even knew/knows someone who offers this service

That's about what I expected to hear about them

slickshift

· #7 · Apr 11, 2007

Interesting what the Perma-Coat Of New England left on their website
http://www.permacoatnewengland.com/

Nathan

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 17, 2007

slickshift said:
Interesting what the Perma-Coat Of New England left on their website
http://www.permacoatnewengland.com/

That site isn't working for me?

Wolverine

· #9 · Apr 17, 2007

Nathan said:
That site isn't working for me?

Ha Ha... Out of business already!!!

Okay,

We are not into residential (or any kind of latex) paint... However, I think I can help you guys out.

First, it is unfortunate that these manufacturers even call those products "ceramic paint". Technically, it's not! Basically they are making paint with 100% acrylic that contains ceramic microspheres. These spheres are hollow beads with a specific gravity of about 0.7 (~ 5.82 lbs per gallon). Now, all of you guys know that most latex is pretty heavy and is typically at least 10 lbs. per gallon. So, the ceramic microspheres tend to rise to the surface of the coating. Since they are very hard (ceramic) and round, the cured film has pretty good scratch resistance. However, you have to think about what is going on beneath that layer of spheres. It's just a layer of acrylic paint. I have personally tested several of these products in the past and found them to be slightly better than a good housepaint.

So, what about the customer who thinks that the warranty is going to save them? Well, it's just like about any other warranty out there. First, it doesn't cover normal wear and tear... like cracks from settling. Also, when you do have to repair, you typically need to recoat an entire wall to blend it in!

Some of these companies are BANKING on the fact that people don't really live in the same house for long periods of time like they used to. Most of the warranties don't transfer. So, if you can charge 3x the price and people only a small percentage of people live in a house for more than 5-8 years on average, your actual claims will be much less than the 3x the price you charged to everyone else. It's a pretty sound gamble in a world where people who would buy this paint get transferred by their companies at an alarming rate.

Now, this is getting a bit long so...

Do we even have to discuss... PRO-RATING ???

lol...

You guys get the picture...

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Joewho

· #10 · Apr 18, 2007

Typical imbalance between sales and craftsmanship.

There never will be a replacement for good old fashioned, hard, honest work. There may be a place for the "ceramic" products, and I'd be interested in learning more about them.

Maybe normal painters should offer the product, without false guarantees, at the appropriate pricing. "BUT WAIT, you also get......."

Brushslingers

· #11 · Apr 18, 2007

Joewho said:
"BUT WAIT, you also get......."

Juillian fries!!! :thumbup:

Workaholic

· #12 · Apr 18, 2007

Lifetime warranties

My father in-law says that some one asked him about a what kind of warranty he gave on a paint job, he told the guy you see those tail lights.. When they are gone so is your warrant. LOL in his defense he told that to family.

ibsocal

· #13 · Apr 18, 2007

I have done that type of work as a sub contractor and what a rip off it is.dont do it anymore.a lot of hype/marketing $$$$ spent on promotions. 3 coat system.i tell potential clients that color trends change all the time and do you really want to be stuck with the same color for your life time.

smithoman

· #14 · Apr 18, 2007

You are telling it like it is! A couple of years I painted a home that was coated by Sears about 20 years ago with some sort of polymer. Remember that stuff? Well, I gotta tell ya, it was HELL to get off the facia boards! I ended up using a belt sander and 60 grit. Perhaps they were close to the lifetime achievement but the place looked beat!

I know what you mean about big guarantees and then the losers skipping town. Then there are the "paint the whole house in one day" guys.

I'm lucky, we do only high quality work with the best materials. My boss is a Master Painter with 35 years union experience and I've put in around 15 painting on my own. We often run across poor customers who have been fleeced or paint disasters from low quality people. Here in Boulder, Colorado there seems to be a good quantity of qualified professionals. The hot shots come and go and rather quickly around these parts.

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slickshift

· #15 · Apr 18, 2007

Nathan said:
That site isn't working for me?

It basically says we're sorry, the product failed horribly, we were duped by the manufacturer who lied to us...sorry, but we're outa here

oooh-I just checked the site...it's g o n e gone
Musta not liked being posted up eh?

Nathan

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 18, 2007

Oh man.... I wish I could have seen it. I'll look again.

Nathan

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 18, 2007

Here is what the site looked a year ago: http://web.archive.org

slickshift

· #18 · Apr 18, 2007

Nathan said:
Here is what the site looked a year ago: http://web.archive.org/web/20060420131012/http://www.permacoatnewengland.com/

Cool
Can you go back a week
I did check it before I posted, it was as I described it when potsed

slickshift

· #19 · Apr 18, 2007

slickshift said:
Can you go back a week

I just tried
Guess not

Nathan

Discussion Starter · #20 · Apr 18, 2007

Here is Yahoo's cache of the page but it will go away soon: http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.permacoatnewengland.com%2F&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&u=www.permacoatnewengland.com/&d=GwiT6PmdOl2X&icp=1&.intl=us

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