The bucket and the beat by Michael Fallarino

Paint Dealer Education:
Are You Where You Want To Be?
(Part One of Three)

We’ve all heard the New England-flavored joke about the guy who stops and asks directions for how to get to his destination from where he is, and is told "(Wherever it is that he is going) — You caan’t get thea frm hea!". Well, in the Stowe, Vermont region there is a micro variation on that query that goes "Well, if I were going to Stowe, I wouldn’t start from...(whatever your current location is)!"

One of the primary reasons I wrote my book Contemporary Relationships between Wood & Finish was to help build educational support for the compelling need for procedural rigor in the process of exterior wood finishing. Simply put, this means the process of applying any finish to any exterior wood. Why the need? Well, silviculture — the management of forests — often involves the replanting of trees at a pace that substantially outpaces the rate at which they are harvested. But — the timber quality of successive generations is often a secondary consideration. This carries pervasive implications because in the process of growing-harvesting-milling-installing-and-protecting wood, energy is being cyclically utilized in a way that influences our environment. As the nature of wood products change, the products used to protect it are also changing. The wood used in construction today is more juvenile than the wood used just two to three decades ago, and any carpenter who has been at his craft throughout this time period can tell you that he has noticed a decline in wood quality. Paint manufacturers are well aware of the complexities implicit in this change, and the amazing technology to address the evolving challenges to bonding and durability has already been implemented in the products on your shelf. But this is the easily alterable aspect of the situation. Optimizing the appearance and durability of wood through human-executed painting and finishing protocols requires knowledge, responsible planning, and exacting protocols.

Earth’s atmosphere has changed in the past few decades and ozone depletion over southern Patagonia in Chile and Argentina has progressed to the point where infants are developing cataracts as a result. So the judicious use of exterior wood and the products used to protect it is a non-trivial borderless issue. In concert with this, the Joint Coatings/Forest Products Committee published a six-page paper in the Journal of Coatings Technology in March 1999 titled "The Changing Nature Of Wood Products: What Does It Mean For Coatings And Finish Performance?". The first sentence was: "Most current recommendations concerning the application and performance of coatings and finishes on exterior solid wood substrates are based upon knowledge gained decades ago." And they concluded that "Much of the burden for assuring the compatibility of finishes with new wood products will probably rest with the coatings manufacturers and their suppliers." By this they meant not just the compatibility of finish to wood specie and maturity, but the fact that in the years to come we will increasingly see products such as plywood, wood/plastic composites, fiberboard, and other novel exterior hybrid materials gain an increasing market share.

In light of these complexities is your knowledge base where you want it to be? Do you have a satisfactory customer support system intact? Do your suppliers have a dealer support system that responds to your need for continuing education? Do you have a good map to help you get from where you are to where you want to be or would you prefer to be air-lifted out? Got a view? Drop me a note at: comments@WoodandFinish.com.

Part two of my perusal of this topic will examine unsolicited stories I’ve recently been told first-hand by homeowners, contractors, and others. I’ll layout the surprising results of my early-March undercover investigation as "Herbie Homeowner" in which I donned my hawaiian shirt, panama hat, Groucho Marx disguise, and winter parka and hit the streets of New York to query the paint counter help at some of the national chains. You won’t want to miss that. Be there or be square.
[May 2002]

©2002 Michael Fallarino/Pan-Global Gumbo SM, Ltd.