Every paint job in the history of the world has started with an idea—whether it involves making something beautiful, repairing something that has corroded, or maintaining the purity of a stored product (such as liquid sugar in a tank). As coating professionals, it is our job to make sure these ideas are viable from the start. We will review a case study where we were the lead consultant in the matter of a 96-foot-diameter x 31-foot-tall anaerobic digester tank. The interior coating had been in place, unobserved, for a little over 20 years. Learn what it took to access the tank for inspection and why we advised the client to leave the coating in place. We will also briefly review a second situation which led to a substantial coating failure of a concrete trench where a simple email chain and failure in procurement led to disaster.