Blogs (68)


What Are Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives and Their Uses?

by Emily Newton

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) join two similar or dissimilar components togethe...


A Look at Effective Quality Control Practices

by Alex Thrasher

Quality control programs and reporting are nothing new to the protective coatings ind...


The Case Against Abrasive Blasting for Spot Repairs

by Robert Ikenberry

I’m not a fan of spot abrasive blasting for repairs on existing structures. Don’t get...


Learning to Serve

by Warren Brand

When I started my corrosion mitigation consulting firm in 2010, I had one fundamental...


Pre- and Post-Job Soil Sampling for Heavy Metals: What Do We Really Know?

by Kevin Guth

If we are going to rely on environmental sampling to measure impact associated with a...


Are We Learning from Our Mistakes?

by Lee Wilson

Health and safety in the corrosion-control industry has always been a major priority ...


Going with the Flow: 7 Common Issues with Respirators on Blast Jobs

by Kevin Guth

Whether it is lack of training, general apathy on the topic from those impacted in th...


Exposure to Industrial Solvents: No Joking Matter

by Kevin Guth

Most painting firms that I have encountered concentrate their control efforts on prot...


Coating Condition Surveys: An Overview, Part 1

by Lee Wilson

I have always expressed my concerns in regard to the health and safety of offshore wo...


Design Ventilation Flow Rates for Blasting Containments: Who Decides?

by Kevin Guth

There are potential risks associated with specifying design ventilation flow rates th...


Wet, Dry, Other: A Surface Prep Primer

by Lee Wilson

There is a vast rage of surface preparation methods widely used within the industry t...


Dusting Off an Old Standard

by Lee Wilson

Coatings generally fail in direct proportion to their lack of adhesion. It’s rather s...


Access, Access, Access: Reach Out and Hug a Bridge

by Robert Ikenberry

Just as realtors say, "Location, location, location," bridge-painting jobs should hav...


Containment: A Time to Think Ahead

by Robert Ikenberry

Typically, the two biggest costs for projects involving abatement of hazardous paint ...


OSHA's Slips, Trips and Falls Rule Revamped

by Eric J. Conn

On January 17, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new Walking-...


A Chilly Surface Prep Method Gains Steam

by Lee Wilson

What is stopping dry ice blasting from becoming a more prevalent method of surface pr...


The Evolution of Protective Coatings and Applicators

by Kevin Coleman

At the same time coatings have advanced, the equipment to apply them has evolved as w...


Are All Surface Prep Standards Created Equal? Part 3

by Lee Wilson

Why, when the joint standards supply so much more information, are specifiers still c...


Are All Surface Prep Standards Created Equal? Part 2

by Lee Wilson

How does a SSPC/NACE joint standard on surface preparation differ from the equivalent...


Does Paint Make the Drywall?

by Letsfixconstruction.com

When you think about painting drywall in commercial structures, everyone is a critic ...


Sandblast Nozzle Selection

by Patrick Harmon

When it comes to sandblasting, the blast nozzle you use is critical. Blast nozzle sel...


The 'Fatal Four' and Your Worksite

by Michael Halliwell

I recently took the time to look at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administr...


Normalization of Deviance

by Warren Brand

It brought down both Space Shuttles, is responsible for the disaster at Deepwater Hor...


How About a New 95:50 Rule?

by Robert Ikenberry

I think we should have a new way of looking at quality. We don’t have to settle for “...


Treat the Cause, Not the Symptoms

by Robert J. Kobet, AIA

Sick building syndrome had recently emerged as a collision between efforts to make bu...


Blast It Fast: Factors that Contribute to Sandblasting Speed

by Patrick Harmon

As a contractor, the speed at which you can prep a surface or remove contaminants can...


6 Fundamentals of Good Roof Design

by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.

Roofs fail prematurely or fail to reach their rated life of approximately 20 years fo...


Infrared vs. Convection Curing

by Patrick Harmon

Many manufacturers face the challenge of product piling up around their painting depa...


Our Industry’s Aversion to Risk: Nothing Is Risk-Free

by Warren Brand

I was 18 and SCUBA diving off a pristine, white, sandy beach in the Red Sea. My dive-...


Steps to Assessing Concrete Structures

by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.

An assessment of a concrete structure to evaluate existing conditions and determine c...


Coatings Safety On and Off the Job

by Michael Halliwell

As anyone who reads my blog knows, my job involves sampling paints for lead, conducti...


OSHA Withdraws Long-Planned Rule to Reduce Slips, Trips and Falls

by Eric J. Conn

In what can only be viewed as another example of OSHA’s inability to effectively adva...


A Tale of Two Contractors:
The Hidden, Staggering Costs of Inefficiency

by Warren Brand

It was early spring of 2007 when my old coating company got the call from Grainger Wo...


Checklist for Evaluating Stone Durability

by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.

Stone, in general, is considered a durable material; however, not all stones are as d...


Electrostatic Painting: What You Need to Know

by Patrick Harmon

Electrostatic painting is often not well understood in the paint and coatings industr...


Unwelcome Surprises

by Michael Halliwell

A recent article in The Globe and Mail brought to light a disturbing trend in work-re...


5 Tips to Reduce Solvent Use in Your Finishing Work

by Patrick Harmon

I was recently with a customer who wanted to reduce solvent use. His company currentl...


A Tale of Two Clients

by Warren Brand

There’s a concept in martial arts that the first time a student sees a


A Pleasant Surprise in the Permian Basin

by Warren Brand

The three-hour drive through the scrub of the Northwestern Shelf of the Permian Basin...


All About Adhesion

by Lee Wilson

As I have stated time and time again, if a protective coating does not stick to the s...


Specifications: Does Anyone Still Care?

by Warren Brand

When I was nine or 10, my summers were spent with gun-toting workmen, driving around ...


Unstoppable Ego v. Irresistible Force

by Michael Halliwell

As many of you know, my involvement with the coatings industry is not on the applicat...


Where It All Went So Wrong

by Lee Wilson

I recently returned from inspecting a high-profile gas plant being developed by a maj...


Going Beyond the ‘Good Old Boys’

by Cynthia O'Malley

Where are the women in coatings, and why aren’t there more of them?


Staying Safely on a Roll

by Eric J. Conn

Fall hazards are always among the top Occupa­tional Safety and Health Administration ...


Coating Inspectors: Are We Necessary?

by Warren Brand

Over 30 years in the industry, I’ve been on most sides of many paint issues. I’ve own...


Great Apps for Mobile Color Lovers

by Jill Pilaroscia

Apps, apps, apps! We are surrounded by them. They fill up our phones and tablets, and...


The Hidden Hazards of Bridge Rehab

by Michael Halliwell

Any time that one is working bridge rehabilitation, there are certain hazards that sh...


Shack Interacts, Lights the CA Desert

by Jill M. Speegle

It’s difficult to imagine a house more connected to its landscape than this desert ab...


ECO Plans: More Green on the Job Site

by Michael Halliwell

Our job sites have sure changed over the last 15 years or so. Many things that were o...


Beyond the Cold Wall: A Penetrating Look

by Warren Brand

Thanks to everyone for reading, thinking about and commenting on my last blog on the ...


Techie Trials and Paper Tigers

by Simon Hope

Life is great, things progress, and every day a shiny new techno-toy arrives to make ...


Hot Times, Cool Opportunities

by Robert Ikenberry

It’s time to talk about climate change—and I don’t mean arguing about whether it’s ha...


Dirty Secrets of the ‘Q’ Word

by Simon Hope

Having dispensed with human competence, can we hope for any better from its inanimate...


Revelations of the Magic Hammer

by Tim Race

Ever hear anyone state with great authority that you can't know what surface preparat...


‘I’m Simply Painting Some Concrete…’

by Burt Olhiser

Coating new concrete is a simple matter, correct? All you need to do is use a manufac...


Clean and Green? Maybe...

by Karen Kapsanis

I wouldn’t call it a scam or a lie or even an intention to mislead. “It” is the lang...


Foul Play with the Not-So-Fine Print

by Simon Hope

Over the years, I have watched all sorts of wonderful ideas come and go—many of them ...


Not Strangers to Danger

by Karen Kapsanis

Maybe you’ve had this experience, too: I have a hard time forgetting accidents that h...


Too Much Rust for the Weary

by Karen Kapsanis

Although I don’t see offshore oil platforms around Pittsburgh, rarely pass storage ta...


New Tools Stuck in Old-School Ways

by Tim Race

In 1973, I was playing baseball for Parkside High School Eagles with Tony Dungy. That...


Wanted: Common Sense on Next Lead Regs

by Robert Ikenberry

Recently, when I took my annual C5 refresher, I was reminded that the OSHA Lead in Co...


Paint on Demand: Thinking Outside the Can

by Pamela Simmons

The terms, green and sustainable are thrown around rampantly these days...


Managing to Prosper: Planning and Executing an Effective Game Plan

by Burt Olhiser

This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of columns in Durability + Des...


Pondering this Matter of the Big-Box Era…or is it Big Headache?

by Burt Olhiser

I recently had occasion to become one of the wandering lost souls in a Big-Box DIY st...


Two Words that Made this Contractor Tremble with Fear: Color Advice

by Burt Olhiser

During my years of contracting I loved most everything about my career choice, with o...


It’s Spring, When a Contractor’s Fancy Turns to Thoughts of…Marketing

by Burt Olhiser

How are you generating new business—by word of mouth? By online advertising? By listi...


Communicating about Quality in Painting Work

by Burt Olhiser

Some paint jobs are recipes for disaster-for both the contractor and the facility own...


 
 
   

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