by Emily Newton
Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) join two similar or dissimilar components togethe...
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by Warren Brand
This is a blog not only about the risks associated with using multiple-coat paint sys...
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by Alex Thrasher
Quality control programs and reporting are nothing new to the protective coatings ind...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Purchasing for construction projects isn’t like purchasing in our personal lives. Whe...
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by Robert Ikenberry
I’m not a fan of spot abrasive blasting for repairs on existing structures. Don’t get...
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by Warren Brand
I’m fascinated by failures. Some would say obsessed. While Chicago Corrosion Group’s ...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
I sat through a pre-construction meeting via conference call today to go over the ins...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Is there a problem with flooring glued to concrete with a high fly ash content? Fly a...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Recently, I was preparing a masonry architectural specification section for a remodel...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
The flooring industry is constantly challenged by the same repeating issues: installi...
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by Warren Brand
When I started my corrosion mitigation consulting firm in 2010, I had one fundamental...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Many firms find themselves at some point partnered with another firm on a project tha...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
While hosting a Let’s Fix Construction workshop at the 2018 AIA Conference in New Yor...
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by Kevin Guth
If we are going to rely on environmental sampling to measure impact associated with a...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
For as long as I’ve been involved in and around the construction industry, there’s be...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
It is a growing trend for busy professionals to spend some time each week with a coac...
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by Lee Wilson
There are a number of different turbine types and structural configurations and desig...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
There is some misunderstanding, both inside the profession and among the population a...
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by Lee Wilson
Corrosion is a major risk for offshore wind foundations: Its effects could mean costl...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Digital cameras are wonderful tools today and every contractor should make images a p...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Submittals are the bridge between contract documents and construction. They are also ...
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by Allen Zielnik
Globally, the corrosion of metals accounts for trillions of dollars in annual costs. ...
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by Robert Ikenberry
When writing a specification for protective coatings, too much can be just as bad as ...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Every member of the electorate needs to spend some effort to be informed about critic...
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by Kevin Guth
Whether it is lack of training, general apathy on the topic from those impacted in th...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Construction insurance, bonds and warranties are among the most confusing and inscrut...
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by PaintSquare Staff
Kevin Morris, a 25-year veteran of the coatings industry, specializing in water and w...
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by Lee Wilson
A great deal of the coating condition survey is visual in nature, and for this reason...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Misconceptions can be found across the spectrum, in every product category and in eve...
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by Lee Wilson
I have always expressed my concerns in regard to the health and safety of offshore wo...
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by Warren Brand
Understanding run-of-the-mill corrosion on steel is complex enough. I remember my co...
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by Kevin Guth
There are potential risks associated with specifying design ventilation flow rates th...
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by Robert Ikenberry
As anyone who works in construction knows, projects are built on cooperation, even th...
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by Lee Wilson
There is a vast rage of surface preparation methods widely used within the industry t...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
I have become more and more aware of an area where our young professionals are being ...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Although it didn't seem like it at the time, one of the best parts of my CSI chapter'...
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by Lee Wilson
Coatings generally fail in direct proportion to their lack of adhesion. It’s rather s...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Just as realtors say, "Location, location, location," bridge-painting jobs should hav...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
A 19th century Scotsman said, “Do not isolate yourself. Be among men and things, and ...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
When architects begin with the design concept as the primary driver, or if they have ...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Typically, the two biggest costs for projects involving abatement of hazardous paint ...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
In my humble opinion, the best way to fix something is to learn what you don’t know. ...
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by Lee Wilson
What is stopping dry ice blasting from becoming a more prevalent method of surface pr...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
With the increased use of delegated design in construction projects, questions have a...
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by Kevin Coleman
At the same time coatings have advanced, the equipment to apply them has evolved as w...
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by Lee Wilson
Why, when the joint standards supply so much more information, are specifiers still c...
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by Lee Wilson
How does a SSPC/NACE joint standard on surface preparation differ from the equivalent...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
When you think about painting drywall in commercial structures, everyone is a critic ...
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by Lee Wilson
Some say the ISO standard for dry abrasive blasting is in need of a revamp. Is it? An...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Are you communicating with your specifier during construction administration? Are you...
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by Warren Brand
It’s called The New Safe Confinement (NSC). Picture a massive, movable hangar-like do...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Many factors must be considered when a design specifies cold-formed steel framing mem...
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by Patrick Harmon
When it comes to sandblasting, the blast nozzle you use is critical. Blast nozzle sel...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
Before I get into the discussion of the U.S. Green Building Council’s new technology ...
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by Warren Brand
It brought down both Space Shuttles, is responsible for the disaster at Deepwater Hor...
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by Letsfixconstruction.com
Our biggest challenge comes from working in a bubble. It comes from only seeing thing...
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by V.C. "Bud" Jenkins
Motivation can be described as recognizing a need for something and then taking steps...
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by Amy Gibson
Have you ever been in a class or a training session with an individual who asked too ...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
“In a highly commoditized world, the name of the game is creating something unique, s...
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by Robert Ikenberry
I think we should have a new way of looking at quality. We don’t have to settle for “...
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by Warren Brand
I am intimately familiar with the fine art of “eye-rolling.” As the followers of my b...
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by Patrick Harmon
As a contractor, the speed at which you can prep a surface or remove contaminants can...
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by V.C. "Bud" Jenkins
I was at a client’s store last week when a painting crew of five young workers came i...
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by Lee Wilson
The 1980s really did see the birth of the three-layer systems comprised of a polyolef...
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by Lee Wilson
This is the first in a two-part series chronicling the history of protective pipeline...
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by Michael Halliwell
Kay Redfield Jamison once said, “There is always a part of my mind that is preparing ...
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by Warren Brand
My eldest daughter, Jessica, 21, excitedly called me a few months ago to tell me abou...
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by Amy Gibson
First things first: What is an “organizational learning culture”? Your organizational...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Perhaps the best argument for creating and maintaining an office master spec is to ha...
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by Patrick Harmon
Many manufacturers face the challenge of product piling up around their painting depa...
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by Warren Brand
I was 18 and SCUBA diving off a pristine, white, sandy beach in the Red Sea. My dive-...
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by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
An assessment of a concrete structure to evaluate existing conditions and determine c...
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by Warren Brand
For those of you who follow my blog, you’ll know I live with four women—three daughte...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
For those of you who frequently write construction specifications, the time will come...
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by Amy Gibson
Learning occurs every day, but when we think of learning, many of us have a nostalgic...
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by Warren Brand
It was early spring of 2007 when my old coating company got the call from Grainger Wo...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
This post offers a glimpse into the U.S. General Services Administration's work invol...
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by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
Stone, in general, is considered a durable material; however, not all stones are as d...
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by Patrick Harmon
Electrostatic painting is often not well understood in the paint and coatings industr...
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by Warren Brand
It was 2010 and I had just turned 50 when I walked away from a family business. In do...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Many construction projects are rife with potentially overlapping trade responsibiliti...
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by Lee Wilson
Asset integrity can be defined as the ability of an asset to perform its required fun...
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by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
This first blog written by Logan Cook of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. includ...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
One of the great things about being involved in the green building movement is the en...
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by Amy Gibson
Former CEO of GE Jack Welch said, “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate ...
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by FMI
Now is the time to start incorporating a millennial-focused recruitment strategy for ...
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by Patrick Harmon
I was recently with a customer who wanted to reduce solvent use. His company currentl...
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by Warren Brand
There’s a concept in martial arts that the first time a student sees a
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by Eric J. Conn
Perhaps the most common question I am asked about OSHA inspections is
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by Lee Wilson
I was approached recently by a fellow coating inspector who had applied for a positio...
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by Warren Brand
It's time for a new way of thinking. Let’s first start with a story from a 60 Minu...
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by Eric J. Conn
In April 2013, OSHA declared that protecting temporary workers would become a top pri...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
In a deal nearly two years in the making, the International Code Council (ICC) and AS...
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by Lee Wilson
Way back in June 2011, I wrote an article that was published in a European coatings j...
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by Michael Halliwell
Isn’t it amazing how many lives we touch in our day-to-day work? Or even when we are ...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
USGBC was founded 22 years ago with a governance structure appropriate for a U.S.-bas...
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by Warren Brand
The three-hour drive through the scrub of the Northwestern Shelf of the Permian Basin...
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by Lee Wilson
As I have stated time and time again, if a protective coating does not stick to the s...
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by Cynthia O'Malley
PITTSBURGH--In Corporate America, balanced representation of women in leadership (wit...
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by Warren Brand
When I was nine or 10, my summers were spent with gun-toting workmen, driving around ...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Maybe you just joined a health-care facility and are taking on a new construction pro...
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by Warren Brand
In coatings, as in every other profession, you can go by the book or you can go with ...
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by FMI
The construction industry has a unique culture and a rich history steeped in predicta...
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by Warren Brand
It takes an enormous amount to get under my skin. But I just attended a conference fo...
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by Lee Wilson
As we are well aware, many factors can and do cause premature coating failure. The us...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Americans are great innovators. We develop the coolest technological toys. From perso...
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by FMI
No one wants to be called a salesperson—regardless of their position in the company. ...
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by Lee Wilson
Inspectors and others in the protective-coatings field often ask me which is “better”...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
The ongoing evolution of green building rating systems has intensified debate over a ...
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by Lee Wilson
I recently returned from inspecting a high-profile gas plant being developed by a maj...
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by Cynthia O'Malley
Our industry will never achieve the benefits of gender equality with only one gender ...
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by FMI
Many times, companies develop best practices and implement them poorly. This can resu...
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by Warren Brand
So, I get a call from the manager of a tony high-rise condo on Chicago’s Gold Coast.
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by FMI
In today’s market, many contractors assume that there are no longer opportunities to ...
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by Warren Brand
For nearly 30 years, I’ve watched, fascinated, as technology in the coatings industry...
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by FMI
From the field to the boardroom, the construction industry has a deepening labor shor...
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by Cynthia O'Malley
I recently had the rare opportunity to sit and have an extended conversation with a l...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
We all know Murphy’s Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will." Over the years, there h...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
For all of its global success as the fastest-growing not-for-profit organization in h...
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by FMI
Today’s business environment is very different from six years ago, when the pace of e...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
Last post, I wrote, “We can’t know everything about every material, product, assembly...
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by FMI
So many people are urging contractors to refrain from the cliché “on time, on schedul...
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by Warren Brand
I can think of few corrosion protective materials more durable, functional and versat...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
The FIFA World Soccer championships are underway in Brazil, and the U.S. Green Buildi...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
So that you don’t think my previous post was a screed against manufacturers and their...
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by FMI
Time management is critical in design and construction, from conception to completion...
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by Cynthia O'Malley
Where are the women in coatings, and why aren’t there more of them?
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by FMI
Few industries require the use of contracts more than construction.
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by Robert Ikenberry
Last week on our bridge demo project, I ran into a news reporter I know who hopes to ...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
For most American children, teachers and administrators, education is a linear proces...
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by Bob Bailey, AIA, CCS
When I was a graduate architect just out of college and working in my first architect...
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by Warren Brand
Over 30 years in the industry, I’ve been on most sides of many paint issues. I’ve own...
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by Warren Brand
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by FMI
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins noted, “The old adage ‘People are your ...
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by Cynthia O'Malley
The Women in Coatings group was formed in 2010 as part of SSPC: The Society for Prote...
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by Warren Brand
It all started over coffee with a friend. I had wondered to Dean, a coating rep, how ...
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by FMI
As the construction industry rebounds with the growing economy, the search for talent...
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by FMI
Chasing a lot of work these days? Who isn’t? But some teams are so busy chasing work ...
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by Warren Brand
I’m passionate about everything pertaining to our industry. I have one company that c...
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by Simon Hope
I never cease to wonder at the depths to which individuals will lower themselves for ...
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by Robert J. Kobet, AIA
I am fortunate to have practiced internationally throughout my career in sustainable ...
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by FMI
Any principal of a construction firm will tell you that cash is king. There is little...
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by Karen Kapsanis
Years ago, when I joined JPCL as the editorial assistant, I told myself that I...
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by Warren Brand
We are in the process of getting a water tank—85 feet in diameter and roughly 80 feet...
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by Warren Brand
When it comes to failure, there are causes, and then there are causes.
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by Karen Kapsanis
Sometimes, I think living in the Information Age is like trying to get into some kid’...
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by Warren Brand
Thanks to everyone for reading, thinking about and commenting on my last blog on the ...
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by Warren Brand
Reality is not always as firm a thing as we would wish, alas, even in the realm of co...
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by Simon Hope
Life is great, things progress, and every day a shiny new techno-toy arrives to make ...
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by Robert Ikenberry
It’s time to talk about climate change—and I don’t mean arguing about whether it’s ha...
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by Simon Hope
Having dispensed with human competence, can we hope for any better from its inanimate...
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by Tim Race
Ever hear anyone state with great authority that you can't know what surface preparat...
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by Pamela Simmons
Today the word “engagement” does not so much mean moving to the next level with your ...
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by Karen Kapsanis
I have been trying to write this little essay for weeks, but I keep getting interrupt...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Construction is one of the last industries to embrace technology—or so it seems. If s...
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by Jill M. Speegle
Whether she is restoring a massive painted wall or a small family heirloom painting, ...
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by Simon Hope
One of the eternal problems that our industry grapples with is defining the differenc...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Which would you notice first? Money missing from your Social Security check, or a pat...
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by Burt Olhiser
Coating new concrete is a simple matter, correct? All you need to do is use a manufac...
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by Robert Ikenberry
I’m often amazed when I watch other contractors interact with owners.
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by Jill M. Speegle
Hold the explosives! A Nevada state judge has put the kibosh on plans to implode a st...
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by Tim Race
Tap ... tap ... tap ... Between the years of 1660 and 1664, my ninth great-gra...
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by Karen Kapsanis
Maybe you’ve had this experience, too: I have a hard time forgetting accidents that h...
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by Karen Kapsanis
Although I don’t see offshore oil platforms around Pittsburgh, rarely pass storage ta...
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by Burt Olhiser
In accordance with our title, this column is a “Like It Is” effort to present common-...
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by Tim Race
In 1973, I was playing baseball for Parkside High School Eagles with Tony Dungy. That...
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by Karen Kapsanis
I really don’t like leap years, mainly because they are the years when the campaign f...
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by Jill M. Speegle
When companies run afoul of environmental laws, they typically pay a fine, clean up t...
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by Pamela Simmons
Social media isn’t new, but you wouldn’t know it from some people in the coatings ind...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Recently, when I took my annual C5 refresher, I was reminded that the OSHA Lead in Co...
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by Pamela Simmons
The terms, green and sustainable are thrown around rampantly these days...
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by Burt Olhiser
As discussed in the first installment of this two-part article (Durability + Design, ...
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by Robert Ikenberry
Recently, McGraw-Hill Construction went looking for skilled labor. Turns out, they we...
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by Pamela Simmons
Google the words, “print dead” and you’ll come up with countless articles, polls, and...
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by Burt Olhiser
The following is the first installment of a two-part discussion of a number of failur...
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by Burt Olhiser
This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of columns in Durability + Des...
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by Jill M. Speegle
No flights, hotel reservations, or nametags are needed; in fact, you could stay in yo...
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by Pamela Simmons
D+D News published a story recently about a QR code painted on the roof of the...
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by Karen Kapsanis
I recently heard that some owners change a contract by replacing an “SSPC-certified c...
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by Burt Olhiser
The recent endless whining and posturing by our political “leadership” on one side of...
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by Burt Olhiser
My musings this month have to do with the reasons we turn down work.
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by Burt Olhiser
I recently had occasion to become one of the wandering lost souls in a Big-Box DIY st...
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by Burt Olhiser
During my years of contracting I loved most everything about my career choice, with o...
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by Harold Hower
All this debate and discussion about the EPA’s lead-paint Renovate, Repair and Painti...
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by Burt Olhiser
How are you generating new business—by word of mouth? By online advertising? By listi...
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by Burt Olhiser
Some paint jobs are recipes for disaster-for both the contractor and the facility own...
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