Coatings, Part 1
Paint is a bad word. There is no money in “paint.”
There is tremendous profit in “exterior coatings.”
Please understand that this “exterior coatings” business
is fraught with calamity for many honorable contractors. Sears
will not do “exterior coatings.” Vinyl siding–
yes. “Exterior coatings? No.
The first thing the salesman will do is walk you around the exterior
of your home and point out all of the icky places. Places where
your home is falling down and where if you do not fix this all
immediately your home will collapse tomorrow. Here it is, right
from one of their “secret” sales manuals:
It
does not matter if they feel they have a need or problem when
you arrive, what matters is that you create that problem or
need while you are there.
He will also tell you about this “exterior coating”
that “breathes” and that is “space age”
and that has a 40 year warranty.
These coatings are popularly seen at home improvement shows and
county fairs. Some have been around since the early ’60’s.
Application consists of a multi-step process where a primer is
applied to the wall and then covered with a top coating of the
color you want. The coatings are thick and somewhat elastic. Some
of these products are oil based and others are water based.
The real trick to “coating” a home is possibly not
the material used but the reality that few painters actually do
what they should do to prepare a home for new paint. If a painter
did what he was supposed to do then even a coating of slaked lime
and camel dung might last for decades.
These “space age coatings” are applied over a well-prepared
surface. In most cases the company will even trench around the
home - several inches down - and prime and coat below ground level.
A high pressure water jet is used to remove all the loose anything
that is stuck to the walls. Workmen then dig out the cracks and
fill the cracks with elastic rubbery stuff. The “stuff”
will sticks to stucco. The “stuff” also expands and
contracts so well it will move with the wall and possibly not
crack for many years.
The next step will be a primer coat that seals the stucco. This
primer is usually a different
