What Does a Commercial Painting Contractor Do?

A commercial painting contractor is skilled at cleaning, priming, and painting. In addition, he or she might know how to waterproof buildings and apply stripes to a parking lot. A lot of what commercial painting contractors do is wait, because they cannot work on wet surfaces. For this reason, they might split their time between businesses to finish projects when surfaces are wet. This type of contractor often works on off hours to avoid interrupting or endangering customers at a business.

Before priming, a commercial painting contractor prepares the work area by cleaning it. Dust, grime, and debris can interfere with how the primer and paint sticks and looks. The area must be completely dry before any primer or paint is applied. If the work area is usually busy with customers, the business shuts down for maintenance or asks the contractors to work at night.

Priming is an essential part of all commercial paint jobs. A commercial painting contractor primes a work area after cleaning the surface and letting it dry, but before applying the paint. Applying a primer makes the paint stick better, protects the surface being painted, and helps the paint last longer.

A commercial painting contractor spends the majority of his or her time painting. One coat is rarely a sufficient amount to cover the last paint job or achieve the color chosen by the business. It is common to apply two to four coats of paint, which can be time-consuming, but painting businesses usually have more than one contractor working at a time.

Waterproofing is another job that a commercial painting contractor is often required to carry out. This job requires expert care because the proper materials and application processes must be adhered to successfully waterproof an area. Waterproofing is complicated by the expansion and contraction of materials due to temperature changes, and an improper job can lead to the area not being waterproofed at all. In the end, a lot of work could be performed, only to need the contractor to do it all again because something went wrong.

Another job that a commercial painting contractor is hired to carry out is painting stripes on parking lots. This is not a job that any painter can do effectively because the asphalt or concrete surfaces must be cleaned and properly prepared if the stripes are to last a long time. Furthermore, after the surface is prepared the proper materials must be used to extend the life of the stripes. A business typically has stripes repainted as infrequently as possible, and may complain if the lot stripes do not last as long as promised or expected.