Epoxy Your Garage Floor

It's warm out and you are sick of that dingy floor in your garage and decide it is time you want to Epoxy your garage floor. There are some preparations you will need to take care of before your will be ready. Also the Epoxy is not cheap by any means. It may run as much as a hundred dollars or more. If you are ready there are some tests that you will need to do to know if you actually can epoxy your garage floor.

What you must do is tape some plastic to the floor, a square piece of plastic wrap about 6 inches will suffice. This is to see if moisture is coming through the floor.If it is then you may not proceed. If all is good you will be ready to move ob to the next phase of preparing your garage floor to be epoxied.

You must remove any loose paint that may already be on the floor or better yet remove all of it even if you must apply chemicals to remove the paint. If there is no paint and you have a sealed floor the sealant must be removed or pitted. If you have a high polished cement floor you must use some acid wash to etch the floor. The floor should be etched with an acid wash no matter what. All debris and dirt needs to be washed off the floor. Powerwashing the floor may work well.

Once the garage floor is ready and all dirt has been removed and it has been etched you may begin to epoxy the floor. The best way to epoxy your garage floor is with a two part epoxy. The parts a and b are mixed together. Once mixed you have about two hours working time.

Epoxy is toxic and a chemical respirator should be worn.. First cut your edges out with a brush and then roll the epoxy onto the garage floor. Only one coat is necessary. Usually you can walk on it in twelve hours and after 72 hours you can park your car on the floor. They do make additives that are like little chips that you may add to the epoxy. These chips act to prevent slipping on the floor. I find the best product to use comes from Sherwin Williams .

The product comes in many colors but a favorite color is called pewter. Enjoy your epoxied garage floor for a long time. It will be easy to clean up and will look a whole lot better.

Termite Infestation

Sometimes when painting a home the discovery of termite infestation is discovered,  When termites are discovered it is time to call in a pest control company so they can rid the home of them. Damage assessment must take place to see the extent of damage that may have occured. Damage can not be seen easily because it happens behind wall where you cannot see. This is the problem with termites, they silently eat your house up from the inside. Termites literally eat wood at which point the wood begins to weaken and decay and the structure of the home becomes compromised and begins to fail, They like to eat wood that is already decaying and wet as well so as a prevention of termites it is important to keep all of the wood on the house dry and replace any rotting wood.Also keep firewood and debris far away from the house.  Insurance companies will usually refuse cover the damage caused by termite infestation.

Unfortunately, unlike most pest infestation that are easily noticeable, termites are not until it is usually too late. If you should see finely  shopped  wood bits on the floor in corners of the home it is safe to say there are termites. In order to determine what, if any, damage the termite infestation may have caused, and what must be done to rid of them there are steps that must be taken.

Drilling small holes, removing Sheetrock and pieces of wood may be necessary in order to see how far in they have gone and what damage they may have caused. Any damaged wood will need to be replaced.. Getting rid of the termite infestation can be tricky and requires some knowledge of termites and how they exist. Calling in a professional may be the way to go since they are experienced in getting rid of these pests and have a good understanding of how termites live.Getting rid of termites is really not a do-it-yourself type of job.

Termites usually commute to the wood they eat up. If they have colonized they will have created tunnels to where they actually live up to your home. The problem with this is you may get rid of the termites in the home but they will return through the tunnels they have created. Usually a tent is placed over the home and a chemical and or heating the home up to 120 degrees is used to kill all of termites existing in the home.Once this has been done dealing with the tunnels and homes of the termite colonies has to be dealt with..Usually a toxin is injected into the ground to destroy them. There are other methods as well. Talking with a couple of pest control professionals about the best methods to get rid of the termite infestation is very important. also discussing prevention methods is very important, Good luck in exterinating any termites you may have.

Search Amazon.com for garage floor epoxy

Cheap Business Insurance For Painting Contractors

Obtaining Cheap business insurance for painting contractors depends upon what type of insurance you will need. There are two types of insurance, general liability and workman's compensation. In order to start deciding what insurance policy you need to obtain it is best to understand what each policy is and what it may cover, in addition to the knowing what the nature of your work, such as having employees or subcontractors or will you be subcontracting.You may need just liability insurance to operate or you may need to carry workman's compensation. In the beginning, if you have no employees and you have no subcontractors and will not be subcontracting, you  can choose to carry just general liability insurance for your paint contracting business.

When discussing issues involving workman's compensation policies this article will pertain to NJ laws, as each state may be different when dealing with workman's compensation policies please check your state laws. In NJ you must have a workman's compensation policy for any employee you have, even if you have dayworkers or illegal aliens working for you. You also have the option of carrying a workman's compensation policy for yourself.in case you become injured.

The cost or premium for a workman's compensation policy is based upon a rate determined by your state's Workers Compensation Bureau times your payroll, plus some fees. When getting the policy they will ask you what you pay yourself and what do you pay your employees to determine an amount. At the end of the year they will set an appointment to audit you and determine how much your payroll actually was. If it was less than what you stated you will receive a reimbursement check, if it was more then you will owe money.

If your business will be sub contracting then you should have a workman's compensation policy and in NJ you must elect to have one for yourself,  employees will then automatically be included. If you do not provide the General Contractor with an certificate of insurance that states you elected coverage for yourself / proprietor, then that General Contractor paying you will be charged on their policy a premium based upon your payroll as if you were an employee not a sub contractor.

As a General Contractor, if you plan on using sub contractors you should carry a workman's compensation policy for yourself which will automatically cover any employees if you have them. However, although not required, if you do not have a workman's compensation policy any sub contractor who cancels their policy or lapses without you knowledge may come after you and sue you if they become injured as well as any employee of theirs who may become injured. It is important as a General Contractor to get a certificate of insurance from all sub contractors that states they have elected workman's compensation for themselves / proprietor.

If an employee is hired from another state and will be working in another state then the workman's compensation policy must be purchased from that state. There is also a part II of the workman's compensation policy that is rarely used which is Employer's Liability. This covers claims arising out of injury to an employee that are not compensated under the applicable workers compensation law. An example would be - Suit brought by an injured employee who is illegally employee.  In certain instances illegally employed minors or illegal aliens are not entitled to WC benefits and may elect to sue the employer under common law.

Liability insurance will cover any damages that may occur to the property while work is being preformed. This is a set amount and a yearly premium that is usually very affordable. Some places that may contract you may require a certain amount of coverage. If you only do residential maybe you want a premium base upon a million dollars, however a commercial establishment may require a policy based upon a few million dollars.

In order to get cheap business insurance for your painting business you must know the exact policies you must carry and get multiple quotes.

Starting a Painting Business In a Bad Economy

Starting a painting business in a bad economy can be done. Lets face it folks it will require effort and serious planning. This article will discuss what efforts you will need to put forth to start and run a successful painting business.

Just a couple of years ago you could place an ad in the newspaper and off you go the clients poured in, this is no longer so. To start a painting business in a bad economy is going to require much more effort and tactical thinking to get clients knocking on your door. The good news is there are clients out there that need painting. However, they know this is a bad economy which poses another issue. Clients looking to get painting done will get multiple estimates and will choose the ones with the lowest estimates. Competition among Painting contractors and competitive painting estimates and pricing will also be briefly covered in this article.

You have purchased all your equipment that you will need and obtained the proper licensing and insurances for your Paint contacting business, placed two ads and you are now ready to go. A month has gone by and your phone is quiet, you have recieved one call for an estimate on painting the entire inside of a house. You do the estimate and the potential client has called you back to thank you for the estimate, unfortunately they have chosen someone else that had a much lower price and did not want to call you to ask if you would lower your price because your price was so much higher than the other estimate. The talk of a bad economy is everywhere and you are becoming discouraged and wonder why you decided to start a painting business in a bad economy.

Yes a few years ago there would be so many calls on the phone that you could not physically return every call and book estimates for all of them. Clients would have trouble getting someone to come do an estimate let alone the job so when they received a price they would jump on it whatever the price was.

Just because the economy is bad does not mean you cannot increase your phone calls and secure painting contracts in a bad economy. We just need to take some different approaches to get clients to call and accept our painting contract prices.

We need to increase calls for estimates if our painting business is going to succeed. There are a number of ways to do this.


Advertising

The most obvious is advertising - You need to research what is available to you as far as advertising is concerned. When researching advertising you must keep in mind your budget and the target market you are trying to reach. When keeping budget in mind there will be decisions to make such as one ad for one month that covers an entire page or a smaller ad that runs for a year.

Here is what is known about advertising. You need to brand yourself so you are recognizable and seen often. When an individual decides they need painting there are a couple of things they will do to start looking for a painting contractor. They will go to friends family and coworkers for a referral first, look in the newspapers or local home improvement monthly magazine that sits in stores (not all towns have these), or jot down a number from a sign out front of a house that has been recently painted. Not all folks can get a referral or see a sign and must rely on an ad of some sort or may want more estimates and will draw from multiple sources.

In the beginning we are stuck with advertising. I feel when it comes to advertising that yes you need to be seen but you will be seen if you are consistent in multiple areas of advertising. I believe it is better to spread yourself about than to get one big ad. Place your Painting truck or vehicle with your branded company name and logo on it where it can be seen a lot. Get some signs made up and see if friends and family will allow you to place them in their front lawns. Advertise in multiple places such as newspapers ( get your branded logo in the ad as the least smallest and not just a classified), home improvement magazines (the local ones they have in the supermarkets), place mats, local mailers an so on. Try to be seen as much as possible everywhere you can and consistently. This will help increase your chances of a potential client to call YOU and give your Painting Business an edge in a bad economy.


Networking

Networking is a powerful tool in promoting your painting business in a bad economy. Not all individuals are good at networking or just do not know how. You need to practice chatting with other individuals. The best thing to do to do this is by placing yourself in a position where there are many people to chat with. If you belong to a church then start getting invilved with your church or other place of worship. Volunteering to help out is one way to get involved, but once you begin to get involved everyone will begin to get to know you and will be coming up to you to chat. Everyone will know who you are and that you are a painting contractor. Should they need painting they will come to you or they may refer you to others they know that need painting. Be consistent with getting involved with your church or other place of worship.

Looking for other volunteering opportunities is also a good idea as well. Getting involved with your community will help your business grow, it just works.

There is one last tool I would like to mention that will enhance your business. It is also very powerful and will definitely bring you clients.

Local Business Re feral Marketing Groups

These groups recruit a couple of individuals from each profession category such as lawyers, plumbers, dentists, carpenters and so on. These groups have a small nominal membership fee and usually have weekly or biweekly meetings. The members strive to hand out as many referrals as they can for the week This means your business card will be handed out regularly and targeted to folks who really need your services. That is very powerful because referrals have more weight than someone who is in a newspaper ad ( of course your pricing must be correct to).

With these tools implemented you WILL receive plenty of calls looking for your services. Now you must deal with competitive pricing. In a bad economy people will be seeking the lowest price and everyone has lowered their pricing all around except material. I used to charge a daily rate of 350 to 400 dollars, now it is 250 to 300. Other painters may divuldge thier daily rate if you ask. Just keep yourself in range. I also tell the client that no matter how many bids they get and whatever the prices are to please give me a call I may adjust my price.

With all these tools you should be able to start a painting business in a bad economy. Good Luck!

Green Home Design - Paint

Paint is leading the expansion of the green home design building movement. Manufactures are being forced to produce paints with less dangerous and smog-producing compounds as regulations become tighter, increases in consumer demand for eco-friendly products and pressure mounting from environmental groups who closely monitor the green home design building movement.

Not everyone is happy about the changes paint manufacturers have had to make over the past few years towards the green home design movement. Many designers, painters and consumers who are for the green home design movement are becoming worried about increasing restrictions on oil-based paints (which contain high levels of harmful volatile organic compounds), and even on less hazardous water-based latex paints.

Some are arguing that with current products moving towards the green home design building movement it is impossible to replicate the integrity of an oil-based paint especially for the use on cabinetry, trim and other specialty jobs. In addition, painting walls and ceilings can require additional applications of the newer paints made with low volatile organic compounds or V.O.C. 's than the traditional latex blends.

VOLATILE organic compounds, or V.O.C.’s, are gases emitted by products like paint, lacquer, cleaning supplies and pesticides.

Over the past decade, many regulations have been enacted by the state and federally to reduce V.O.C.'s that are in paint and other products as part of a movement towards green home design. Federal V.O.C. limitations are 250 grams per liter for flat finishes and 380 grams for other finishes such as semi-gloss. An advisory group created under the Clean Air Act of 1990 (The Ozone Transport Commission), has recommendations limiting V.O.C.'s even further to 100 grams per liter for flat paint and 150 for other finishes. States that are in the process of adopting these limits or already have are: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Southern California has the most stringent rules in the country in which the South Coast Air Quality Management District requires all paints sold to contain less than 50 grams of V.O.C.'s per Liter. Many of today's new paints on the market have already been manufactured to comply with this so that they will not have to reformulate their products in the future as the regulations change and the movement towards green home design grows. Meeting these standards are Benjamin Moore's Aura, Home depot's Freshaire Choice and Sherwin-William's Harmony. Some other companies like Yolo Colorhouse and AFM Safecoat produce only low or "zero" V.O.C. paints.

Green Seal a nonprofit environmental organization are the ones who certify products as eco-friendly. They have listed 21 brands that have passed their environmental saftey and performance tests. Coming in third is Benjamin Moore's Aura with Sherwin-William's zero V.O.C. line Harmony, did not hold up to the performance test well along with several other brands. As the movement towards green home design continues to grow products through research will eventual increase their integrity and become standard among building products.