All year long, I work with different types of businesses of all shapes and sizes with varying expertise levels and I have seen many of the same mistakes made in each of those shops. Here is a list of the top five mistakes I have been witness to that costs businesses dearly, but many times were rarely acknowledged.

 

No. 5: Pricing — Too many times we have under priced our work due to competing bids by trying to be the lowest price with the highest value, or perhaps we had inadequate time to price effectively or maybe we simply threw a number out to see what sticks. Pricing the job has to cover not only your time and materials, it also has to cover your overhead which in many cases is far more than what we estimated. Included in the price has to be room for possible mistakes, profit, gas, truck expenses, rent, utilities, health insurance, workmen’s comp., business insurance and so on. Only you know the answer to the numbers listed here, and, unfortunately, when we start to trim our bid to compete, we trim our profits and our needs to survive in the market and wham, we are struggling to keep the doors open! Have you made some time studies lately on how long things really take your staff to do? Have you changed some members of your team which has cost you hourly for the lack of efficiency level than the worker prior in that position? Trimming the cost of the finish down by five or 10 dollars doesn’t make the difference in the bid; it’s the labor and having high-quality materials that will make the difference. Make sure you don’t “lose” when you “win” the bid.

 

No. 4: Dry Time —We all wish we had more time in the day and that our finishes would dry instantly, but unfortunately we can’t change that. We need to allow proper drying and curing times to assure that the quality and integrity of the coating stays intact. Forcing dry time, recoat times and stacking times may get your product out the door and delivered on time but could bite you on the back side when finishes fail and rework has to be done. Now, not only do we have to spend our own time and material, we have made an unfavorable impression on our customer and may have lost all chances of referrals. Just because the finish may appear to be dry doesn’t mean it is! Have you ever taken a cake out of the oven without allowing the proper baking time? It looks fine, so you frost it, decorate it and think all is well until you cut into the middle and bam! Gooey raw batter is revealed. Yikes! It’s too late to fix it; you just need to start over. If we had given it the extra time it needed to bake properly, you wouldn’t be starting over. I have witnessed rework done because they had rushed the finish over a 30 minute wait time. The funny thing is…they had time to do it all over again without a problem.  Hmmm!?

 

No. 3: Solvent — Solvents play a huge part in the chemistry of our finishes, choosing the right solvent can mean the difference on dry times, stacking, flow rate, cleaning your equipment correctly and the list goes on. Using the coating manufacturer’s recommended solvent is key. If you choose to buy your solvents based on price or convenience, you may find yourself reworking your finishes.  Incompatible solvents or simply the wrong solvent choice in certain climates can cost you dearly! Solvent pop, orange peel, blushing, pin holing, sheen, crawl, printing, excessive dry times, too fast dry times, the list goes on and on. Trying to save a few dollars buying your solvents, that are a very small percentage of your materials cost, could end up being problematic and cost you more in the end.   

 

No. 2:  Sanding — Skipping this step or barely doing this step in finishing can be the “kiss of death.” Sanding is the very foundation to the finishes you are about to apply; so, if we over look its importance it is most certain that the finish will fail. Remember, the reason for sanding is NOT to make it smooth but rather to create a profile for the stains and finishes to adhere. We must also remember that the substrate is wood and it is always moving, therefore, what you sanded today is gone tomorrow. Coatings today also adhere primarily by mechanically cross linking not so much with chemical melt in so creating a good tooth for the finish is critical. Relieving all sharp edges is critical as well since the finish shrinks back when curing and sharp edges only leads to the finish cutting over those sharp edges and moisture entering the substrate creating failures like delaminating.

 

No. 1 reason of failures in 2011…the lack of following a Story board.

 

Story boards or step panels are so critical that in almost 90 percent of every color problem I have gone out to trouble shoot the finisher felt he didn’t need a story board once he knew what products he was going to use and the system he would follow. Certainly if the stain was matched, it would be consistent from piece to piece, right? Ah… that would be a big fat “NO,” and if you sanded everything with the same grit and mineral sandpaper, the color would be the same as well, right? Again NO, or if I change the primer midway through the job my color would still be the same cause I still used a primer right? Noooooo! Had a story board been followed every step of the way the color would stay consistent. Short cutting, skipping, a change in application, all affect the end results. If a chef changed the order of ingredients or amounts and temperatures of the oven while baking would he not have a different result? If he shortens the cooking time because he needed to get it out to table number 10 because the customer is screaming, wouldn’t it be different? Would it be right? To have consistent results you need to have consistent application.

 

This year as we make our New Year’s resolutions, let’s keep in mind “beauty is in simplicity.”Give yourself the time needed, the proper tools and materials and the patience to follow the steps and we will only have to do things once and the rewards will be tenfold. Happy New Year!