Brush Up Success: Becoming a Stellar Paint Contractor & Designer's Guide to Color Choice -Episode 54
April 2, 2024 • 24 mins
Unlock the secret to a flawless finish on your next home project as I, Chris Kirby, team up with Zach Carpenter of Cyclops Painting and Coatings. Together, we delve into the transformative power of paint and its pivotal role in home building and remodeling. We promise to equip you with the expertise to steer clear of last-minute punch-out panic, ensuring your work stands out for all the right reasons. Specialization is the name of the game for painting contractors looking to carve out a lucrative niche, and we're here to show you exactly how to do that, be it in residential, commercial, or any other specialized market.
Our candid conversation with Zach isn't just about the strokes of the brush; it's about the strokes of genius that can make your business thrive. Listen as Zach unfolds his unique journey, and discover why a strong local presence can mean consistent quality and accountability for clients. The upcoming tutorials with Amber and Justin will further build on the professional nuggets we lay out, turning theoretical knowledge into practical prowess. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a curious beginner, this episode is the canvas for your next masterpiece in the making.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Home Building and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to the HomeBuilding and Remodeling Show.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gulf Coast.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhome building and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you're a DIYer lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on home building and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go All right.
Everybody this month on theHome Building and Remodeling
Show.
This is the month of paint.
All you paint contractors canget excited because we're
talking directly to you.
My thought segments are goingto be on my experience in the
industry with paint and it'safter doing this for a while you
(01:46):
kind of figure out paint is oneof the more sensitive trades as
far as it's so visual, andyou'll hear me and Zach
Carpenter, the owner of Psycop'sPainting, talking about how
sensitive paint is and how, ifyou don't get it right,
especially at the end whenyou're doing punch out and
usually paint is the last thing,but it is the biggest thing.
(02:10):
Paint is on all aspects ofevery remodel we've ever done.
It is a part of it and it isone of the most crucial and
important parts because paintcan help compensate for errors
in other ways, and youcontractors know what I'm
talking about.
There's a saying about paintmaking a carpenter what he ain't
(02:33):
and different things like thatthat we joke about in the
industry.
But, truth be told, this isabsolutely one of the most
crucial steps to get rightbecause it is the most visual.
Besides your trim, carpentry andyour tile, paint is one of
those cosmetic touches that youjust cannot let slide.
(02:53):
You really want the best of thebest doing it.
You want to make sure that itis correct that's where you're
going to run into the mostproblems on your punch list
correct that's where you'regoing to run into the most
problems on your punch list.
And so what we've done is comeup with 10 tips for you to
(03:14):
increase revenue, and we'refocusing on these tips to
increase your revenue, but alsojust to increase your
effectiveness as a paintcontractor.
And again, I run remodelingcompany, home building company,
interior design company, but Ihave professional painters that
work for me that are veryknowledgeable, and you'll see
Amber and you'll see Justin aswe're putting out the how-to
videos.
(03:34):
But also I just keep myselfassociated with high quality
painters and I'm always learning.
I may say something wrong, wemay say something wrong on the
show, but you know what we'retrying to do is educate people
about our industry.
We do the how to's, we do theshow for a reason, and pain is
crucial.
Let's jump right in with the 10tips to increase your revenue
(03:56):
as a paint contractor, andnumber one, one of the one, of
the most crucial.
I've done plenty of shows aboutniches, but the number one thing
you can do to increase revenueas a paint contractor is to
specialize in a niche.
A lot of people think paintingis one of those things.
We run into it with clients allthe time hey, I can just paint
(04:18):
the walls myself, don't quotepainting, we'll handle the
painting part.
Well, we now we don't evenoffer that.
If they're not going to let uspaint because of the results of
unless they're a professionalpainter, then we'll let them do
it.
But paint puts the finishingtouches on most work and so it's
super critical.
You want to specialize in aniche because if you're just a
(04:40):
general painter, that's fine.
You can probably get by withpainting any and everything in
residential and commercialapplications.
But the education piece inpainting is so critical and also
there are just going to bethings that you're better at
that.
Once you start to paint thosethings and figure out I like
this, I enjoy it, I'm morepassionate about this specific
(05:04):
niche, then you're going to do abetter job and then you're
going to become known for doingthat specific type of work and
your referrals and leads andpeople calling you honestly is
going to be endless.
Because once you're known forsomething, then you can
definitely make your way in ourindustry, then you can
(05:25):
definitely make your way in ourindustry, identify things.
So markets right, there'sspecialty markets, there's
residential, there's commercial,industrial, so all of those
require different level ofknowledge and different level of
coding, different level ofapplication, different things
like that.
Once you figure out what youwant to do, as far as what
specialty area, as far asresidential, industrial or
(05:48):
commercial, then even marinearound here we live on the Gulf
Coast marine painting, coatingsand things like that are a big
deal.
People probably pay a lot ofmoney to get their boats updated
and painted and so, anyway,once you figure out what it is
you're going to do, you want tofocus on that area, and
specialization can lead tohigher rates of return.
(06:10):
And not only that, but one ofthe things that I've listed a
few things here, and there'sjust way more in paint
specialization.
But I'll go over some of thespecialties that I know around
here people specialize in andthey make good money Focusing on
things.
First, as a paint contractor,you need to figure out is it
just going to be you, if you'refocusing on just being an
(06:33):
individual doing paint projects?
This first specialization ispretty specific and you can do
it alone, and that is paintingexterior doors.
There is a big push in themarket painters just to have a
different color front door andwhatever style is in whether
it's the bright yellow or red orwhatever people want their door
(06:57):
painted, it is one of thosevisual aspects of the home that
give it curve appeal and peoplereally want their front doors to
be taken care of.
Now there are a couple ofdifferent things about just
painting front doors.
First, you can ruin a door,especially a high dollar door,
wooden door.
That requires a certain levelof knowledge to be painted.
(07:21):
You need to make sure you knowwhat you're doing and again,
that goes back to professionaldevelopment and learning the
trade the right way as a painterbut that is definitely
something that you can do ispaint doors as an individual
contractor and you will get tonsand tons.
Every house has a front door anda lot of people are looking to
(07:42):
make an impact statement withthat door.
As far as curb appeal, paintingexterior doors and it could be
front back I just say exterior,but front is the most prevalent
that people want their frontdoor to be done right, look good
, refinished, and it createsrepeat work because the front
door is going to get weatheredand no matter what you do,
(08:04):
whether it's a wood door, a truewood door, a composite door, a
metal door all of those doorsare going to have to be either
refinished and restained orrepainted at some time due to
exposure to sun and exposure tothe weather.
The number one specialty whenI'm talking about specializing
(08:26):
niches is, I think, as anindividual contractor, would be
front doors.
You can make your way on justfront doors alone.
The next thing I looked at wascabinets.
I know a couple of people shoutout to Peggy and shout out to
Devin who are local here.
Hopefully they're listening orthey have listened before, but
(08:49):
anyway, they are individualcontractors who only focus on
they only focus on cabinetrefinishing.
It's a big gig around here.
There are a lot of people whowant to repaint or change the
color or update their cabinetsand sometimes it is more cost
(09:09):
effective to refinish refinishas far as painting, restain or
change the color and you reallywant someone who knows what
they're doing that can take careof just doing the cabinets and
they're can take care of justdoing the cabinets.
And they focus on their tools.
They focus on the proper way tomask off and seal surfaces so
(09:30):
that they don't ruin otheraspects of a kitchen or a
bathroom or wherever thesecabinets can be.
Some of them focus on furniturepainting too, dressers and
things like that.
But anyway, there's a properway to do it, proper technique.
That's another specialty thatyou can focus on as an
individual and make your way.
Typically, sub out our cabinetwork when we're doing remodels
(09:53):
or in new construction.
Our painters now can do it.
If it's a larger cabinet job,say you know, more than 30 doors
, we're probably going to useone of our local subs who only
focuses on that because we wantit done right.
And that's another specialty asan individual contractor that
you can focus on and make yourway.
(10:15):
And now we move into Shop Talk.
It's the portion of the showwhere I bring in a co-host and
we cover trending topics in homebuilding and remodeling.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
Welcome back everybody.
We got Zach Carpenter with us.
Zach is the owner of Cyclopsand, april being paint month, we
(10:36):
want to talk about everythingdealing with paint, from product
to tools, materials, bestpractices and contracting in
general.
Zach, can you introduceyourself to the audience and
then talk a little bit aboutyour company and where you got
the?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
name for it.
I sure can.
So my name is Zach Carpenterand my company name is Cyclops
Painting and Coatings, and we'vebeen in the paint industry for
about 20 years total.
Wow, we've got a lot ofexperience in that area, and so
we just enjoy the process.
Man, I love watching the changethat comes from painting.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely.
It's very visual, right.
It is All right.
So then, where did the nameCyclops come from?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Well, so that was kind of funny.
Back around Hurricane Katrina2005, I started getting a blind
spot in my eye and I ended upfinding out that I had a tumor
inside of my eyeball.
Oh wow, and so two years oftreatment and everything else
and finally they removed the eye.
So I literally have one eye.
You have one eye, and soCyclops has been running on it
(11:38):
for 15 years now, but what ablessing that they caught it and
you're still here, resilient.
Everything's still good.
I'm doing good also.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Awesome, awesome, a lot of what we've been talking
about on the show and we'll deepdive into paint, because
painting is special.
It takes a special person torun a paint business and I say
paint business as a contractor,because there are a lot of
individual contractors out thereand we run across and hire
(12:07):
about two individual contractorsall the time.
But where we align, I think, insome area is the fact that you
didn't want to do this byyourself, and so you have a
company and you have employees,and so you have to go through
the rigor of taking care ofemployees and managing clients
(12:31):
and managing multiple projects.
I wanted to deep dive from thecontractor's perspective, but
also especially from the paintperspective, because when I
first started Kirby CustomRenovation seven years ago, we
actually were doing paint aswell.
And I will say you have apainter now that was working for
(12:53):
us a little bit and she is byfar the best painter I've met,
and I didn't know what reallypaint should look like or how it
should be done until I met herand before we actually got away
from paint for the last fiveyears because it was so hard on
us, because paint is very visual.
(13:16):
It finishes the job.
That's right.
That's right.
And we always had problemswhere people don't understand if
you don't explain it to themabout the different finishes,
the different sheens, thedifferent aspects of doing a
remodel versus new construction.
So can you talk to us aboutpaint, the quality of paint and
(13:38):
how you manage customerexpectations?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I can.
Painting is one of the mostunderrated parts in a
construction project becauseeverybody can go buy paint from
the store.
You got home shows tellingeverybody how to paint until you
pick up that paintbrush and youstart doing it.
That's right.
And then it really shows wherethe professional stands out and
where they don't.
Are they putting two coats on?
(14:02):
Are they caulking your jointsproperly?
Are you using the properproduct for that service?
And so there's a lot that goesin it and you were talking about
.
There are a lot of.
I call them two men in a truck.
They're driving around paintingand you'll do it for half the
price of that oil, but are theythere whenever you need them?
When you got to call back, dothey show up on time?
What's the quality of it?
Did they put two coats in theplaces that you can't really
(14:24):
reach or see?
And so I think about thosethings all the time and that's
what I run off of.
Is I run off of giving aquality job, being there from
start to finish of the projectand giving you a value for what
you pay?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
for Well, and you mentioned cost, because we're in
the same boat, right.
So we are not by far.
We're not the cheapest and Idon't recommend that you always
want to go with the cheapest.
Now, if budget is top of mind,you need to consider that.
However, I think a lot of timeswhat happens in our industry as
(14:57):
well is we go in with an all inbid to where we're explaining
workers comp and insurance andbeing diligent, taking care of
the project, taking care of theclient A lot of the similar
things that you're talking tothe client to and the value and
the cost for those thingsworkers comp and insurance and
having employees Right, thosethings cost money and that's
(15:21):
where price frequently is aconcern, and we will, and we
don't take every job and wedon't win every job, and a lot
of times it is price and theywill come back with the well,
the next guy did it at half thecost or a third of the cost, and
(15:42):
we try to explain what you'repaying for, right, what you're
going to get with us, and wecan't vouch for anybody else.
We try not to do the comparisonthing right, because there's
people who are really good.
They just want to be anindividual contractor and they
are craftsmen.
But what I try to explain tothem is, when you look at it,
(16:05):
it's just like me having a homebuilder's license versus
somebody that's not on a remodel.
There is an authority figure inmy life, right, the Home
Builders Association that I haveto be accountable to.
I don't want to lose my licenseno-transcript.
(16:41):
We're local and I think local isanother and do your paint job
and then they're out becausethey were only here while the
getting was good, right.
So I promote local and I thinkthat's something that, again, we
align with.
I know, me and you met becauseof a business group that we were
both in.
I'm no longer in the group,zach's still in the group, and
(17:03):
the people and the quality ofcharacter that the people in
that group are is what againsets you apart.
You spend time learning fromother contractors and
professionally developing, and alot of people do not see the
value in that, but that doescost time.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Well, and especially contractors in my field and even
in your field, contractors andconstruction workers and stuff
like that.
The last thing they're thinkingabout is networking and
building a business and buildinga brand, and I've had my
experience with both sides of it.
My first round of my paintcompany until 2010,.
2008 hit.
(17:42):
The economy went down.
I made it another two years.
I learned a lot about what todo and what not to do, sure, and
then the business I got in inbetween.
That span showed me a lot aboutbranding and and actually the
business side, the business sideof it.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I don't know if you noticed, but in our industry you
have some highly skilled, verystrong contractors that when
they do go out on their own theysuffer because sometimes of the
business side, where mybackground was different.
I started my leadership andbusiness side in the Navy and
then I had my dad and mybrother-in-law who had the
craftsman, the skill and stuffto do to work.
(18:17):
We were able to mesh those two.
But you come with a voice ofexperience in business where you
said before you were operatinga little bit different I was
only good or well 12 hours a day.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I was on the job, working six, seven days a week
running myself in the ground,and so I was still doing some
networking and things.
I've always just met people,and sure, a lot of people.
Easy, I thought, easy to,that's right.
And I came from a lowmiddle-class family and I just
seen a bunch of people that Iwas around that just didn't do
(18:52):
much.
They were in their forties andfifties still working by the
hour, right and not didn't havean idea of wanting to go
anywhere else, and I did Sacredgoals and that I just had to
learn how to get there.
How did paint enter your life?
I've done a lot of things.
I started out in constructionFrom the time I could walk.
My dad was a home builder and aconstruction guy.
I didn't know that Great trimcarpenter, so I'd done some
(19:16):
painting with them in thebeginning and then I got off of
that and I went into ironwork.
So I traveled the countryinstalling handrails and
apartment complexes, buildingmetal buildings, climbing steel.
Well, hurricane Ivan hit and Icame back in town and one of the
guys that works for me now,donnie, had his own company back
then and so he was doing OnoIsland work, dolphin Island
(19:39):
stuff like that For everybody,because this is it's national.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
For everybody who doesn't know or doesn't already
know, we're the Alabama GulfCoast which and when he says
some of the local names I don'tknow island is a nice island in
Orange Beach, alabama, wherethere are a lot of high dollar,
high value homes, high valueclient.
Now we're going to move intothe portion of the show where we
(20:03):
talk interior design.
We're going to bring in aninterior designer and we're
going to talk trending designand products.
Hope you enjoy, let's go.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's like we are really getting in a problem
where the client, customer,whatever, they don't know what
paint colors they want, so theyask these painters, professional
painters.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
For their opinion or suggestion and they get to them.
Well then, they get it and theyget it on the wall and they're
like I don't like it and they'rebecoming responsible for it
because they suggested it Rightand because they're doing the
work, they're like oh, you canchange it for free.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But see, for us it was kind of the same thing
Before we had y'all.
We would give suggestions on abathroom or a kitchen and not
really know.
Like I said this, our room thatwe're sitting in is gray,
exactly, exactly the point, andthey know how to paint.
But the vision piece or pickingcolors, the importance of
(21:05):
having an interior designer, nowyou do paint consultations, we
do that with.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
That said, we actually have a designer going
out today for a paint consult.
That and we've had, and that'sa growing selection that we
offer, because many people knowthat we do that and they don't
know they need it well, that'sthe kicker, right?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
they think they like a color and so say, for instance
, like if you combine, if youdon't know they need it, well,
that's the kicker, right.
They think they like a colorand so say, for instance, like
if you combine, if you don't doa paint consult and we go in and
we do a remodel without aninterior designer and without
your assistance, right?
Because some people just don'twant to pay the money for a
designer and we always try totalk them into it because they
(21:45):
can show us a picture, we makeit happen.
But when it comes to offeringsuggestions, we're going to say,
yeah, that looks good and itmay not, okay.
But on the paint side of things,we go in and we're going to
paint whatever color theyprovide, right.
And if they ask, we're going tosay sure, we don't always know.
(22:05):
And if they ask, we're going tosay sure, we don't always know.
But are you a professionalselection person, right?
How do you quantify or qualifya paint consultation where, for
us, we charge $150?
So we charge $150 to come outand consult about a paint color?
Where do you even start withthat?
(22:27):
Depending on the face.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
They'll have an idea of what direction they're going.
It's usually lighter.
A lot of people are gettingaway from the grays now.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
They're looking for warmer colors, brighter
environments, especially downhere.
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
But see, you already know so much more than I ever.
People are looking for warmercolors.
I'm not going to say that as acontractor, and even as a
professional painter, you cansay what's trending hey, we've
been painting a lot of X, butthat doesn't necessarily mean
that that's just what you'repaying a lot of.
(23:07):
But that's not.
It's going to look good on thissurface.
It's going to look goodcombined with this.
Even you saying you're alreadyspeaking so much more knowledge
than we have.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
support.
Please subscribe to our YouTubechannel, Follow us on social
media via Facebook, Instagramand TikTok, Get more info at our
(23:32):
website,wwwthehomebuildingshowcom and,
as always, remember who we arethe Home Building and Remodeling
Show.
The Home Building and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to the HomeBuilding and Remodeling Show.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gulf Coast.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhome building and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you're a DIYer lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on home building and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go All right.
Everybody this month on theHome Building and Remodeling
Show.
This is the month of paint.
All you paint contractors canget excited because we're
talking directly to you.
My thought segments are goingto be on my experience in the
industry with paint and it'safter doing this for a while you
(01:46):
kind of figure out paint is oneof the more sensitive trades as
far as it's so visual, andyou'll hear me and Zach
Carpenter, the owner of Psycop'sPainting, talking about how
sensitive paint is and how, ifyou don't get it right,
especially at the end whenyou're doing punch out and
usually paint is the last thing,but it is the biggest thing.
(02:10):
Paint is on all aspects ofevery remodel we've ever done.
It is a part of it and it isone of the most crucial and
important parts because paintcan help compensate for errors
in other ways, and youcontractors know what I'm
talking about.
There's a saying about paintmaking a carpenter what he ain't
(02:33):
and different things like thatthat we joke about in the
industry.
But, truth be told, this isabsolutely one of the most
crucial steps to get rightbecause it is the most visual.
Besides your trim, carpentry andyour tile, paint is one of
those cosmetic touches that youjust cannot let slide.
(02:53):
You really want the best of thebest doing it.
You want to make sure that itis correct that's where you're
going to run into the mostproblems on your punch list
correct that's where you'regoing to run into the most
problems on your punch list.
And so what we've done is comeup with 10 tips for you to
(03:14):
increase revenue, and we'refocusing on these tips to
increase your revenue, but alsojust to increase your
effectiveness as a paintcontractor.
And again, I run remodelingcompany, home building company,
interior design company, but Ihave professional painters that
work for me that are veryknowledgeable, and you'll see
Amber and you'll see Justin aswe're putting out the how-to
videos.
(03:34):
But also I just keep myselfassociated with high quality
painters and I'm always learning.
I may say something wrong, wemay say something wrong on the
show, but you know what we'retrying to do is educate people
about our industry.
We do the how to's, we do theshow for a reason, and pain is
crucial.
Let's jump right in with the 10tips to increase your revenue
(03:56):
as a paint contractor, andnumber one, one of the one, of
the most crucial.
I've done plenty of shows aboutniches, but the number one thing
you can do to increase revenueas a paint contractor is to
specialize in a niche.
A lot of people think paintingis one of those things.
We run into it with clients allthe time hey, I can just paint
(04:18):
the walls myself, don't quotepainting, we'll handle the
painting part.
Well, we now we don't evenoffer that.
If they're not going to let uspaint because of the results of
unless they're a professionalpainter, then we'll let them do
it.
But paint puts the finishingtouches on most work and so it's
super critical.
You want to specialize in aniche because if you're just a
(04:40):
general painter, that's fine.
You can probably get by withpainting any and everything in
residential and commercialapplications.
But the education piece inpainting is so critical and also
there are just going to bethings that you're better at
that.
Once you start to paint thosethings and figure out I like
this, I enjoy it, I'm morepassionate about this specific
(05:04):
niche, then you're going to do abetter job and then you're
going to become known for doingthat specific type of work and
your referrals and leads andpeople calling you honestly is
going to be endless.
Because once you're known forsomething, then you can
definitely make your way in ourindustry, then you can
(05:25):
definitely make your way in ourindustry, identify things.
So markets right, there'sspecialty markets, there's
residential, there's commercial,industrial, so all of those
require different level ofknowledge and different level of
coding, different level ofapplication, different things
like that.
Once you figure out what youwant to do, as far as what
specialty area, as far asresidential, industrial or
(05:48):
commercial, then even marinearound here we live on the Gulf
Coast marine painting, coatingsand things like that are a big
deal.
People probably pay a lot ofmoney to get their boats updated
and painted and so, anyway,once you figure out what it is
you're going to do, you want tofocus on that area, and
specialization can lead tohigher rates of return.
(06:10):
And not only that, but one ofthe things that I've listed a
few things here, and there'sjust way more in paint
specialization.
But I'll go over some of thespecialties that I know around
here people specialize in andthey make good money Focusing on
things.
First, as a paint contractor,you need to figure out is it
just going to be you, if you'refocusing on just being an
(06:33):
individual doing paint projects?
This first specialization ispretty specific and you can do
it alone, and that is paintingexterior doors.
There is a big push in themarket painters just to have a
different color front door andwhatever style is in whether
it's the bright yellow or red orwhatever people want their door
(06:57):
painted, it is one of thosevisual aspects of the home that
give it curve appeal and peoplereally want their front doors to
be taken care of.
Now there are a couple ofdifferent things about just
painting front doors.
First, you can ruin a door,especially a high dollar door,
wooden door.
That requires a certain levelof knowledge to be painted.
(07:21):
You need to make sure you knowwhat you're doing and again,
that goes back to professionaldevelopment and learning the
trade the right way as a painterbut that is definitely
something that you can do ispaint doors as an individual
contractor and you will get tonsand tons.
Every house has a front door anda lot of people are looking to
(07:42):
make an impact statement withthat door.
As far as curb appeal, paintingexterior doors and it could be
front back I just say exterior,but front is the most prevalent
that people want their frontdoor to be done right, look good
, refinished, and it createsrepeat work because the front
door is going to get weatheredand no matter what you do,
(08:04):
whether it's a wood door, a truewood door, a composite door, a
metal door all of those doorsare going to have to be either
refinished and restained orrepainted at some time due to
exposure to sun and exposure tothe weather.
The number one specialty whenI'm talking about specializing
(08:26):
niches is, I think, as anindividual contractor, would be
front doors.
You can make your way on justfront doors alone.
The next thing I looked at wascabinets.
I know a couple of people shoutout to Peggy and shout out to
Devin who are local here.
Hopefully they're listening orthey have listened before, but
(08:49):
anyway, they are individualcontractors who only focus on
they only focus on cabinetrefinishing.
It's a big gig around here.
There are a lot of people whowant to repaint or change the
color or update their cabinetsand sometimes it is more cost
(09:09):
effective to refinish refinishas far as painting, restain or
change the color and you reallywant someone who knows what
they're doing that can take careof just doing the cabinets and
they're can take care of justdoing the cabinets.
And they focus on their tools.
They focus on the proper way tomask off and seal surfaces so
(09:30):
that they don't ruin otheraspects of a kitchen or a
bathroom or wherever thesecabinets can be.
Some of them focus on furniturepainting too, dressers and
things like that.
But anyway, there's a properway to do it, proper technique.
That's another specialty thatyou can focus on as an
individual and make your way.
Typically, sub out our cabinetwork when we're doing remodels
(09:53):
or in new construction.
Our painters now can do it.
If it's a larger cabinet job,say you know, more than 30 doors
, we're probably going to useone of our local subs who only
focuses on that because we wantit done right.
And that's another specialty asan individual contractor that
you can focus on and make yourway.
(10:15):
And now we move into Shop Talk.
It's the portion of the showwhere I bring in a co-host and
we cover trending topics in homebuilding and remodeling.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
Welcome back everybody.
We got Zach Carpenter with us.
Zach is the owner of Cyclopsand, april being paint month, we
(10:36):
want to talk about everythingdealing with paint, from product
to tools, materials, bestpractices and contracting in
general.
Zach, can you introduceyourself to the audience and
then talk a little bit aboutyour company and where you got
the?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
name for it.
I sure can.
So my name is Zach Carpenterand my company name is Cyclops
Painting and Coatings, and we'vebeen in the paint industry for
about 20 years total.
Wow, we've got a lot ofexperience in that area, and so
we just enjoy the process.
Man, I love watching the changethat comes from painting.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Absolutely.
It's very visual, right.
It is All right.
So then, where did the nameCyclops come from?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Well, so that was kind of funny.
Back around Hurricane Katrina2005, I started getting a blind
spot in my eye and I ended upfinding out that I had a tumor
inside of my eyeball.
Oh wow, and so two years oftreatment and everything else
and finally they removed the eye.
So I literally have one eye.
You have one eye, and soCyclops has been running on it
(11:38):
for 15 years now, but what ablessing that they caught it and
you're still here, resilient.
Everything's still good.
I'm doing good also.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Awesome, awesome, a lot of what we've been talking
about on the show and we'll deepdive into paint, because
painting is special.
It takes a special person torun a paint business and I say
paint business as a contractor,because there are a lot of
individual contractors out thereand we run across and hire
(12:07):
about two individual contractorsall the time.
But where we align, I think, insome area is the fact that you
didn't want to do this byyourself, and so you have a
company and you have employees,and so you have to go through
the rigor of taking care ofemployees and managing clients
(12:31):
and managing multiple projects.
I wanted to deep dive from thecontractor's perspective, but
also especially from the paintperspective, because when I
first started Kirby CustomRenovation seven years ago, we
actually were doing paint aswell.
And I will say you have apainter now that was working for
(12:53):
us a little bit and she is byfar the best painter I've met,
and I didn't know what reallypaint should look like or how it
should be done until I met herand before we actually got away
from paint for the last fiveyears because it was so hard on
us, because paint is very visual.
(13:16):
It finishes the job.
That's right.
That's right.
And we always had problemswhere people don't understand if
you don't explain it to themabout the different finishes,
the different sheens, thedifferent aspects of doing a
remodel versus new construction.
So can you talk to us aboutpaint, the quality of paint and
(13:38):
how you manage customerexpectations?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I can.
Painting is one of the mostunderrated parts in a
construction project becauseeverybody can go buy paint from
the store.
You got home shows tellingeverybody how to paint until you
pick up that paintbrush and youstart doing it.
That's right.
And then it really shows wherethe professional stands out and
where they don't.
Are they putting two coats on?
(14:02):
Are they caulking your jointsproperly?
Are you using the properproduct for that service?
And so there's a lot that goesin it and you were talking about
.
There are a lot of.
I call them two men in a truck.
They're driving around paintingand you'll do it for half the
price of that oil, but are theythere whenever you need them?
When you got to call back, dothey show up on time?
What's the quality of it?
Did they put two coats in theplaces that you can't really
(14:24):
reach or see?
And so I think about thosethings all the time and that's
what I run off of.
Is I run off of giving aquality job, being there from
start to finish of the projectand giving you a value for what
you pay?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
for Well, and you mentioned cost, because we're in
the same boat, right.
So we are not by far.
We're not the cheapest and Idon't recommend that you always
want to go with the cheapest.
Now, if budget is top of mind,you need to consider that.
However, I think a lot of timeswhat happens in our industry as
(14:57):
well is we go in with an all inbid to where we're explaining
workers comp and insurance andbeing diligent, taking care of
the project, taking care of theclient A lot of the similar
things that you're talking tothe client to and the value and
the cost for those thingsworkers comp and insurance and
having employees Right, thosethings cost money and that's
(15:21):
where price frequently is aconcern, and we will, and we
don't take every job and wedon't win every job, and a lot
of times it is price and theywill come back with the well,
the next guy did it at half thecost or a third of the cost, and
(15:42):
we try to explain what you'repaying for, right, what you're
going to get with us, and wecan't vouch for anybody else.
We try not to do the comparisonthing right, because there's
people who are really good.
They just want to be anindividual contractor and they
are craftsmen.
But what I try to explain tothem is, when you look at it,
(16:05):
it's just like me having a homebuilder's license versus
somebody that's not on a remodel.
There is an authority figure inmy life, right, the Home
Builders Association that I haveto be accountable to.
I don't want to lose my licenseno-transcript.
(16:41):
We're local and I think local isanother and do your paint job
and then they're out becausethey were only here while the
getting was good, right.
So I promote local and I thinkthat's something that, again, we
align with.
I know, me and you met becauseof a business group that we were
both in.
I'm no longer in the group,zach's still in the group, and
(17:03):
the people and the quality ofcharacter that the people in
that group are is what againsets you apart.
You spend time learning fromother contractors and
professionally developing, and alot of people do not see the
value in that, but that doescost time.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Well, and especially contractors in my field and even
in your field, contractors andconstruction workers and stuff
like that.
The last thing they're thinkingabout is networking and
building a business and buildinga brand, and I've had my
experience with both sides of it.
My first round of my paintcompany until 2010,.
2008 hit.
(17:42):
The economy went down.
I made it another two years.
I learned a lot about what todo and what not to do, sure, and
then the business I got in inbetween.
That span showed me a lot aboutbranding and and actually the
business side, the business sideof it.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I don't know if you noticed, but in our industry you
have some highly skilled, verystrong contractors that when
they do go out on their own theysuffer because sometimes of the
business side, where mybackground was different.
I started my leadership andbusiness side in the Navy and
then I had my dad and mybrother-in-law who had the
craftsman, the skill and stuffto do to work.
(18:17):
We were able to mesh those two.
But you come with a voice ofexperience in business where you
said before you were operatinga little bit different I was
only good or well 12 hours a day.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I was on the job, working six, seven days a week
running myself in the ground,and so I was still doing some
networking and things.
I've always just met people,and sure, a lot of people.
Easy, I thought, easy to,that's right.
And I came from a lowmiddle-class family and I just
seen a bunch of people that Iwas around that just didn't do
(18:52):
much.
They were in their forties andfifties still working by the
hour, right and not didn't havean idea of wanting to go
anywhere else, and I did Sacredgoals and that I just had to
learn how to get there.
How did paint enter your life?
I've done a lot of things.
I started out in constructionFrom the time I could walk.
My dad was a home builder and aconstruction guy.
I didn't know that Great trimcarpenter, so I'd done some
(19:16):
painting with them in thebeginning and then I got off of
that and I went into ironwork.
So I traveled the countryinstalling handrails and
apartment complexes, buildingmetal buildings, climbing steel.
Well, hurricane Ivan hit and Icame back in town and one of the
guys that works for me now,donnie, had his own company back
then and so he was doing OnoIsland work, dolphin Island
(19:39):
stuff like that For everybody,because this is it's national.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
For everybody who doesn't know or doesn't already
know, we're the Alabama GulfCoast which and when he says
some of the local names I don'tknow island is a nice island in
Orange Beach, alabama, wherethere are a lot of high dollar,
high value homes, high valueclient.
Now we're going to move intothe portion of the show where we
(20:03):
talk interior design.
We're going to bring in aninterior designer and we're
going to talk trending designand products.
Hope you enjoy, let's go.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's like we are really getting in a problem
where the client, customer,whatever, they don't know what
paint colors they want, so theyask these painters, professional
painters.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
For their opinion or suggestion and they get to them.
Well then, they get it and theyget it on the wall and they're
like I don't like it and they'rebecoming responsible for it
because they suggested it Rightand because they're doing the
work, they're like oh, you canchange it for free.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But see, for us it was kind of the same thing
Before we had y'all.
We would give suggestions on abathroom or a kitchen and not
really know.
Like I said this, our room thatwe're sitting in is gray,
exactly, exactly the point, andthey know how to paint.
But the vision piece or pickingcolors, the importance of
(21:05):
having an interior designer, nowyou do paint consultations, we
do that with.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
That said, we actually have a designer going
out today for a paint consult.
That and we've had, and that'sa growing selection that we
offer, because many people knowthat we do that and they don't
know they need it well, that'sthe kicker, right?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
they think they like a color and so say, for instance
, like if you combine, if youdon't know they need it, well,
that's the kicker, right.
They think they like a colorand so say, for instance, like
if you combine, if you don't doa paint consult and we go in and
we do a remodel without aninterior designer and without
your assistance, right?
Because some people just don'twant to pay the money for a
designer and we always try totalk them into it because they
(21:45):
can show us a picture, we makeit happen.
But when it comes to offeringsuggestions, we're going to say,
yeah, that looks good and itmay not, okay.
But on the paint side of things,we go in and we're going to
paint whatever color theyprovide, right.
And if they ask, we're going tosay sure, we don't always know.
(22:05):
And if they ask, we're going tosay sure, we don't always know.
But are you a professionalselection person, right?
How do you quantify or qualifya paint consultation where, for
us, we charge $150?
So we charge $150 to come outand consult about a paint color?
Where do you even start withthat?
(22:27):
Depending on the face.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
They'll have an idea of what direction they're going.
It's usually lighter.
A lot of people are gettingaway from the grays now.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
They're looking for warmer colors, brighter
environments, especially downhere.
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
But see, you already know so much more than I ever.
People are looking for warmercolors.
I'm not going to say that as acontractor, and even as a
professional painter, you cansay what's trending hey, we've
been painting a lot of X, butthat doesn't necessarily mean
that that's just what you'repaying a lot of.
(23:07):
But that's not.
It's going to look good on thissurface.
It's going to look goodcombined with this.
Even you saying you're alreadyspeaking so much more knowledge
than we have.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
support.
Please subscribe to our YouTubechannel, Follow us on social
media via Facebook, Instagramand TikTok, Get more info at our
(23:32):
website,wwwthehomebuildingshowcom and,
as always, remember who we arethe Home Building and Remodeling
Show.
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