House Painter Forum

Professional Painters => Professional Painters and associated Trades Forum => Painter's Tales Short & Tall => Topic started by: MiTm on May 19, 2007, 04:57:51 PM

Title: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: MiTm on May 19, 2007, 04:57:51 PM
Ok I'll start this one off. May also be titled "my dumb moments."
I'm nearly done on a total interior re-paint. Last job is a ceiling
on a paneled room. I am standing on a small ladder...Thought I had moved the paint bucket away from the Back of the ladder...Nope. Stepped off the ladder into the paint bucket...one foot in, paint flies everywhere, shoes, socks soaked.
The canvas drop clothe saved a messy cleanup. No one home to hear
me... :'(
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: GreenMtnPainter on May 21, 2007, 06:54:09 PM
Worst for me was when I knocked my airless gun around a little too much and the tip guard game loose.  Forgot to check it, MAJOR backfire.  Ate log home sealer for breakfast.  Wasn't fun.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Lynjowoman on May 21, 2007, 07:04:39 PM
My Dad was helping us on a large exterior job. Kept telling him he needed to use a drop cloth. His last words were I don't need a drop cloth been doing this long enough I don't drip paint. Two seconds later he dropped his full paint pot on a brand new porch.  :o   Thank goodness it was getting painted. From then on he used a drop cloth. Never to old to learn. :D

Lynjo
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: madrugon on May 22, 2007, 12:00:10 AM
After  the job was finished in 2nd floor apartment ...I went downstairs to main entrance which was carpet
the very nice kind.  I was so careful to not leave foot prints  spills, etc . I was happy my day was over around 3 pm that day . It was sunny and a basketball game waiting for me at the club.
There were 2 doors to go through  before you reach the exterior world, however   i put a five  of white ceiling paint on a trolley  and when i run over a  tiny  but powerful  dent    the leads wasn't  tight and the paint spill onto the carpet ( blue carpet , expensive)
I  run , and ruin to get alcohol an clean the mess .. the concierge notice it an  told me the people in that building where a paint in the #$%^    so better clean it asap .
Well I did and It was sort of ironic to hear people  to say that something smells ( denatured alcohol)
they didn't notice no paint ;D
I miss the game and came back hours later to check the carpet after the alcohol has dried
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Chofman1 on May 27, 2007, 01:45:27 AM
I was cutting in a vaulted ceiling standing on the top of a 6 ft. ladder ( forgot my taller ladder)....Instead of getting down to turn my ladder around, I tip toed to turn around, lost my balance and fell flat on my butt on the tile floor.  My bucket was about 1/4 full and it all ended up on the adjacent wall, which was unsealed cedar, the kind that runs diagonal...yeah so i rushed to soak it with water, cleaned up the tile which wasnt a problem.  I ended up having to rough sand some spots where it dried on the wall.  Also, broke a few small nick nack figurines.  The owner wasnt home, but when he returned, I told him what had happened and he was really cool about it, in fact, he said "Ive been trying to get my wife to get rid of those things anyway..haha!  I ended up with a bruised tailbone for about 4 months.                                                                                             
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Vin on May 29, 2007, 06:57:38 PM
Dumped over 5 gallon bucket full of paint had to use trowels to pick up the biggest part of the mess and just as I was getting it all up the carpet guys showed up I payed them to suck up the rest and clean the area, got real lucky.

Sprayed a unit once and was told the kitchen floor was being replaced notified the next day it was'nt and had to go back spent about 4 hours with hot water getting all the paint off the floor linoleum.

It happens, eventually :o
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: ProWallGuy on May 29, 2007, 08:56:26 PM
About 15 years ago, I was hired to hang a very high-end paper in a designers home. It was a paper-baked raw silk, and it was to go up in the dining room/kitchen area. The stuff was a nightmare to hang, if you looked at it the wrong way, it would stain. The oil in your hands would make it de-laminate from the backing. No paste or water could ever touch the front. You get the picture. After spending 3 days pulling my hair out and cursing like a sailor, I finally finished it. Looked nice. The customer was very pleased, and she cut me the check. I'm standing there chatting with her before walking out the door, and I notice a small pile of paper scraps was sitting on the floor just under the edge of the fridge. Customer says don't worry, I'll get it and throw it away. Oh no, I'LL get it. I snatched it up, and instantly realized a razor blade was in the layer of silk. Before I could blink, the tip of my ring finger falls off, and a jet of blood hits the wall. I had to reorder a couple yards of material, (around $250), and remove/rehang 2 panels. And not just straight floor-to-ceiling panels, these were ones that wrapped around the built in stove, around a corner, and over the bar. That job built lots of character. I raised my prices dramatically after pulling that one off.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: rcpainter on May 29, 2007, 11:31:13 PM
 :D Oh boy, where do I start?

1 I stepped off my ladder onto the edge of a roller pan full of red paint while working over white carpet inside the home of personal friend and Deacon in our church. 8) I was about 16 at the time in my weak defense. Fortunately my boss had set it there so he couldn't yell at me. ;D
2 I once put on a pair of stilts during an interior repaint and promptly shattered a clay vase. 8) I rock!
3 I once watched same boss as in #1 spill entire gallon of oil-base on carpet while talking to all of us about how lousy, stupid, slow, supid, incompetent, worthless, overpaid,etc we were. ;D priceless
4 Have two employees who each (seperate incidences two days apart) spilled an entire five of paint in the exact same spot on sidewalk in front of extremely posh condo repaint. :o I was almost expecting a third spill just to top it off. :-\
5 Once had a truck lose a tailgate, GracoGH200 paint sprayer, and five gallons of paint going 65 mph. ::) :-[ :P :'( :-\ I still use the sprayer: runs like a champ. Only had to replace the wheels. :o I couldn't beleive it!

This is too painfull, I,d better stop. :-\
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: MiTm on June 11, 2007, 08:19:53 PM
Thanks for the responses...I know it's hard to "come clean" and relate
bloopers.

mark
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: RTQ on June 30, 2007, 12:13:20 AM
Probably the worst thing I've done on a jobsite was take a five gallon bucket, about 1/3 full of oil based trim paint up on the roof of a new construction two-storey house to trim out a chimney box. I rested the bucket between the roof pitch and the chimney. It tipped and the green trim paint ran down the top roof splattering all over the next portion of roof, then spilling on the fresh concrete driveway and garage door. It wouldn't have been such a problem but it was alkyd trim paint  and I was solo on the jobsite with only about half a quart of mineral spirits with me. Fortunately my boss happened to come by about ten minutes after it happened. We got it cleaed up with about three gallons of simple green.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: the PAINTSMITH on June 30, 2007, 07:25:18 AM
Just yesterday we were painting oil-based BM IronClad on some new sign frames out at the WeFest site...My partner set his partials in front of my truck. Shutter Green. Didn't see them...Drove over 'em and made a great nasty puddle right in front of the venue owner's wife...She's one of those Environmental hysterics, and went into environmental hysteria...I'm on the list...

I sopped it up and poured dirt on the stain (it was on a grassy field in front of the stage) to absorb whatever hadn't seeped into the ground....Yep, on the list...I'm now known as the "EcoTerrorist"...
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: woosterbrushman on June 30, 2007, 04:52:41 PM
Ive been in many paint stores and seen someone put a gallon in to a shaker
and the lid was not on tight....

I also saw a customer buy 2 five gallon buckets of paint.  He went to take them out
to his truck using the stores 2 wheel dolly.  Someone ahead of him held the door open
and he went over the door threshhold so fast that BOTH 5 gallon pails fell off the dolly.

This was in a strip shopping mall and that ten gallons of paint went into the parking lot,
(Murphy's law: of course it was at a steep slope away from the building.)  Believe it or not
cars were DRIVING through the paint on their way out of the parking lot and didn't  notice.

I can just picture someone pulling into their driveway miles away and the paint still leaving its mark.   No one ever came back to the store and complained about the mess it made on their cars either.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: rmichael on July 01, 2007, 10:21:15 PM
A few winters back we were working nights on a repaint at the local Cadillac dealership. It was a Killer Cold night when we pulled out the oil based safety red and painted all the railings in the customer service area of the pick up bay. The next afternoon I walked into the bay and began removing the "wet paint" signs only to find that the rails were still wet!!  :o  A salesman strolled up and said "yeah, we've been spotting red tailed leaners (customers) all day, so far you have to buy two pairs of women's slacks and one pair of pants, there were a lot more but hell, we just stopped tellin um."   ::)
That night we used two gallons of thinner to wipe the stuff down, popped open a FRESH gallon of safety red and dumped in a hefty dose of japan drier.... the next day no more red tailed leaners were spotted....  ;D

rmichael
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Workaholic on July 11, 2007, 07:59:30 PM
About a month and a half ago i was spraying finish coat on my trim. I had one door left and my titan gun popped apart. It popped apart where the gun and hose connect, the hose was connected to the gun still, but the gun was no longer connected to itself. Manor hall gloss sprayed everywhere. It only took a couple of seconds before my instant reaction to put my thumb over the hose, but in that couple second it shot all over the back wall and window, down the hallway, and on the other two opposing wall, and the ceiling. Now this was a big room about 25x 16. I have never had a blow out like this in my life. And i always tell people to ditch the titan gun, and get a contractor 2. I bought the titan one morning in ppg and put it on the rig when i did a couple rebuilds on the contractor2's and just left it on. After i ran down stairs and turned the pump off, i put the rebuilt contractor on. I then had to wipe off the finished ceilings. an all the walls. Then i sprayed my last door and cleaned up. It sucked big time. The thing about it was that gun was only a couple months old. At first i had no idea what had happened until i got the gun cleaned up. I put the gun back together and it looks like it was a fluke, but i will never use that gun again. In hind sight, i could of gotten hurt from the pressure that it blew apart with. 
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: am painter on August 01, 2007, 10:31:30 PM
Okay here it is, my biggest blooper ever! I was spraying an interior new const. custom home. My pump was setup in the gravel soon to be driveway, and my hose ran through the garage into the house. Im in a back room and I suddenly lose pressure, I could hear my pump
cycling slow and knew it was the worst a blown line. I run out to see and sure enough its spraying all over the garage and exterior of the house, like a dumb -ss i grab the line about 12 inches from the rupture to throw it out of the garage. The line coiled on me and injected paint in the middle of my index finger. Thank god for cell phones. I called my wife to take me to the hospital while my helper stayed to clean up the mess. 4 days in the hospital later and 2 surgeries I was out. I still kick my self in the butt for not just shutting off the pump. Well at least they were able to save my finger, and we got the job done. P.S those speeflo 8900's pump like no other.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Vin on August 02, 2007, 11:27:15 PM
Okay here it is, my biggest blooper ever! I was spraying an interior new const. custom home. My pump was setup in the gravel soon to be driveway, and my hose ran through the garage into the house. Im in a back room and I suddenly lose pressure, I could hear my pump
cycling slow and knew it was the worst a blown line. I run out to see and sure enough its spraying all over the garage and exterior of the house, like a dumb -ss i grab the line about 12 inches from the rupture to throw it out of the garage. The line coiled on me and injected paint in the middle of my index finger. Thank god for cell phones. I called my wife to take me to the hospital while my helper stayed to clean up the mess. 4 days in the hospital later and 2 surgeries I was out. I still kick my self in the butt for not just shutting off the pump. Well at least they were able to save my finger, and we got the job done. P.S those speeflo 8900's pump like no other.

WOW think i'll stick to the lower pressure units , glad to hear you are ok after all of that
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 01:10:26 PM
I'm not shure where to start ?The ones that were My falt  :P about 20 yrs ago I took a job near christmass work was slow that year so i decided to take a cut in pay .I showed up for work .The bosses sun was fairly irritated that His father had decided to hire someone to help .The sun ,began showing Me around the things that He wanted someone to do .1stOn the north side of a three story apartment building with a mean slope in the grass there was about three or four inches of Ice on the grass 65 feet up was the top of the peak .the roof was covered in snow so no going up on the roof the snow had melted away from the edge so no water was dripping .But the slope in the grass and the ice seemed to be an insurmountable problem .The sun said to Me that He could not help Me with this that if I wanted the job there it was i was to trim the north side and if or when I got that done there might be some other stuff that needed to be done .They really needed to get this building done so that they could get the last installment /payment on it .He then showed Me where they kept the 50" ladders there were two of them and I could use either one of them or both if I needed to.
 I found some sand near the construction trailer and hauled it over and threw it on the ice walked up the slope and hammered steel forming steaks through the ice into the ground where I needed the ladder to be set .I found them borrowed them from the concrete flat workers ,to cold to poor cement anyway ::).
 I then went and got the sun and asked Him to help Me carry the ladder and set it up on the side of the building .I figured once set I could manage to bump it along the side fo the building myself .
 I then got myself a broken elbo/brush clip and a 6'to 12'pole it took Me about 6 hours that day to do about 2 hours of work due to the circomstances .I still had the metle steaks in the ground the next day when the father says to Me I need to get them out asap I used My old bumper jack from My 70 chevy capris and some wire simply jacked them out of the ground then He said I could proceed around the east side .
 This side had no snow but it had landscaping three foot wide boxed in ares creasot covered railroad ties each box built up three foot high so starting from the side of the building it went out three feet and then down three feet and then out another three and then down three.in the middle of the boxes there were 2"river rock and small trees 6'tall with sticks supporting the trees on either side
 Now I had to get that 50' ladder up on the side and the only place to set it was on the edge of the oily railroad tie.I was cockie from My victory the day before so I did this and clammored up with My bucket in hand about 1/4full of trim paint and also had another bucket with some body paint to do minor t-ups while I was up there .
 I got up ther and did My work one last spot a little reach streched out with one foot on the ladder and a little extension and the ladder slipped about two feet accros the side of the building .I jerked to correct and the pot hook and the two buckets went sailing down smashing on the concrete sidewalk litteralyevery bit of paint inside flew up in the air and covered 150 or so sq ft there happened to be a car in the middle of the pattern and new pavement blacktop and stripes in the parking lot .
 A Guy came running outside and asked if I was alright and I said yea just a little shook up .I really didn't want to fall on the trees and poles from 50' Just look at what it did to a metle bucket they were both smashed kinda flatt.I also said I could get the sidewalk cleaned but if He could help by taking His car to the carwash before the paint dried it would Be a big help I even offered to pay for It . I think I had 1.50 to My name at that point .He declined the money and left to clean His car .I cleaned the mess pressure washed the sidewalk and the parking lot .It came fairly clean not perfect but good .
 I continued to work for this guy for about three weeks .when the snow began to really fly He had some interior work spraying stain and laquer .
 I found another job more to my liking ,so I informed Him I was quitting .He told Me to meet Him and His sons at a bar to get My check.I thanked Him at the bar and explained that that kind of new construction wasn't the kind of work I wanted .It doesn't pay that good .But I understood .He said I bairly started and I said i had a better job that starts out higher than what He was paying but I understood why He paid so low being the kind of work he did .
 He took what I said the wrong way and came after Me .I sidestepped his punch and lifted him over the bar and His two sons got up and procedded to beat Me with Me beating them We all went out through a glass door breaking the glass as we went .The cops showed up pretty fast .I quickly stated that I wasn't going to press charges .and left before anyone got My addres.I was staying in a motel at the time .and Moved as soon as I got there .
 I showed up to work to my new job the next day with two black eyes and no-one believed my story when I said I got it when i picked up My last paycheck.





Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 02:06:47 PM
The next one wasn't really My falt But I got to clean the mess ??? ??? about 18 yrs ago I got a call to work at englwood Highschool.A new library edition.Very little exterior .But the whole interior .pay was davis bacon wages .about 17 bucks an hr .They said there was a old machine airless with a new hose i could use if i wanted to spray the walls and ceilings some primer and some finnished had already been done .I asked what happened to the previous painter and they said He didnt want to work ther anymore ???This was strange because I knew the old painter and considered Him a friend .and didn't want to take a good job away from Him .Then it was explained to Me that the job had to be done finnishe by a cirtian date or We would be fined 1000 dollers a day .I worked at the library for about 4 days and friday the day for pay they showed Me some paint up the side of a wall of brick about 35 ft high and 15 or 20 ft wide at the base .I needed to have that paint off the wall for My company to get paid for any work that was already performed .This was rough brick and it was new and the paint had dried perfectly a nice baked on latex as this was on the south side of the entrance to the library .
 I called My boss and he informed Me that this was all true and If I didn't get all the paint off of the building and pick-up a check that i was not going to be payed and there may not be a company to get anymore work from .
 I asked if We still had acces to a pressure washer and was informed that it had been stolen .But that I could rent one if I had the money to do so.
 I didn't have any money I was young and broke then .bairly made it to work most weeks with gas money in those days LOL.I also found out that there wasn't a water hook-up close by.all water had to be hauled in By Me from wherever. There was a janitors closet on the other side of the library but couldnt run water hose through the school.I didn't have that much hose anyway .I had plenty of 5 gallon buckets at My apartment I collected them all year .so I drove home and filled the back of My shortbed 1959Ford pick-up with all it would carry and hauled them back along the way I picked up about 20 arisol cans of paint stripper .I then used the airless left behind by John the painter it was an old wagner diaphram pump .anyone familiar with these knows how they vibrate when running .Not only because its a gas rig but the diaphram pumps just vibrate alot anywhay LOL :P I figured what happened was theat john had left the gas pump outside and ran his hose over a small brick  wall and into the library and the hose simply wore through from the vibration loosing pressure slowly at first and he didnt even notice till too late .
  I started with the stripper at the bottom and let it set but not too long as it tends to bake from the heat of the sun on the southern exposure If You let it dry it will leave a white residue that is as hard to remove as is the paint .I'd use the water and the airless pressure like a power washer and clean small sections at a time often rinsing the residure before it had a chance to redry on the brick on the way down .I had to spray the stripper on when the surface was dry everytime as the water prevents it from working well .and then rince it all down everytime to prevent it from drying on the surface .I worked on this all day friday and then went back saturday. and  finnished .They wanted to make Me wait another week to get paid as I didn't have it all cleaned on friday so the super could see .I had no Money so i could not work .I was told to show up Monday anywhay and see what happens . I got some money from them enuf to keep working and finly got a decent check the next week.
 That whole job turned into a fiasko as the original paint was sprayed over plaster and all surfaced were suposed to be perfectly smooth .I worked everyday most days 16 -36hrs as much as I could just to meet the dedline and not get fined .No cellphones back then only beepers and no pay phones either .So the only time they herd Me wine was in the morning and in the evening when i went to get something to eat .I needed Help and they wouldn't get Me any just wipped the s**t outa Me with threts to finnish by the deadline LOL :'(

 Another twist to this story was when I had a chance to talk with John later Months later I complained to him about leaving Me that mess,and How I had saved His ars.
 He told Me that the mess had happened when he was spraying but that it wasn't the first one that when he showed up for the first time there was already a mess there just not so big .He was told not to worry about it the brick cleaners would take care of it it was left by a painter that worked for the construction Co. The sprayer was also owned by the construction co.but that we could use it so he had wrapped drop cloths around the hose and over the brick .He said that someone had probably sabatoged the covering because He had just started spraying when the next accident happened That the holes looked ripped although they were covered with paind antd that the covering seemed to have been moved down the hose He also stated that He didn't have that much time into the job only that one day so it was no big deal to leave it to whomever wanted to tackle it .Made Me feel like such a tool ::)
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 02:55:02 PM
Another couple of misshaps have to do with rigging and although Not nessecerally My falt I was there  :o The first one happened when i was working as a painter In Massachusettes On a 8 story brick office building The company I worked for had the paint contract inside and exterior hand rails and window lentils .I worked many weeks inside painting stairs and offices near the end of the job We started On the exterior window lentils I worked with another rigger on a mettle swingstage with electric motors We made are way all around the building three sides  west south and then most of the east side  comming up to the north along the east the wind became over whelming .always in the later part of the day mornings were usually ok even calm. One day we went up after setting the rigging and about half way up it got bad .So bad the wind Made us come back down.This was also a friday which left the whole weekend for the bosses to think and plan .We showed up Monday and shure enuf we Got up about half way and the wind blew just as hard as before it really scared both of us We almost lost comtrol of the scaffold and it bumped against the glass windows a few times . The bosses told us if the wind was blowing that hard better not leave the rigging there over night and to take it down .So We did just that .My buddy and I worked inside for the next coupla days and finnly saw someone two guys on a wooden swingstage with oldtime block and tackle and hemp roapes attempting to paint the lintels . I said to myself those guys must know what ther're doing .I wouldnt even know the first thing about block and tackel theier rigg was one tenth of the wieght of the one we rented .They got about half way up and one guy got thrown off .Dont know what happened to Him the other guy made it down with some help from a spotter they had on the roof .The rigging was left there over the weekend and it swing way out and smashed through a corner window on the 4th floor or so .The glass Co sent out a boom truck to replace the glass and they decided ti not worth the effort to paint the rest of the lentils on that building .
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 03:43:19 PM
Another little misshap I found happened prior to Me working on a swingstage on another building and close after i quit working with the crazyman hired as the lead rigger .
  A company I worked for Got a contract to spray elastomeric coating on an old conctrete 8 story building .The coating was very similar to a tar mastic very thick with agrigete spect out at 20 mills thick dry.first a sealer then a smooth membrane and then the final coat was a texture .The first two coats were easy to spray with an airless the paint machine was located mid betreen upper floors and lower floors to save wieght on the operator and hoses so it was located with all the materials on the 4th floor and we ran the hoses out the window which had a mechanical operator for ventilation.
 These two coats were performed without mishap on the first side of the building while the enginers  ::)I use the turm loosly found us a machine We could use to spray the texture coating .First they said we could roll it on but within minutes the roller would get so heavy You could'nt lift it .Imagine a 9"roller about as big as a 6"pipe and it just kept getting bigger  ;D
 Then someone said that there was a company that had some succes with a texture hopper similar to one used to spray accoustic texture in homes .So they paid ten thousand for one of these used .it had about an 60 gallon capasity and they filled it full .it seemed to work fine when they had it set up on a level surface with the machine .So they loaded the hose  on the swingstage and they went up the 4 floors but instead of pumping the material out the material went down like s**t through a goose rupturing the hose and the material dried so fast that it skinned over in the machine and into a greatbig pancake about 3" thick on the floor.That stuff was so hard by the time I got to the job it could be hit with a hammer and the hammer hould bounce off.The hoses were frozen solid at the ends and the skin inside the machine ?? i dont know how they ever got it cleaned I know it sat frozen to the floor for three months and then one day it was gone .all the while We had adopted a 30 to one bull pump and were makeing good time on the outside .it didn't have much pressure at the top and You had to make shure to turn the pressure down in the middle or it was like wrestling a 15' boa snake at the bottome  ;D
 All this time the coating started to build on the cables used to hoist us up and down .When these cables started to slip in the motor I said i Quit after complaining and nothing being done about the machines .The week after I got transfered to another job the cable puller completly slipped from one side of the stage and two Men almost died they had to be rescued hanging from thier harnesses .
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 04:02:21 PM
The first misshap I ever had was the first house I ever painted I was 9 and My father let Me paint the exterior of our house .He showed Me how of course and when he was satisfied He let Me do it alone .I moved the five gallon bucket to the side of the house where i was working so i could refill My brush bucket quicker .unfortunatly I set it on the top of the hill leading away from the house I thought it seemed stable ther in the grass but just as soon as I walked away it tipped over spilling about three gallons into the grass .wanting to get it cleaned before My Father showed up I grabbed the garden hose and turned 3 gallons of paint into threehundred gallons of whitewash which lucky for Me only migrated 200 ft down between the two yards before being soaked up by the sandy soil.The neibor cameoutside and My father came back but by then I was almost done another 100 gallons or so and You could bairly see the misshape  :P
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 04:19:16 PM
One misshap I rember was moving the paint shop.
 After many years a company can generate alot of left over paint some of it t-ups and some of it just plain bought too much and some was such a good deal at the time they bought a bunch to use as primer or first finnish coat .I think all toll there was a thousand buckets that had to Be moved about 1/2 mile to a less expensive more accomidating location the landlord had a problem with paint Companies as there were two in the same strip of wearhouses and He said His insurance was going to go up.There wer too many fives to count ten or so 50 gallon ballels and so many singles I shudder to think of it again .The deal was if you wanted to continue to work you helped move the shop .we moved everything with no mishaps Im pretty shure it was the last load or almost the last load .all made with My little shortbed 1959Ford it was getting late in the day and everyone was at the new shop on a friday waiting to unload and get paid . I rounded the corner with buckets piled high even accros the tool box on top one of the 5's slid off of the side right in front of the new shop during rush hour while it was still a pancake wasn't much of a problem except the cars wouldnt slow down or stop so we could pick-up the paint it was only 30 mile an hour but a wearhous district on friday late is hell .
 Well the fire department showed up with a pumper truck and the malee began not only did the cars not stop even for the firemen but the sprayed water all over the street while all My co-workers staired in amaizment as cars drove through the whitewash spraying it everywhere .I never lived that one down
 I was very embarrased but not so much as to not ask for a check I didn't get one while they waited to see of there were going to be any charges from the fire department .and I was the one who moved the most spent the most time moving and got paid less than others simply because i was a leaderman and i embarrased the owners .I never heard fo any insurance claims and nothing was said inside the office with the owners .They just didn't want to pay Me for the week i spent moving They said once i made enuf money from the good jobs I got .

 I can look back on this now and almost laugh this happened at least 18 yrs ago but it reminds me of all the crap a person has to deal with weather its a boss or coworker or a costumer or as an owner .Just another day aint it? ;D
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 05:50:50 PM
A coupla stories I rember from My Days working in refineries in Texas and louisiana:
 These dont nessecarily deal with paint messes unles You count bodies as messes . :P
 The first one is a story told to warn workers to be carefull next to the edge of a tank and pulling blast hoses and why we tie our lifelines to the center of the tank and why gaurd rails are not good tie-off points .first thing you do after climbing ladder is tie off to the middle of the tank due to a recent mishap where two workers fell to thier deaths while pulling 100# blast hoses up from the groung over the handrail .The handrail broke leaving them in mid air and plunging them to thier deaths .

 Another reason to quit smoking ?one blamed on lightning and one blamed on a possible spark from a steel hammer used to open a naptha tank although cigerette butts were found everyone new to the sceen was assured that no smoking accoured prior to the misshap 1}a barge caught on fire and subsuquent explosions led to an evacuation today of all docking areas .2}A man fell to his death today either because He jumped over the side or fell as a result of an explosion were another man aparently did not jumpalthough the tank exploded and the tank lid He was standing on was throne aproximatly 100 yards He stayed on the lid and was seriously injured in the explosion and subsiquent impact when the lid came to rest .I worked at Citgo very close to both of the three accidents within a mile of each .
 This one happened in la. I was sent with a crew to sand blast and coat the inside of a tank used to store crude until it can be refined .
 We worked 12 on and 12 off 7 days a week untill finnished .on the last day of the sand blasting there were 8 of us all working towards the middle with our backs to each other kneeling close to the ground blasting the floor our hoses pointing towards the outside walls .what comes out of a blast hose is a steady streem of black sand about the size of buckshot and it comes out at 600 ft#'s a second .sort-of like holding a neverending shotgun.On the end of the hose is a trigger called a deadman it takes two levers to push one is flipped down and the other pushed over in this way it makes it less likly that a false trigger could get pushed .We are all walking backwards like doing a duckwalk slowly backwards blasting the floor when We get to close to one another one drops his hose leting go of the trigger and walks to the center of the circle and taps on the sholder of another to let him out of the ring creating a hole for him to walk through This happened He left his hose on the floor .The dead man on his hose didnt work . I backed into it touching it with My heel which activated it and as the pressure build it climed off of the floor up the clack of My ass and accross My back .When it did this there was not full pressure it only grazed Me and left Me with a rash of blood blisters starting above my ankle and going up to the middle of my back .The hose did build full pressure after rising from the floor about 6 feet it started its decent back down like a whip and comming accross My coworkrs wrist severly scarring his wrist penetrating Him with sand about 2 inches wide I cought the hose soon after that and held it till it stopped .

 Another little misshap happened when they think someone opened a valve that was supposed to be shut . This valve was a pressure valve which in turn activated a streem of magnesium which burns very hot , to much and it melted the vessel which contained the fire, nitrogen was introduced to cool the burn but not before the 375 foot tower melted enuff at its base to buckel and almost fall there are many pipes connected to the outside of the vessel which are in themselves all containing flamable material but they did not become hot enuff to break and they held the vessel and prevented more explosions .

 The last one I can think of right now is when i had the task of painting a vessel in the refinery using a man basket .We often spend half a day with three or four Men to rig a tower so that a man basket can be used .If the work is not finnished in a day the basket is left ther for the next day and all the cable is inspected prior to being lifted or any man entering the basket .we sent two men to inspect the cable after a weekend of non use .The all clear was given and without entering the basket the operator lifts the basket over the hand rails and up to the top where a man enters and is lowered to perform His job.about 4 stories up the cable snapped due to fatuege .that noone noticed what a mess.
 
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 18, 2007, 06:11:31 PM
 I just rembered one from about ten years ago I had this repaint to do almost everting the same color the trim was already stained and we didn;t have to paint that maby just a little watco danish oil.so walls and ceilings valted spray everything flatt tan/biege no-problemo. :D.At the last minute I have to take two helpers as there is furniture to move .good news is the carpet is not staying . 8). I have a standing rule made many moons ago after hearing about a guy that said the carpet was going and then after it had paint on it said He'd just rather have it cleaned .I never paint over carpet  :-X.unless its covered it costs much less to cover than buy .
 So the owner says no problem We can take it out its not staying .I said Ok and We even helped to remove and then We covered the furniture and moved what We had to to spray around everything .All the prep was done everything covered and the carpet removed I rolled out the airless and began to spray the high stuff first so the furniture can be moved to the center all the walls clear so they can get paint everything is going great till someone steps on the hose which is over some carpet tack that runs across a threshold . wasn't too bad I had a bucket near by and I cut off the machine quick If I hadn't seen it with My own eyes LOL>It could have been much worse  :P ???
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: rmichael on November 18, 2007, 11:11:33 PM
Damn JT, You could write a book.... Those stories ^ are a good start, but you will need a proof reader..   :D ;D .. Interesting stuff...Thanks for sharing!! ...
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: CarlThePainter on November 19, 2007, 12:46:24 AM
The only thing I can think of is that one time when I was a young hungover painter I was painting a ceiling in a 'game room'.  The ceiling had all sorts of birds hanging from it on wires and we had to cut around each wire before rolling it out.  After getting a good dip of paint on my brush, I clipped a bird on its wing with my white ceiling paint.  It was a grayish colored bird that now had a white stripe of latex paint on one of its wings.  I tried to imagine cleaning the paint off a stuffed bird wing and figured that would be impossible without destroying the bird....so, I just painted the other wing to match!
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: the PAINTSMITH on November 19, 2007, 04:33:32 PM
Awright, I have one that I relive--literally--every couple of years;

While working a new custom home in Scottsdale AZ around 15 years ago, I had a helper who wasn't much help...I was spraying an enamel finish coat and he was masking ahead of me. I was catching up fast.

I had stopped to check on him, found him in the kitchen doing "battle" with a roll of painter's plastic. He lost his blade, had run out of tape, decided that a cigarette was a better choice, so I catch him leaning against the wall puffing away...Always believing in teaching by example, I got down to the floor where he had rolled out the plastic and pulled my Olfa, sliced right through that nasty, mean sheet of plastic--And my spray line.

The line jumped and I got a full pressure shot right into my right eye socket. We got the machine shut down, I rinsed my face for a half hour (paint was still seeping from the back of my eyeball for 3 days) and went back to work, instead of doing what was sensible and going to a hospital...

A week later I was blind in my right eye and had developed a severe case of bell's palsy; The whole right side of my face went dead. Docs told me it was likely permanent, though I might get my vision back. They put me on steroids and antibiotics and sent me on my way...

The vision came back in a week, and I started to get control of my face again about two weeks after that. I had to wear an eyepatch even with the returned vision, because I couldn't blink...But I got lucky, it all seemed to recover...

...Except that for a couple weeks every few years I suffer from a recurrence of the palsy. It's not life threatening or even painful, but try going out in public with a constant drool hanging from a corner of your mouth, one whole side of your face just hanging limp and the inability for anyone to understand a word that you say...I just hope that it doesn't come back one day and stay that way... :-X
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: rmichael on November 20, 2007, 12:47:17 AM
I thought I'd hit the big time when I scored my very first airless, a used Sprint chain drive that I picked up for a hundred fifty bucks, complete with paint encrusted line and gun, man, was I was proud of that rig.

After a few jobs I grew very familiar with the "clackity, clackity, clack" rhythm of the old machine. On this particular job I was in a bathroom spraying the ceiling, the machine was two rooms away and all was going well until I heard "clackity clackity clack....clack..........clack..... Culack!!"  the line jumped stiff and I realized that the pressure switch had blown and the machine was continuing to build pressure. I also realized that helpers can't hear you when you are screaming into your respirator. I dropped the gun and I swear the line held it in midair, dancing around the room like a Cobra before finally slamming against the wall. I raced to the machine and ripped the plug from the wall only to face one more bit of reality... those old Sprints don't have a pressure dump valve!

I made my way back to the bathroom and discovered that the line had developed an ever growing bubble just below the gun. I knew I HAD to relieve the pressure pronto! I aimed at a ceiling heating duct closed my eyes and with both hands I pulled the trigger.... the recoil landed the heel of the gun squarely between my eyes which landed me squarely on my ass while blowing at least a gallon of paint into the heat duct... my helper arrived at about that moment and I don't think I will ever forget the look on his face...  ;D

Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: Vin on November 20, 2007, 11:23:50 AM
LOL great storys guys.


Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: MiTm on November 23, 2007, 07:35:36 PM
Ok...had another one in June. Painting an old Tudor and had to rent a 40' ladder to get to the TALL gables. Up the ladder for the gazillionth time, 1/2 can of stain . Up about 15 feet and try to attach the can hook to the next up ladder rung...and no rung, but for some reason I let go, thinking that I've done this for three weeks now...and Sure it will be there. Down goes can on top of small overhang of back door.
Stain dripping on the slate tiles into the brass gutters etc. etc.
Took awhile to get it all clean.
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 25, 2007, 05:21:24 AM
Ok the brass gutters reminded Me of some copper flashing a coupla years ago On a new spec house the builder decids that the copper needs cleaning it turned black prematurly I think it had fingerprints on it and somebody wiped them with solvent stripping off the form oil sortof a blueing anywhay all the rounded peeks turned black while the flashing and the gutters just had fingerprints on them.
I started with the least abrasive thing I could think of on a small inconspikuis{spelling??} place to show the builder what was going to be involved .it could have been polished and clear coated with something like brasso and then XIM but it would have taken months and the heat from the sun was affecting the copper differently in different places it reacts quickly in direct sunlight and very slowly in the shade This house has some high peaks all requiring a 40 foot ladder .so all of the work was done with difficulty small bits at a time .the peaks are all about 25 square feet kind of rounded dormers with sun on one side or the other all the time during daylight .He was not happy or satisfied with the productivity .so I pulled back and did small samples of left over flashing .I tried many different methouds and some acid salts for a petina effect He finaly settled for one a greanish blue color something like the color of the statue of liberty .
 Well then I get back up on the peek and to clean faster I use muratic acid and quickly rince with water and He freaks because the copper turns kinda pink .the effect is almost instant and very bright I then apply the acid salts and they work quickly on the sunny side and not at all on the shady side of the peek I tell him it takes time .He's still freaking out telling Me how expensive this stuff is and is asking Me if i know what I'm doing all the time  ::) and I'm yelling down from the 40 footer just Be patient .about three days latter and I have the color I want and its kinda evenly done all around and I ask him if thats what He wants and he says thats beutiful and so then I clear coat it and now its too shinny for Him  :P It's 40 feet away at the closest place and You cant really see any shine I think he simply just changed his Mind decided he didn't want to pay to have all ten dormers done .So now I gotta spend the next two days cleaning this dormer .and its pink again and he's freaking He wants it black like the rest So I wipe it with mineral spirits and tell Him to wait a week and it'll start to turn like the rest and he looks at Me like I have two heads .Then He says what about all the other copper that hasn't turned yet and has finger prints all over it .so I spray only the pieces that havent turned black yet with the muratic and I rince them and then wipe them with mineral spirits and He's freaking and Im feeling like a nurse Now with some really calm bedside manor and I say be patient . :o A week later and it looks kinda streaked but turning nicely all the same color  ; the owner is looking at Me like im some kind of Master painter . ???evil magicion?And He said Maby We should polish all the copper?
I looked at Him like He has two heads and said maby You should polish the copper?
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: JTsPainting on November 25, 2007, 06:14:38 AM
Ok, this story was told to me, so its second hand .But still worth the read  ;D sometimes We just dont realize the power we weld  :o
  As a student in paint school we pestered our instructor to tell us some interesting story till the bell rang one Friday afternoon He was a 35 year vetran of the trade and he must have some good ones  :-X
 He reluctlantly says Ok but dont repeat this cause I dont want anybody thinking I'm condoning what happened but it was kinda funny ;D
 So he asks me James He says You're from Denver right you Might know this place or if you go there You'll recgnize it when You do go there .way out east Colfax there's a bar its on the edge of town east of Chambers before Airport blvd It's called the Rose ?or Red Rose ? something like that .It is right across from a trailer park in a motel like the back half of the building is a motel .
 So anywhay My buddie we'll call Him Frank He and I go to this Bar everyday after work .Have a coupla beers and shoot the breeze .Mainly because My buddie is a drunk but also because if frank gets too drunk He can walk across the street to where He lives at the trailer park .And leave His truck someplace He can walk back to in the morning to go to work .
 So we have this particularly bad week Frank had made some white wash stain for some exterior sealer stain and the owner let us work with it all week and at the end decided it was too thin or frank had made it too thin and she wanted us to do it again for free just to make shure she got her monies worth .
Frank hadn't said anything at the time but You could tell he was upset about it .
 We are sitting at the bar and Frank says to the bartender :"Hey do You have something a little stronger "?Not expensive cause I just worked all week for free and I gotta Make up for it next week so im too poor to pay full price .
 Well the bartender says for You i got some shine the way it works is I put it in Your beer and it gets you really drunk for half the price .Frank thinks this is good so says right on .Lets say about three beers later Frank isn't doing any better and starts making too much noise about the stain and so the bartender cuts off the both of them .no More booze for You Two She says .Now Frank wanting to Make his point goes out to his truck grabs half a five of white wash stain runs into the bar and because the bartender cut him off says This is the stain and throse it all over the bar the bartender My instructor and the floor the tables the whole place wreaks of lindseed oil and mineral spirits milky white everywhere .Frank all of a sudden realizing what He did  :o Runs to His truck hops in drives to his home packs His things and rents another place on the other side of town till He can get paid from the job and He can get outa town .
Title: Re: Falling paint...mess experiences
Post by: tallpaul on December 15, 2007, 11:31:46 PM
17 years ago when I had just started painting my buddy and I were working for his dad. It was just me and him on a job. He was on a 4 foot ladder with a paint tray of oil kilz. He was pretty spaced out from rolling that stuff and dropped about 1/3 gallon on the carpet. We scooped up all we could and then he got down on and started scrubbing with laquer thinner. I was in another room working and when I went to check on him he was goofy high and sitting on the floor pouring the laquer thinner like it was water on a fire. He was wearing painter shorts and back then after a few washes those things would be really short. Pretty soon he started complaining of pain on his legs and butt. After everything was clean he was so miserable that we had to leave. I was only 15 but had to drive him home while he curled up in the passenger seat moaning. When we got home he immediately stripped and jumped in the bathtub. He ended up having pretty bad burns on the backs of his legs, his butt and a cetain area that is pretty crucial to reproduction. All that skin eventually peeled of. It's funny now but was horrible then. I never heard anything about the carpet but I'm sure all that thinner delaminated a large area.