Catching up/Vacation/Benjamin Moore

Everett Abrams

Everett Abrams

Member
Sorry haven't been here for a bit as I just got back from a wonderful week and a half vacation to St. Thomas and spent a day at St. John. Both are beautiful spots and the snorkeling was GREAT! Batteries are recharged and tomorrow will be heading up to Benjamin Moore for some consulting which should be fun and educational. Conversations started about a month ago basically regarding coatings and future maintenance and what a mess the industry is in. I believe that listening to contractors and folks on the front lines will benefit this company as well as the industry. In summary they seem to be frustrated as well. My personal opinion is that with the state of most coatings that it ultimately leads to frustration of installing a wood deck and pushes people to composites. Once people install composites though they also still see issues. I believe that if we can not figure out how to seal/stain wood with coatings that can be more easily maintained that we will continue to push people in other directions that lead to more frustration and costs that consumers just won't spend. I am well aware of the ease of some coatings to apply and maintain but let's face it MANY of the decks have Behr, Deckscapes, Arbor Coat, and other hard to remove and/or maintain coatings that really needs to be addressed. I will post more tomorrow or Friday on the day at Benjamin Moore and any current events as it applies to our industry and hopefully be of some help to all. Very happy to be able to share this information with the members of PWI.
 
Everett Abrams said:
Sorry haven't been here for a bit as I just got back from a wonderful week and a half vacation to St. Thomas and spent a day at St. John. Both are beautiful spots and the snorkeling was GREAT! Batteries are recharged and tomorrow will be heading up to Benjamin Moore for some consulting which should be fun and educational. Conversations started about a month ago basically regarding coatings and future maintenance and what a mess the industry is in. I believe that listening to contractors and folks on the front lines will benefit this company as well as the industry. In summary they seem to be frustrated as well. My personal opinion is that with the state of most coatings that it ultimately leads to frustration of installing a wood deck and pushes people to composites. Once people install composites though they also still see issues. I believe that if we can not figure out how to seal/stain wood with coatings that can be more easily maintained that we will continue to push people in other directions that lead to more frustration and costs that consumers just won't spend. I am well aware of the ease of some coatings to apply and maintain but let's face it MANY of the decks have Behr, Deckscapes, Arbor Coat, and other hard to remove and/or maintain coatings that really needs to be addressed. I will post more tomorrow or Friday on the day at Benjamin Moore and any current events as it applies to our industry and hopefully be of some help to all. Very happy to be able to share this information with the members of PWI.
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Welcome back


Oct event San Diego free free text me for more details !!
 
If anyone is looking for a vacation destination I would recommend this trip. US Virgin Islands so currency, language, and passport are not issues. Beaches are beautiful and the scenery is breathtaking. In regards to the stain manufacturers I really wonder if they realize the impact they are having on our industry? Customers are very frustrated and this situation adds to the problems. Consumers now think composites are low to no maintenance and feel that if at the very least you take out the staining/sealing issues you can live with the composites.
 
I educate them about composites a good deal of the time. The fading and mildew concerns alone will keep most from consider the hefty expense tied to them. At least around here :)

We may be doing St Thomas over Christmas and New Years.
 
Real interesting day with the folks from Benjamin Moore. They are just as frustrated as we are as contractors to find the "right" products for these jobs with the hand they are being dealt from government regulations and where the industry is going. They are testing every situation out there including staining and sealing of composites. They also realize that customers eventually get disgusted with the appearance of these products and eventually many stain them as well. I spent most of my time talking about products that will help strip and maintain coatings and a focus that needs to be put in that direction. Manufacturers seem to be so focused on durability that they are not coming up with the needed products to help homeowners and contractors through the life span of the wood. I made mention that that it would me refreshing to market a product that states "you will never need another sealer or stain" and "our product is easily applied and maintained for the life of your deck (house,fence, whatever). Of course, the product then has to perform as promised. sounds like I will be back so I will keep everyone informed. If anyone has specific questions fire away.
 
My wife told me the other day that she was going on vacation with or without me. I told her that I would buy her a 1 way plane ticket to wherever she wanted to go.

I just can't relax when I'm on vacation. Vacation just adds more stress to me.
 
Vince, I know how you feel it usually takes me about two days before I really start to relax. I am lucky that I have great people who work for me in my businesses that make it easier to take these vacations. I grew up on a farm and never knew what a vacation was until my wife and I met. Greg, if you go to St. Thomas you really should take the ferry one day to St. John the beaches are beautiful and great snorkeling! Ron, a little darker so all I did was even out my farmer's tan!
 
Jeff, I would have agreed with you except I went two more bays down to Water Lemon Bay and it was breathtaking. Collectively though, and they are next to each other in order, Trunk, Cinnamon, and Water Lemon were beautiful. The "blues" of the water and the fish were unreal. The sand was so white and there wasn't too many people at these places.
 
Vince Wood said:
My wife told me the other day that she was going on vacation with or without me. I told her that I would buy her a 1 way plane ticket to wherever she wanted to go.

I just can't relax when I'm on vacation. Vacation just adds more stress to me.
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I am with Vince on this! I try so hard to relax and just take it easy but everywhere I go I think I could clean that! hahaha
 
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