Anyone who thinks the exterior painting of an already inhabited building in Pleasant Hill, CA is simple should think twice. Unless the painting company does not have skilled employees and a team like that of Custom Painting, Inc., the task can be extremely dangerous, not just for the employees but for the people living in the building as well. To do the painting job with expertise without causing any harm to any life requires a well-executed plan and an understanding of the risks involved.
The planning needs to also include tasks such as commercial ceiling repair and painting, wood rot repair and light carpentry work. If you are planning to get an exterior painting of your building done, you may read this article to learn about everything related to painting an occupied building. This article will be your go-to guide for all things related to safety during an exterior painting of a building.
About the Project
The task explained was of a beautiful building situated in Livermore, The Heritage Estates. This 8.38-acre building is a sanctuary for its inhabitants, who enjoy peaceful neighborhoods, spacious patios, and cozy balconies. Designed to house senior people, you can easily opt for assisted living or independent living in one of the 65 units of a 4-story building. But while the building is beautiful, it needs to be renovated and freshened up a bit to make it livelier for its people. Thus began the task of coming up with a fool-proof plan to change the face of the facade through fresh paint.
Challenges Faced by the Painting Company
You know when they say nothing comes easy? Well, it’s true. Reviving the building was necessary, but so were the preventive measures and the safety of painters and all those who live in Heritage Estates. So, began the process of facing the challenges.
The Building Height
When applying paint for the first time, the process is much simpler, but when it comes to painting an already occupied building. It is nothing short of an ordeal, mainly when the building is not a small house but a huge complex with around 65 units! The height becomes impossible to be reached, and that is where expertise comes in handy. Custom Painting Inc. learned that most parts of the building were not accessible due to its staggering height. While aerial lifts were usable on exterior facades, the height of the courtyard spaces was another story altogether. The structure was not strong enough to carry aerial boom lifts, which was where the major challenge started.
The Safety of Employees/Tenants
Height is not the only issue when it comes to painting the building, we also had to make sure that our employees would not be in danger, and neither would the tenants throughout the painting task. After all, nothing is more important than the safety of the employees and tenants.
Solutions:
What good is expertise when challenges cannot be taken right? At Custom Painting, Inc., we believe in taking challenges and swiftly overcoming them as well.
The same go-getter attitude was kept in order to solve the challenges of the Heritage Estates Painting project. But every challenge requires proper planning that can be easily implemented and makes things easy for everyone, even for the layman.
Create A Schedule
Time management is the most important aspect of any task. The team planned a thorough yet realistic schedule that could be easily followed. They decided which gate to be accessible, how and when the access points would be defined, and how much of the time barricades would be kept in place to restrict traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian.
Communication with the Tenants and Employees
As the task requires cooperation from the tenants and the team, it is compulsory that everyone connected to the task is kept in a loop. You cannot just make a painting plan one day and start to work the other day without the consent of the people living in the building. Their cooperation and willingness to work by the team make the painting project a lot easier, so ensure informing them in advance to avoid problems in the future. Wearing harnesses when working on heights was made compulsory for the employees; no compromise of safety.
Manage the Flow of Traffic
The building has two busy sides to it where vehicular and foot traffic is a lot. Though we cannot always restrict the traffic completely, we ensure that we always provide alternate routes and limit the pedestrian and traffic flow to avoid any incidents. To manage the flow, we always placed barricades. Its reflective surface ensured that anyone could see it even from far and avoid taking the same route if in a hurry.
The tenants were informed beforehand about which gate to use and when. Usually, we tried to limit the rush in an area where painters were working and planned access points accordingly.
Using Scaffolding Instead of Aerial Boom Lifts
With aerial boom lifts, the exterior facades were easily painted, but the challenge was to paint the surfaces that were in the courtyard. The heavy weight of the aerial lifts made them dangerous as the structure was not strong enough to bear the weight. That is when scaffolding helped. Lightweight and easy to install, scaffoldings were used where accessing height was difficult, but using aerial boom lifts was risky. Using scaffolding was not only easy, but it was a far safer option as it provided room for the painter to paint easily. Painters could even easily keep their tools and paint buckets on the wooden platforms of the scaffoldings.
Conclusion
With a skilled team and an easy-to-carry plan, we managed to put a smile on the faces of the tenants because of successfully completing the project on time and satisfying the tenants with the paint color of their choice. After all, at the end of the day, they live in the building, and their satisfaction is imperative for the success of the project. We proudly serve Bay area cities including Pleasant Hill, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, and Concord.
Call us at 925-686-0903 or you may fill out this convenient contact form, and we’ll be in touch promptly to schedule a walkthrough of your property and a free quote.