Scott Burt is a contractor and freelance writer whose column "From the Field" has appeared in American Painting Contractor magazine (www.paintmag.com) since 2008. His writing and projects also appear in other print and digital venues. This site is an extension of Scott's publication work, and he encourages readers to leave comments and questions about articles published here. Hope to hear from you!
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ProShot Cordless Family Tree Todd and Scott have been testing, reviewing and downright using/abusing Graco handheld sprayers since their inception in 2010, when the original, first generation ProShot came out. What has been interesting to us about this family of handheld sprayers is that they challenge the user to modify his or her spray technique, [...]
A Primer on Repairs Yes, there are such things as “paint emergencies”. They can be time based emergencies, such as: “our daughter is getting married in the dining room next month and we need to get it painted, decorated and refurnished.” Or, they can be the uglier flavor of water damage to ceilings, walls and [...]
Prep to Finish training… Like most paint contractors who are still paint contractors, we have been paint contractors in three different decades now. It is no secret that one of the biggest flaws our industry has allowed is the continued decline in young people entering the paint trade. Too many paint contractors sitting behind computers, complaining [...]
Festool RO90 Review The Festool RO90 DX Rotex sander was one of the most innovative tool releases of 2012. It is described as a “multi-mode” sander, suggesting that it is capable of doing the jobs of more than one sander. In tools, we all want the Holiest Grail – “the one that can do it [...]
Jobsite Lighting on the Move… Jobsite lighting is an unfortunate necessity and a real pain in the neck for professionals in all trades, whether you work in residential, commercial, new construction or remodeling scenarios. Frequent power problems, general lack of outlets, and insufficient natural light leave us craving more light at work. Or, should we [...]
Meeting budgets and schedules is a timeless problem for painters, which keeps us all accumulating fine finish tips. In new construction or commercial work, we often enter critical project areas just as all the sub trades are scrambling to finish. Sometimes the living spaces sequence near the back end of the project, and they often [...]
The 5 in 1 is one of the most common tools that painters carry from day to day. We all know that it has always done more than just 5 things for painters. It pops open the first can of paint in the morning, pounds the lid into the rim on the last one at [...]
It’s not the elephants that will kill you, it’s the mosquitoes. This old adage holds particularly true for paint contractors. It is the smallest, most tedious tasks that bog down production. And often the small projects show the most profit evaporation. Finding the areas that are hurting the most and correcting them is key. But sometimes, [...]
Benjamin Moore Arborcoat Stain Review Is finally out…our Benjamin Moore Arborcoat Stain Review – in the July 2012 issue of American Painting Contractor magazine. Please check it out. We put almost a year of observation into this product prior to submitting the review for publication, and since the review was published, we have continued to [...]
Kremlin Rexson and Apollo Sprayers have formed a relationship: Kremlin (Exel) is perhaps most famous in the paint industry and residential finishing sector for their classic 10.14 pump and the gold Xcite Airmix gun. Their recently launched EOS pump, which we are in the process of testing for future review, is expected by some in [...]
Festool Syslite Long Term Assessment
Jobsite Lighting on the Move… Jobsite lighting is an unfortunate necessity and a real pain in the neck for professionals in all trades, whether you work in residential, commercial, new construction or remodeling scenarios. Frequent power problems, general lack of outlets, and insufficient natural light leave us craving more light at work. Or, should we [...]
Tool of the Week: Task/Inspection Lighting from Festool
[Update Jan '13: Syslite Review Published] If you follow this site at all, you will already know that a current pet peeve, and it is related to the season and recent time change, is task lighting on projects. It’s a seasonal disorder, but its a thing. The Festool Syslite is a former Product of Interest [...]
A Revolution in Work Lighting for Painters…
…Is BADLY needed…Hello Festool Syslite!!! [Update Jan '13: Festool Syslite Review Published] We have switched the majority of our jobsite and shop lighting needs to the Festool Syslite. Previously, fluorescent and halogen was is about as good as we could get. It wasn’t good enough. Call it the three year itch in the relationship with [...]
Ipe Deck Finish: 5 things not to do : In my little corner of the northeast, ipe has built qui...151 comment(s)
Waterborne Trim Paints and One Trick Ponies :
Ever think about the impact of your products and pr...70 comment(s)
Graco 395 Finish Pro Air Assisted Airless Review : Our take on the Graco 395...exclusively on the Cutting ...44 comment(s)
Kilz Max: A Prime Mover : In 2012, we ran our Primer Roundup series. One of the f...34 comment(s)
Tis the Season for Ipe Finishing : It comes every year...
Exterior wood finishing season ...31 comment(s)
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