This article is a guest post by Steve Maxwell, one of Canada's most read home improvement journalists and editor of Pro Painter magazine. Pro Painter has been an excellent source of support to my business over the years with technical tips, business advice and industry trends. Look for a re-vamped Pro Painter debuting in 2017. 


Every painter wants a schedule full of great jobs, serving clients who appreciate good work and pay good money. But whether or not you actually get this kind of work depends on more than just your skill with a brush, a roller and your estimating book. All these things are critical, but success in painting, as in life, ultimately depends on deeper qualities like energy, honesty, selflessness and humility. Please forgive me if this sounds like a Sunday school lesson, but reality backs me up. A painter I know named Gary Walchuk reminds me how true it all is... 

Do you suffer from ​Dread of Red like I did for many years? Doesn't it seem that if you are going to have problems with a colour, it is likely to be with red? 

One of my first bad spills was with a can of Benjamin Moore Collections in a deep red...right down this particular hallway actually, in the middle, on brand new carpet. I was so excited to impress a bunch of realtors, thinking this might be a great opportunity to make an impression and get some referrals. Well I think I succeeded in making an impression alright.
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​I've learned too that red paint, when you open the lid, can look pink. That can fool an in-experienced painter into marching back to the paint store assuming there was a tinting error. But we learn that the magenta dries out of the paint and it actually looks red, not pink, once dry. 

And fast forward a couple of years where I experienced the dreaded 'red feature wall' that most painters encounter at some point in their career...the one that requires 8 or more coats of red, and still doesn't look good (poor or uneven coverage, 'picture framing', texture build up, slow curing...).

Over the years i've tried several things to try and solve this vibrant red coverage issue...cutting and rolling small sections at a time to keep a wet edge, putting the paint on heavy, different naps and sleeve materials, different brands and bases of paints, pink primers, etc...