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Painting lessons from a pro

Mistakes are our best teachers. That’s what a grade school teacher used to tell my class. I will leave it up to your imagination just how I learned these safety lessons during my 20-plus years as a professional house painter.

• Never set your work bucket full of paint on the ground behind you.
• Don’t move a stepladder with an open can of paint on it, no matter how careful you think you can be.
• Always replace the lid snugly on a partially full paint can by stepping on it firmly. You never know who might knock it over or pick it up to shake it. It might even be you.
• When replacing the lid snugly on a paint can that has wet paint around the rim, throw a rag over the lid first if you don’t like paint spurting up your leg.
• When you set a ladder against a wall and rest the bottom of it on a drop cloth laid down to protect a shiny new floor, the drop cloth will quickly slide away from the wall, and the ladder with it, when you get to the top of the ladder.
• It is impossible to get dried paint off clothes. Also, paint is not attracted to work clothing but seems to have a magnetic attraction to an expensive new jacket.

John Pilcher
Arapahoe, Tideland EMC

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