TradeLane  Properties Commercial Painting Project Case Study

When Chicago’s renowned industrial real estate company, TradeLane Properties, needed two of their industrial warehouses and one stand-alone office building repainted, they reached out to PPD Painting. Having worked with PPD before, TradeLane knew that they could rely upon PPD to meet their client’s needs and expectations for this project.

Commercial Painting Project Overview

The project, located at 4201 W. 36th Street, required interior and exterior work on almost 100,000 square feet of building space. The bid proposal included a detailed scope of work identifying the specific issues and substrates for this project.

In addition, PPD outlined a tentative schedule for the progression and logistics of future work to dictate the pace, materials, labor, and equipment to finish the project. Our skilled estimating team walked this project and followed PPD’s established production rate to determine labor hours and material needed for this job.

Preparation & Painting Process

Building one was unique because, at the time, it was occupied by a large wrecking and excavating company. As a result, our foreman and supervisors regularly visited the site to ensure that our work did not interrupt their regular working hours.

Before the painting could begin, however, PPD coordinated a timely and convenient method for moving the heavy equipment stored outside the building so our painters could begin work. Once the site was cleared, PPD meticulously prepped the chalky and oxidized building surface with adhesion-resistant tests.

Our main concern was to find a suitable adhesion coating to reduce the severity of fading, chalking, and surface stains caused by sunlight and extreme weather conditions. Once the adhesion tests were complete, PPD then set about power washing the exterior surface, preparing and painting the metal siding, canopies, gutters, and downspouts using Benjamin Moore’s Command.

We also extended the scope of the work to include painting various exterior surfaces such as the building’s overhead doors and frames, loading dock handrails, bollards, fire hydrants, and gas meters.

Building two was vacant and required both interior and exterior painting. PPD prepared the interior using surface preparation methods such as air-blasting walls before painting and mechanically grinding metal surfaces such as doors and frames. Interior work also included:

• Painting steel l-Beams and Warehouse Walls

• Scraping loose and peeling paint off the columns throughout the warehouse and then repainting the bottom 6 inches yellow for safety reasons while leaving the top half white.

• Painting bathrooms and offices.

The exterior mirrored the size, scope, and execution of building one.

Challenges

The greatest challenge we faced with this project was accessibility and the safety of our workers due to the sprawling power lines above building one. We remedied the situation by working with a local electrical company to de-energize both facilities.

In addition, PPD gave TradeLane timely updates on our progress, including pictures of work completed. PPD’s team also put out notices to provide the neighbors adjacent to the west side of building one with warnings of when we would begin spraying and painting. Safety measures are our top priority, and we use every bit of our training to ensure the project’s safety.

Final Results

PPD’s efficiency ensured that the job was completed on time and that the final results exceeded our customer’s expectations. Our hardworking painters and their ability to work 12-14 hour shifts and weekends produced an overall success.