Master Painter

KellyPainting

Guys (and gals) how long must be painting before you can qualify yourself as a Master painter?... is there any other qualifications?

Brushslingers

Depends.. are you talking union, or just seat of pants experience? Union rules are (hell drawing a blank here...) like 5 years journeyman and 4? or something on your own to master.... I can't think straight on a friday night.

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Benn

JNLP

Master Painter? Hmmm... I've worked for quite a few companies, and I can honestly say I only consider 1 guy I've ever worked with or for a master painter. Knowing & being good at all fields of painting is a start.

You can do restoration for 20 years & be the best there is. Goto commercial & some kid with 1 year of experience will out roll the hell out of you though in quality & speed.

You can do commercial for 15 years & be the best there is. Goto residential & you'd be asking what a carbide is. What the hell is Peel Away? Bix? MH? How the heck you set up a pick?

You could do apartment resprays/rolls for 25 years & ask about pretty much everything.

I've worked for those who focus on one type of painting, and they all think they are the best. Yet none of them know 75% of the field they are in. I've only had two bosses who taught me a little something. The other 4 I taught a few things to.

I would think a master painter would know & perfect all fields of painting. Know the best product to use for the job to give quality while staying in price range & making needed profits. Know the exact specs of the products you use & even some you don't use but know their is a chance of using in the future (for sales, quality, and health). Have all equiptment needed.

P.S. Typos or rambling is doto the SoCo tonight.

donb1959

I'm a 3rd generation painter. I was working Saturdays and summers for my Dad when I was 10. I consider myself a master painter, but Ive been doing this for 30 years. Its a good question, I think that in order to be called a master painter one would need to be in the trade for at least 15 years.

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I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

ProWallGuy

I tell my customers I'm a Master Painter.
But to my peers, I'm just another painter.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Woz the Painter

I'm not sure how many master painters you will find nowadays? Back when I first started I worked with a couple of German old timers who learned the trade in Europe. These guys were great at all fazes of prep, painting, hanging etc. One guy whose name was Otto would take a piece of cardboard, and during lunch break paint a landscape on it. He told me when he was an apprentice when work slowed down towards wintertime, they would start grinding white lead and making paint, putty, spackling compound for when spring came and work picked up. These people could do it all from making their own materials to applying them. In mho these guys were master painters, and those days are never to be seen again...

Danahy

I think a Master Painter is a painter who has reached the point of knowing exactly what it takes to do a perfect job. Not to say that anyone could achieve a perfect job with every factor / trade working against them, but a master would be able to invision what a perfect job could look like. Knowing that you can only achieve 90%, but people percieve it to be 100.

... This is however, a complete load, or a guess rather, and would love to find the formal defination of what makes a master painter.

boman47k

I'm not sure how relevant time is to being a master at any thing. Exposure to different aspects of any given subject has to figure in there somewhere. Some who has specialized in one particular area might master that aspect or that area, but I would think a true master would be a lot more encomposing. Color composition, color coordination, knowledge of properties of different paints, and the list goes on. Those Germans sounded like some pretty smart folks.

Terrence

I call myself a master painter.

But only when driving on the highway alone.
Or on a ladder stretching up to a soffit.
Or sitting on the toilet during a break on a nice spring day.
Or when I sense someone behind me while a cut a perfect line.

Luckily noone has to hear me say it,
because I keep this secret to myself.

{ i know what you're going to say...
lay off the magic mushrooms... }

TraaaLaaaalaaaa

Frankawitz

I worked with a Master Painter he had been in business for 48 years when I got hired by him, He showed me how to mix colors on the job(45gallons) at a time, we made our own putty for filling nail holes, mix up our own stains, and the list goes on. I told Ray one day he was the only Master Painter I knew. He told me sure kid you keep saying that and your pay is going to be lowered. I have been painting 27 years and I am always learning something, with all the regulations from the Goverment and the Paint Manufactures coming up with new products, it's hard to be a Master. But the way I look at it is 90% of a paint job is prep. the other 10% is painting. and another thing is anyone can paint, I mean I can get a dog to paint as lond as his tail is wagging.LOL

Danahy

I've inquired with my buddies with this one (fellow paint contractors), and most agree that it's a self proclaimed title you give yourself, when your confidence level is no longer a factor in your business.

Joewho

My take on this is that you never call yourself a journyeman or master.
Other painters do. That's how you know for sure.

Brushslingers

So I am a god? Sweeeeeeeet!

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Benn

Riverside Paint

The way it was explained to me, the "Master Craftsman" concept was originally coined in Europe back in the early 1800s, the term "Master Painter" followed a short while later.

Supposedly, back in the day, very, very few tradesmen ever achieved the "master" status. Most were simply referred to as journeymen (after successfully completing comparatively long apprenticeships).

The concept was first introduced to me when I began working with a crew of professional painters in the Midwest. The crew worked as part of a larger finish carpentry crew that built large custom homes. I was 22 years old at the time, the next youngest guy was 45. On my first day, the lead asked if I knew what being a master painter meant. When I said I thought I did, the guy spent more time than I care to admit proving me wrong.

Prior to being hired by them, I had worked for several ad hoc crews where I picked up a bunch of really bad habits. Those habits disappeared via some serious brow beating over the next few years.

The first day I showed up, they set me loose on a huge master bedroom with cathedral ceilings. The lead, Dave, told me to prep, cut-in and have the room rolled before lunch. I remember thinking it was a lot of work, WAY more than I had ever done in a whole day (much less a half day), but the job paid $20/hr., and I was determined not to lose it.

A couple hours into the effort, Dave came in, looked at what I had completed, told me to stop and to take all my tools back to my vehicle. After cleaning up, he asked me if I was serious about being a painter. I said I was. He said fine, and proceeded to school me like I'd never been schooled before, or since.

I spent the next two months, everyday, doing nothing but puttying and sanding door frame and baseboard nail holes. Knee pads were not allowed. Then I graduated to slopping on ceiling paint and learning how to sand-swirl. I remember the ceilings were really high and the rollers were really heavy. I did ceilings for another few months. Over time, Dave taught me how to cut, roll, and use oil. After a few years, they taught me how to use an HVLP sprayer, which, at least on that crew, was considered the most difficult and desireable job and involved spraying poly on long, winding spiral staircases. For whatever reason, the skill came naturally to me, and I spent the next year in coveralls and respirators.

The day I left to finish school, Dave told me I had become a fine painter and was well on my way to becoming a journeyman and that if I ever wanted a job, there'd always be one waiting for me.

I moved far away, went to school, graduated, took the summer off and went to work on one of those "anyone can paint" crews. During the second week on the job, I was carrying a 20 ft. ladder up a 40 ft. ladder, the jackass who was supposed to be stabblizing the base dropped his cigarette, took his foot off the bottom rung to bend over and pick it up, the ladder shifted and I fell. I dont really remember much about the accident, it happened really fast. I ended up with a row of stitches and a spine injury. Now I'm back at it operating as a sole proprietor, having a great time.

Terrence

Wow, that was a great story! Pretty cool.

How are those hi-rises treating you?
Must be a PITA to park, and then wheel everything in.
Do you ever have to "tip" the bldg guys?

Riverside Paint

The hi-rises are great, I do a lot of work in the Trump buildings along Riverside Blvd btw 66th and 72nd, some commercial stuff in the Time Warner building, the Bloomberg building, too.

I haven't owned a vehicle for years. The paint store delivers, and I hire a car service to get my tools to and from job sites.

I've only tipped one guy one time, and that was for making some empty paint cans "disappear."

4thGeneration

My Grandpa and Great Grandpa were master painters. They did it all from floor refinishing to specialty glazings. They worked in all phases such as industrial, commercial and residential as well as restoration. They also mixed their own colors cause back then you could not get it mixed for you at the local SW. I am not sure they have a masters license for painting anymore, but I may be wrong. Sand, putty, caulk and clean equipment was what my Grnadpa was in charge of for three years before he had the right to pick up a brush to apply any paint. Back then the brushes were 12 inches to brush the walls solid because there again there were not rollers at that time. I will get more of a clearer idea of what he had to complete to become a master painter.

chawn88

I've been in this trade for almost 10 years and still learning but I front of customer I'm a master painter, would you agreed?