I spent most of last week canvassing town in search of epoxy paint, and here’s what I found. There is an astonishing variety of paint out there, each designed for a specific application. Some paints adhere to wood, others to wallboard, still others to bricks. Yet all paints, evidently, adhere very well to concrete and asphalt.
Next time you go paint shopping, take a look around. You’ll see at once where people like Hermann Rorschach and Jackson Pollock got their ideas. Seems like at least half the paint sold in America never gets farther than the parking lot.
My favorite is the entrance to the local Sherwin Williams store, where a trail of decorative paint blotches and footprints begins right outside the front door. The Sherwin Williams company aims to “cover the earth”–and from the looks of things, they’re doing a pretty good job of it.
I followed the footprints to my neighborhood KWAL outlet, which until just recently featured an automatic door that opened inwards. No more. I’m guessing the proprietor got tired of mopping up after his customers.
Clearly, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Which is why, at the Glidden Store, employees enter by a stairwell but all customers must use the handicapped ramp. Why? One look at the multitude of splatters in the parking lot will tell you why.
All I can say is, it’s a darn good thing paint stores don’t sell nitroglycerin.