What is it with water towers?

It seems like every other week we’re bringing you a story about trouble painting a water tower.

Whether it’s nesting hawks, horrifying on-the-job accidents, or a paint failure, it seems any contract painting job involving a water tower is doomed to fail.

Today we have yet another example of The Water Tower Curse in action. This one comes to us from the Seward County Independent in Nebraska.

Seward’s 500,000-gallon steel water tower was due for a protective coat of paint inside and out in preparation for a patriotic Fourth of July mural.

Those plans are on hold, however. The water tower stands with a half finished base coat, and it will be spring before a new subcontractor can come in to correct the problem.

The original contractor, meanwhile, is on the hook for the cost of damages, according to the city administrator.

Our advice for painting contractors: Stay away from water towers.

Special Delivery

Ever been on the job and ran out of a crucial material?

Benjamin Moore feels your pain and is doing something about it.

This week the paint manufacturer announced  a new program to provide same-day delivery of supplies.

The “Uber-for-paint” service is possible because of a partnership with Roadie, a UPS subsidiary that helps businesses crowdsource delivery.

Golf Mural

This week Valspar unveiled its latest mural for its “Be Bright by Valspar” mural initiative.

Each year the paint manufacturer unveils two murals before the PGA TOUR’s Valspar Championship: One in Tampa Bay and a second later in the year in a location of the tournament winner’s choosing.

This year’s winner, Peter Malnati, chose Market Square in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. Artist KaDavien Baylor painted an 80-foot-tall mural featuring the Smoky Mountains, the Tennessee River, and Malnati lifting his son in the air after his tournament win.