Greg Owens 4:04
Yeah, well, this is where people could get very creative and we’ve had companies be very creative with this, these types of products because we can pretty much paint any surface with it. So we’ve done them in hallways, you know, where, where it’s a big long wall or sort of the entry wall to the facility where they want to have a lot of like, write down like their, their mission and their values on it so that the public can see that we’ve done that kind of thing. There tends to be a lot of people that want it in the conference rooms and we usually do one wall but a lot of companies found that they just do all the walls in that room so that way, you know, people can keep writing and keep going around the room. There’s also we’ve also had companies Um, oh in a school to the to a company and a school did this where they, they had us do it on their desks, so this way they could be writing and doodling right on their desk, and then have that as part of their canvas and work surface and they really enjoyed that too. And not only like picking the space or where you want the dry erase board paint, you also get a choice of colors and the colors really is that the product comes in clear. So we can put it over at any surface that has an accent color, that kind of thing. So if you wanted a green wall, that’s writable . We can do that which is pretty neat and it’s fun and it gives people a lot of choice and that seems to be very popular is being able to have those choices.
John Corcoran 5:38
Yeah, so you don’t have to just have the white walls if you’re opposed to a white wall you can have a different color as well we can go with whatever you know of interior design that you have talk about some of the other types of walls that are out there because this is just the beginning. There’s also for example eso walls which are actually deaden some of the sound
Greg Owens 5:55
wider, a company called Ico board, meaning these products geode tiles and they’re basically like tiles that are made out of recycled plastic. But they’re done in such a way that they’re, they look like a woven material and it’s soft and it’s maybe a half inch to three quarters and an inch thick. They come in different patterns in different shapes and sizes. And we essentially just glue it to the, to the wall. So we’re painting and decorating company and, you know, we get into these kinds of different types of finishes. And it’s not rocket science to put it on but it opens up a whole nother arm. What a whole nother dimension where you can add a lot of warmth to a room, it has those sound deadening properties. So if you’re hearing your loud, office neighbor right next door and you’re getting a lot of complaints that that people can hear when you’re on these zoom calls and that kind of thing, then this, this product can help and it also looks really good. It’s very But it’s the very popular sort of look right now, if you go through some of the top brand companies, you’ll see these kinds of walls where it adds like a light layer fabric between on the walls, right? So,
John Corcoran 7:16
especially important in today’s age of open offices where there could be tons of people working in one space and loud noise.
Greg Owens 7:23
Yeah, yeah. And we see it done a lot. You know, they have these like little small offices and some of these, some of these buildings are just set up for making phone calls so that you can have a private phone call, right, but then the way they were built for whatever reason sound is carrying through and so we’re, we’re able to put a little bit of this product on and it sort of quiets things down for people. Plus the room feels really cozy, warm, inviting. It’s got a creative element to it, and I think it also sparks that creativity that we talked about earlier.
John Corcoran 7:55
And a related idea to the whiteboard paint is bulletin board walls. actually making the whole wall a bulletin board so you can put push pins in.
Greg Owens 8:03
Yeah, yeah, that’s that’s been around for for a long time. And it seems to have come back into vogue here lately because there’s new products and new materials and new colors and new fabrics. And so they’ve taken the old Bolton board and made it look cool. And so then that’s become really sort of popular also for some companies where they want to be able to pin things up on the walls and, and kind of showcase them that way. There’s also some sound deadening properties to that kind of wall boards that you put up there. One of the companies that I’ve liked a lot is a company called wall talker, and they’ve come out with some really interesting products in that line.
John Corcoran 8:43
Blackboard paint is another one similar to the whiteboard paint but turning your wall into like a blackboard so you can use chalk to write on it.
Greg Owens 8:52
Yeah, and you can use chalk and write on it. That’s what you see in restaurants and that kind of thing. We’ve done it in a few companies where they wanted to have like a recognition wall and they wanted to be able to have different colored chalk and be able to do like recognize different employees and I thought it was a very creative way to use Blackboard paint and add a different punch and a different element to the rooms especially this particular office complex had on everything was all white and then sporadically around where these Blackboard walls where you could write on them, and not look really.
John Corcoran 9:25
And then a lot. Another one I really like that you were talking about earlier, is putting metal into the paint. So you can put magnets directly on the wall.
Greg Owens 9:35
Yeah, so they ground up metal flakes and put it into the paint so that we put a few layers of that on, then we can just paint regular paint over the top of it. And now you can use magnets and use magnets on the wall. Combine that with either the blackboard paint or the dry erase pane right. So then you can either write things in or something stick something right up there. So you have a piece of paper or a business card or something that you want to showcase that way. And you want it up there temporarily, you can use a magnet and just hold it up. Yeah, that works pretty cool.
John Corcoran 10:13
amazing to think how these decisions that you make when you’re renovating or deciding to put new paint in, can really have a dramatic impact on these businesses and the creativity and productivity that comes out of these spaces. So it’s really cool to hear about these innovations.
Greg Owens 10:29
Yeah, and I think a lot of times companies, you know, they move into a space and they see this a lot, they move into a new space, and then they don’t have any of these kinds of walls that are up there already. Right. And then as they start using this space, they find it like wow, we need to have more ways to express ourselves or the team or that kind of thing. There’s companies that have war rooms, where they know, the whole upper management comes together and works on a problem together and that kind of thing and to be able to stand back And write on the walls has been really, really beneficial to them. Yeah. And it’s wonderful to walk in, walk through the after we’ve done it and see the creativity that employees come up with and how they really use it. You know, and sometimes we’ve only, usually we only write up when you go to about six feet, maybe seven feet at the highest point. But I mean, we’ve even done my eight feet and it’s people can right up that high, it turns out right and then all the way down to the floor. So they’re getting out chairs and standing up. They’re really, you know, NBA basketball players working for them or something.
John Corcoran 11:39
Yeah, yeah. This is great. We’ve been talking to Greg Owens, who’s the owner of McCarthy Painting. Greg remind everyone where they can learn more about you and about McCarthy Painting.
Greg Owens 11:48
Yeah, you can you can check us out on the internet McCarthypainting.com. You Email us at info@ McCarthypainting.com And always the phone number two is is is helpful and we could put it in the links at this, but it’s 415-383-2640
John Corcoran 12:10
All right. Thanks so much, Greg.
Greg Owens 12:12
Yeah, thank you.
Outro 12:23
Thanks for listening to the Watching Paint Dry Podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.