Project Portfolio

The Royal Group has been providing packaging products and services since 1922, so they understand the importance of experience. When they needed the workshops and offices of their Cicero, IL facility painted, they turned to the experience of McCahill Painting Company.

Following their initial meeting with the Royal Group’s project manager, the McCahill team began by cleaning and preparing the ceiling above the facility manager’s office. The entire area was scraped and hand-sanded to remove any contaminants, ensuring proper paint adhesion. Once the surface was ready, ICI / Devoe Unigrip4382 Modified Epoxy Egg-Shell Dryfall was applied, due to its bonding and adhesive qualities, as well as its resistance to environmental humidity.

There are several good reasons to maintain the painted interior of a production facility. A clean and aesthetically pleasing environment improves employee motivation and promotes a professional atmosphere for client and investor walk-throughs.

In the case of this production facility, used to manufacture soaps, makeup, and skin care products, a sterile environment is required within their production areas at all times. The FDA maintains strict guidelines that must be followed when painting in production areas of this kind. The surfaces that required work were surrounded by sensitive equipment and mixing containers.

Cleaning and repainting this facility required attention to detail, a careful approach, and the ability to work around a tight and unyielding schedule.

Before the project began, a jobsite meeting was scheduled so that our project foreman and the facility’s operations manager could review these requirements, ensuring that all processes and materials used would meet FDA standards and all project goals would be met.

The first step was to make sure all water sensitive or electrical equipment was carefully masked. Then, the surfaces receiving paint were chemically cleaned and power washed, removing any contaminants that could interfere with proper paint adhesion. The surfaces were then hand sanded and power washed to ensure the removal of any loose paint or rust, followed by another round of power washing.

The final step before paint application involved patching and caulking any pre-existing damage to the substrate with urethane sealant.

Because of the harsh chemical environment, a chemical and abrasion-resistant coating was selected for application. As a primer coat, the team applied Sherwin Williams B58W610 Macropoxy 646, and two full finish coats of Sherwin Williams B65W961 Fast Clad Urethane. These products have excellent adhesion, color, and gloss retention properties, and will also withstand exposure to chemicals and abrasion.

The right people, products, and processes helped to make this job a success.

Everyone knows that the proper use of color can improve aesthetic value, but it can also reduce the likelihood of accidents and contractor liability. The McCahill Painting Company team kept this in mind when they worked on the exterior of Lee & Associates Asset Management’s Naperville warehouse.

The Sherwin Williams Company’s Safety Color Guide says that yellow is “the most visible of all colors. Its attention-compelling power is universally recognized.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contends that “Yellow shall be the basic color for designating caution and for marking physical hazards such as: striking against, stumbling, falling, and tripping.” For the bumper posts outside of the facility, McCahill Painting Company applied two finish coats of Safety Yellow, the color specification recognized by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI). This made the posts much more visible, and much less likely to cause damage to vehicles.

OSHA requires that fire protection equipment must be red. The wall-mounted fire bell and emergency hose valves were prepared, spot primed, and painted Safety Red.

The McCahill Painting Company team also worked on the building itself, to remove unsightly dirt and rust stains. First, the entire surface was power-washed at 250 degrees to remove any dirt, dust or atmospheric contaminants. The precast concrete was then inspected, scraped and hand-sanded. Sonneborn One Part Urethane Sealant was applied around all the doors and windows. All metal surfaces were solvent cleaned, scraped and hand-sanded, spot-primed with Devoe Tank and Structural Steel Industrial Metal Primer.

All exterior lights, windows, and dock overhead door sleeves were protected using masking paper, visqueen, duct tape and tarp before the paint was finally applied. The rusted gas piping and metal doors received a full rust-inhibitive prime coat and one finish coat of Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel. A finish coat of Sherwin Williams A-100 Acrylic Latex was applied to the fluted, precast concrete.

Lee & Associates Asset Management was extremely pleased with the results of this job.

You can find out more about safety colors and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.osha.gov.

A facility in Oak Brook, IL had a problem with a common wall shared by executive offices and their shipping dock. The exhaust from the idling trucks was actually seeping through the concrete cinderblock wall, causing an unpleasant smell for employees. The company decided to turn to McCahill Painting Company, with whom they shared a 10 year working relationship, for the solution.

The company wanted this project completed as quickly as possible, but they could not afford to interrupt the daytime truck traffic in the dock area. McCahill Painting Company was able to accommodate their needs by working a combination of weekend and 2nd shifts.

Concrete is actually a porous material. Concrete sealants are applied to concrete surfaces to prohibit the absorption of liquids and / or airborne contaminants. However, prior to application, the surface must be cleaned and prepared.

The McCahill team power washed the concrete surface to remove any carbon monoxide residue left behind by the diesel engines, using our HydroTek T4500 pressure washer at a setting of 250 degrees and 2000psi. Backer rods and hydraulic cement caulk were used to fill and repair any existing damage to the surface. Wire brushes were used to remove any loose mortar nubs. A final pass with the pressure washer removed any remaining contaminants.

To ensure that absolutely nothing would be able to penetrate the wall, the McCahill team opted for the same vapor barrier system used by waste water management facilities. First, they applied a prime coat of Sherwin Williams Kem Cati-Coat Two Component Block Filler. This was followed by a preliminary finish coat of Sherwin Williams Sher-Tile HS Epoxy and completed with a full second finish coat.

Applying a barrier coating is a very difficult process. A wet-film gauge is required to determine the appropriate thickness during application. It's tough work, but the end result is incredibly durable. 

In the end, our client was extremely pleased with our solution and thrilled to have their office space air quality restored and no longer smell exhaust from the shipping docks.