Good-Morning…
Seeing as how at this time, I only stripe parking lots, the season for me here in Comox is anywhere from Apr./May to Sept./Oct. The rest of the year is wet, cold, snowy or a combination of the three. So being seasonal in nature…I have to do something else. I’m a logger of 30 years, so this is a second income for me. I want to branch into asphalt crack repair and possibly snow removal.
I use Alkyd paint which I get from Cloverdale paints. It costs me $74.00 for 5 gallons and I get 80-90 lines from a can. I presently use thinner to cleanup. But want to go to the water based paints in the new year to get away from the thinner and the problems with it…(cost $54.00/ 5 gals. and the disposal of).
I think the machines used here are not much different from anywhere else. Graco and Titan are the brands of choice. I have a airless Titan 4900. I haven’t used anything else so don’t have any opinion on what’s best. But I like my machine. The only complaint…which may have nothing to do with brand name…is that the paint hopper isn’t airtight. So I get the hardening of the surface if the paint is left open too long. I have solved it somewhat by cutting a inner tube and laying it across the top of the paint can before I put on the medal lid. I have a small slit in it that I push the intake and bleeder tube thru. It is so tight that it seals it all up pretty good. As for price…I have been told that a new machine would be around $7000.00. But haven’t confirmed it.
As for opportunity…that would depend on where you live. The bigger the town/city…the greater the opportunity. If I was to relocate for this type of work, I would definately go to a city. Probaly some where where I know it snows every winter, so as to get into offering snow removal.The smaller towns like where I live just don’t have the volume of work. It works for me because this is a second income for me.
Hope this answers some of your questions……have a good day
