# A spill



## sage (Apr 29, 2007)

I was taking a gallon of paint out of a box that had been delivered to the job yesterday, I dropped it, the top flew off and 1/2 a gallon of latex paint ended up on the cement garage floor. The can sitting in the ever growing puddle.........grabed shop rags built a baracade around the flowing paint, scooped up paint with a plastic dust pan and spackling blade. What a frigging mess! I did do a bang up clean up job, when the HO came home she couldn't find the evidence of my messy day.
:no: Sage


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## TheRogueBristle (Mar 19, 2010)

Ha! I once turned a can of Coverstain over on a porch to move the solids that my partner had opened and put the lid bak on lightly. He didn't see the need to help me clean it up, just watched as I first stood dumfounded, then scrambled for rags and thinner. First we came up with a rule that lids were either all the way on or all the way off, then we din't work together anymore. :whistling2:


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## Rob (Aug 9, 2009)

I had a bunch of stuff stacked on my patio and knocked over a partial gallon, the lid popped off and spilled on the concrete floor, I threw a drop over it and figured it would be easier to clean when it dried, right? It was an accident, really honey, I promise I'll clean it up!


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

LOL Rob, had to be at home huh.


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## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

I backed up in a customers driveway to shift the truck so I could load the ladders and backed over a gal. of Tudor Brown Moorglo. I know this because I heard the explosion! The 2 car garage doors were up and the 2 Mercedes inside got covered along with the driveway, my truck and the side of the house(natural cedar shakes) on a hot summer day. This was just as we were finishing up. There was no hose on the job. The people have a sprinkler system and aren't the gardening type. I told one of my guys to find a hose and he went 2 doors down and grabbed one ! Long story short-all was cleaned up and no one ever knew. That was my worst one. The blood pressure still goes up as I type the story. I don't know how I didn't have stroke that day. I was still finding brown on my truck when I would clean it months later. This is a lot more fun then talking about "who pays their taxes"! Thanks for reminding me Sage!


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## sage (Apr 29, 2007)

CliffK said:


> I backed up in a customers driveway to shift the truck so I could load the ladders and backed over a gal. of Tudor Brown Moorglo. I know this because I heard the explosion! The 2 car garage doors were up and the 2 Mercedes inside got covered along with the driveway, my truck and the side of the house(natural cedar shakes) on a hot summer day. This was just as we were finishing up. There was no hose on the job. The people have a sprinkler system and aren't the gardening type. I told one of my guys to find a hose and he went 2 doors down and grabbed one ! Long story short-all was cleaned up and no one ever knew. That was my worst one. The blood pressure still goes up as I type the story. I don't know how I didn't have stroke that day. I was still finding brown on my truck when I would clean it months later. This is a lot more fun then talking about "who pays their taxes"! Thanks for reminding me Sage!


 
Wow Cliff I felt sorry for myself until I read your story!
That was the first time I have ever spilled anything other then a cup of coffee. I wsas really pi$$ed!
Sage


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

The worst is when you spill paint on a roof.......almost impossible to get off of asphalt shingles. I once slipped on some mold on a roof while carrying a half gallon of red paint. Of course it went everywhere. Bolted down the ladder, grabbed a hose, turned on the water, and, went back up. Quickly sprayed the paint and gently scrubbed with a soft brush..........dummy me, the paint/water mix went down the downspout and onto the new concrete sidewalk below.......duh.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

i was on some interior steps priming spindles with cover stain when i moved or something and the drops tightened an pulled the can over on top of my knee an down my leg ...................no primer on the rug just all over me and the drop :whistling2:


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## canadianpainter (Mar 7, 2009)

Ah the memories. Great thread. I definitely would have a stroke if I painted a mercedes accidentally. lol

I've had a few accidents. On a beautiful sunny friday afternoon I said to one of my slower guys "geez, I want to get out of here before the weekend is over! Give me that roller!" I grabbed the roller a swifty rolled out the last office of the job and then proclaimed, "that's how you do it" while almost simultaneously knocking over a half gallon onto the brand new carpet. 

However, by sheer luck, that same morning my supplier had given me an entire box of this new product made for cleaning up a small fresh paint drops from carpet. The product came in packets about the size of two sugar packets and was a gritty powder. I used about a hundred packets and lone behold it worked like a boss.

Another time I was painting a stairwell, up on an extension ladder and when I came down the ladder I submerged my leg into a full five gallon pail. If that wasn't bad enough my damn boot got stuck and the stairwell I was painting was in a high traffic medical building.


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## ltd (Nov 18, 2010)

im 6 foot 4, 250 pounds standing on a 5 gal bucket cutting in a ceiling .i just filled up cutting bucket and i don't know what happened but anyways i came down like a ton of bricks .i thought i broke something i mean it was bad .corner of drop was pulled away from wall and paint went on base and carpet the ho was thinking what the hell happened .picked up paint with a 6 inch broad knife then i laid a wet rag over it .lucky i was close to home .i drove home and got the hoover steam vac clean it up perfect . i never eat at work the ho thought i was hungry and past out ,i don't know maybe i did. so she fixed me a sandwich every day after that


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## jsheridan (Mar 12, 2011)

The guy from the ps put a box, 4 gals, into the back of my truck one day, an experienced guy. That afternoon i dropped my truck at the mechanics for work. Next morning 6 am, I stop by in my street rod to get the paint and supplies for that day, truck is staying. I open the lift back, bam. whole gallon of regal eggshell crashes to the ground in slow motion, three quarters of it on the blacktop. The experienced guy put the open box side against the lift back, and well, you know what happened then. I'm hands and knees cleaning up paint, an old guy walks by and asks how's it going. I looked up, pointed to the spill and snapped, How the f### do you think it's going? Mechanic had to get his powerwasher out, and we had a lot of good times bustin testicles on the experienced guy. 
Then there's the one about the high dollar authentic persian rug . . . 
And then . . .
Shoot, just thought about the funniest one of all, damn
doctor sometimes takes the wrong leg, painter sometimes spills paint, all in a day's work.


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## jsheridan (Mar 12, 2011)

ltd said:


> im 6 foot 4, 250 pounds standing on a 5 gal bucket cutting in a ceiling .i just filled up cutting bucket and i don't know what happened but anyways i came down like a ton of bricks .i thought i broke something i mean it was bad .corner of drop was pulled away from wall and paint went on base and carpet the ho was thinking what the hell happened .picked up paint with a 6 inch broad knife then i laid a wet rag over it .lucky i was close to home .i drove home and got the hoover steam vac clean it up perfect . i never eat at work the ho thought i was hungry and past out ,i don't know maybe i did. so she fixed me a sandwich every day after that


I know you, you were on my job one day. George? This might rule you out, did you try to get back up on the same bucket again?


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Had a brand new 89 Toyota pick-up and tricked it out. Light bar, American Racing wheels, push bar etc. Was on the way to work with a case of paint in the bed. I'm stopped at a light and some lady rear ends me. Case opens up and explodes all over the back of my truck........


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## robladd (Nov 22, 2010)

CliffK said:


> I backed up in a customers driveway to shift the truck so I could load the ladders and backed over a gal. of Tudor Brown Moorglo. I know this because I heard the explosion! The 2 car garage doors were up and the 2 Mercedes inside got covered along with the driveway, my truck and the side of the house(natural cedar shakes) on a hot summer day. This was just as we were finishing up. There was no hose on the job. The people have a sprinkler system and aren't the gardening type. I told one of my guys to find a hose and he went 2 doors down and grabbed one ! Long story short-all was cleaned up and no one ever knew. That was my worst one. The blood pressure still goes up as I type the story. I don't know how I didn't have stroke that day. I was still finding brown on my truck when I would clean it months later. This is a lot more fun then talking about "who pays their taxes"! Thanks for reminding me Sage!


 
I have 2 unforgettabe spills and 1 complete wipe out. first one was on a ship going from the Azores Islands to Spain and we hit one of those big North Atlantic storms where the seas were 40 ft plus when we docked the crew went to the paint locker and opened the hatch door and every imaginable marine paint and color rolled out of it. Down the passageway.
down other decks, ladders, bulkheads and overheads. 200lbs of rags later we had it under control. Days later we had it touched up.

On a Swing Stage 22 Floors above a tennis court when a hoist went out and the stage went vertical 30 gals crashed onto the tennis court. Call it what you will but no one was playing tennis. It truely is a miracle that 2 broad knives got back over 27 gals, Oh and a new coat on the tennis court.

Last but not least Spraying Production on a new FHA/VHA housing development. Every Exterior has 3 decorator colors on them. The guys are rolling walls and I'm shooting closets. I'm going from 1 house to another just topped off the pot when the hose burst and takes off straight up for about 20 feet and then goes horizontal like a rocket wiping everything out in its path. 5 houses, windows ,sidewalk, lawns, vehicals, street I mean a living nightmare. Contractor was right there. Kept his cool and about 8 hours later and the next day it was cleaned up and touched up. I hard lesson to keep up on your equipment. I love this thread:thumbup: Rob


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## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

These are some great stories. Nice to know "you're" not alone . Despite all the fantastic disasters posted-I think robladd is winning!!! I think it's gonna be hard to top that stuff, taking out an entire neighborhood is impressive!!


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

CliffK said:


> These are some great stories. Nice to know "you're" not alone . Despite all the fantastic disasters posted-I think robladd is winning!!! I think it's gonna be hard to top that stuff, taking out an entire neighborhood is impressive!!


 
lmao ..............spit some soda out thanks ....


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## CPFSam (Nov 8, 2010)

sage said:


> I was taking a gallon of paint out of a box that had been delivered to the job yesterday, I dropped it, the top flew off and 1/2 a gallon of latex paint ended up on the cement garage floor. The can sitting in the ever growing puddle.........grabed shop rags built a baracade around the flowing paint, scooped up paint with a plastic dust pan and spackling blade. What a frigging mess! I did do a bang up clean up job, when the HO came home she couldn't find the evidence of my messy day.
> :no: Sage


Did everyone clap? Like when you worked in the school cafeteria and dropped a stack of plates, and everyone started clapping for you.:clap:


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## propainterJ (Jan 31, 2011)

Damn Robladd,thats a doozy.

I once had a big gas rig take a walk on me while I was spraying,it got the hose on the hot manifold and busted it,all I knew was I lost pressure,went outside to fill up my paint and seen the busted hose pumping paint out into the street.

That was my rookie year mistake,another was I unloaded a full 5 off the side of the truck,hefted it up and over and then down to the road a little to hard and a little on the edge,I remember slamming the 5 down and then watching in disbelief as the bottom popped off and 5 gallons of paint glugged out into the street,no cars around luckily.

That was my 2nd year mistake,I once let my helper spray this fireplace metal with a spray can of high heat black,the guy used a whole can,sprayed it so heavy from so far away he got overspray all over the carpet int the great room of this house,we would just tape around them 2, 12" paper widths and I would just tighten that sucker up and have no problem,well,this poor guy hadnt been trained and I let him do it,I took the heat for that one,luckily it was the right side of a seam and was cheap fix.


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## sagebrush123 (Mar 11, 2011)

This is fun reading these blunders, but it is also CRISIS MODE.

I too have melted a spray line, lost pressure, and while having the sprayer on the porch as I am inside painting.... run out to a complete disaster spraying over the stucco exterior, the front doors, windows...

it all got cleaned up, but in the process got the ho watching more carefully.

This was a big interior newer repaint job....and thru this project I had quickly stopped working for this painting contractor because a huge cream puff job showed up for me on Catalina Island. So I told the boss man-hey this is gonna really suck because there is NO WAY that I am gonna say no to this once again "self-employed and much more money" status. He really understood and I gave him NO two week notice.

The gist of this story is he continued on with this job and being the not very good supervisor that he was(mostly surfing) while I "manned" the boys thru the day.....all these little incidents kept happening at this ladys house....
she was mad that no one was there to keep and eye on the "boys" and she fibally had a temper tantrum and thru an empty fiver at him in the garage.:thumbup:

Meanwhile I just more than 4X my weekly pay, am living the "island life" where you do not paint fast like a" flatlander",driving a golf cart to the job site in the mornings, eating the best sushi at night, and taking out the supers fishing boat out on the weekends....Marlin Tournaments.(BEST JOB/FUN OF MY ENTIRE CAREER!) I got pregnant at the end of this job, too.(another kind of viscous-spill!!!!) But that is a story for later! He is 9 now and a real gem!

Many years later the real laugh is on him! He calls me back for a long term-exterior Navy bases project and once again I am working for him!:notworthy:


and to get back on track, I too have stepethed into a fiver as I was closing the lid, I have a 360 degree move to half jump along the edge, to close tightly the lid.....at the very end of a two week project at clean up time in the middle of the kitchen.:thumbsup:

Thank god, I had dirty pressure washing clothes and Tevas out in the back of the truck from a prior job!

and thank god the ho was napping.


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## dubinpainting (Feb 16, 2010)

sage said:


> I was taking a gallon of paint out of a box that had been delivered to the job yesterday, I dropped it, the top flew off and 1/2 a gallon of latex paint ended up on the cement garage floor. The can sitting in the ever growing puddle.........grabed shop rags built a baracade around the flowing paint, scooped up paint with a plastic dust pan and spackling blade. What a frigging mess! I did do a bang up clean up job, when the HO came home she couldn't find the evidence of my messy day.
> :no: Sage


That sucks….. One time I was using one of those plastic cut buckets that had been around for awhile. I filled it about half way up with paint and the metal handle snapped off the side of the plastic. Paint spilled EVERYWHERE. The worst part was they just had their carpets professionally steamed two weeks before I started painting, they should have waited until I was done! At least you got all the paint up.


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

Has anyone had someone tell them this story-its one their "friend" told them...
Painter spills a bucket of paint on an (real) oriental carpet, picks up the family cat, puts its paws in the paint, and it runs away. Painter tells HO "it was the cat."
A plumber told me that one. A regional classic? Urban painter legend? You?


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## Boden Painting (Dec 27, 2007)

lol. these are great..I opened my passenger door in a clients driveway and teh whole gallon of oil based poly fell out and popped open in the driveway..glug glug glug. as I watched in horror. Thankfully there was a hose and I had some dish soap and managed to get it washed off the driveway.


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## Metro M & L (Jul 21, 2009)

I painted a basement floor then went upstairs and cleaned my brush. Fumes were pretty bad and my mind was worse for wear. Went to a long lunch. Came back 1.5 later. I had left the water running and a rag had clogged the sink. The entire basement was filled with an inch of water. 

Mopped it up. Paint and all. It was summer so it dried out by the next day and I painted it again. I was working for this crappy realtor and I could not believe she didn't notice the water stains on the rafters!


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

I went back to a job to touch up the black foam of an exterior AC unit after we finished rolling the side and got some splatter on the foam (10 min job total) so I just laid the quart lid down on top of the AC unit and all of a sudden the fan came on and BLAMO!!...... POW!!...... KABOOM !!! ................the fan lifted the lid into the air then it went sideways an back down between the metal screen an into the blades and literally splashed black all over the side...........took me all day to clean up the inside of the AC unit an to touch up the side............complete mess, 10 min job to all day 



repsect the AC units !!


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

kdpaint said:


> Has anyone had someone tell them this story-its one their "friend" told them...
> Painter spills a bucket of paint on an (real) oriental carpet, picks up the family cat, puts its paws in the paint, and it runs away. Painter tells HO "it was the cat."
> A plumber told me that one. A regional classic? Urban painter legend? You?


 

ive had a small dog track paint around as well as a HO'er ..........it happens so i would imagine that somebody out there blamed a dog or cat


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## propainterJ (Jan 31, 2011)

I had to come back for another story.

THis one is someone else,but we got on this job a few years ago,new house,picky as heck homeowner who just fired the Painter he started the outside with.

Anyway,we show up first day,the outside is half done and we're picking up where the fired guy left off,well around lunch time,we see this painting truck come roaring up the driveway,country house long gravel drive,and he's got smoke pouring out the back of his PU.

This guy had just happened to be driving by,flicked a cig out his window,it got into something flammable in some drop cloths in the bed of his PU.

This guy comes skidding to a stop in front of this house,jumps out cursing,drags his burning drop cloth out and douses it with a hose,right in front of 3 painters hired to replace him on this job,talk about embarassing,I was embarassed for him,never saw him again.


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## bennyd (Nov 26, 2014)

Wow! That’s some really innovative work, good for you!
I can’t help but noticing one thing though, your use of towels was almost like a boomstick. have you ever thought of buying one to make cleanup easier? While you’re at it, I’d say investing in a good spill absorbent product would probably make your cleanup (and job) a bit easier. When I paint, I keep a bag of SpillFix handy. I always manage to tip over the can at least once.


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## capn26 (Aug 17, 2014)

Someone handed me a gallon of white and thought I had it. My hand was no where near him as he let it go, so it exploded on contact with the driveway. Thank God there was a hose near by.....

The worst was on the cattle farm I managed though. It was like five thousand degrees and we were touching up a corral and head gate. We used a generator, 10 gal compressor, and one of those like ten buck hvlp guns with rust oleum and vm&p naptha in it. It dried like on contact. So I fill my gun, turn around, and the cup fell off. It's amazing A: how high paint will fly, and B: how fast it will dry. Half of my clothes, and one shoe were instantly starched hard enough to kill, and the red truck peppered from stem to stern. That was one of the most miserable afternoons of my life. The top of my foot was raw to the point of bleeding from the crust.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

OH how my necropost finger itches.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

bennyd said:


> Wow! That’s some really innovative work, good for you!
> I can’t help but noticing one thing though, your use of towels was almost like a boomstick. have you ever thought of buying one to make cleanup easier? While you’re at it, I’d say investing in a good spill absorbent product would probably make your cleanup (and job) a bit easier. When I paint, I keep a bag of SpillFix handy. I always manage to tip over the can at least once.


wow! you are responding to a 3 year old post:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

daArch said:


> OH how my necropost finger itches.


couldn't help myself


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

Still good reading and I wouldn't have read those awesome stories if it weren't for the revival.. I enjoyed those disaster stories.


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## capn26 (Aug 17, 2014)

Bet I can find one older than this to merrily and obliviously participate in. Gimme time.


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## paintball head (Mar 3, 2012)

Ok Cap'n sounds good I'm looking forward to it. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using PaintTalk.com mobile app


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

capn26 said:


> Bet I can find one older than this to merrily and obliviously participate in. Gimme time.


I did that a few weeks ago. I found what I believe to be the first thread and commented on it. It was about painting a barn turned loft.....I believe


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## capn26 (Aug 17, 2014)

I did just post in the brush thread but someone else had already pointed out the age.


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

Second day on a job (super important, very picky clients) my partner opens the sliding door and a gallon of cloud white Pitt Tech semi on what looks like brand new deep black asphalt. Almost 2 hours later with LOTS of water and 2 boxes of rags we got it cleaned up


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

I remember many years ago I was packing paint and tools away for the day and forgot about the drum of white enamel paint I left sitting behind my rear wheel.
Spent the next 2 hours with rags, turps and wire brushes cleaning the mess from the homeowners concrete driveway.


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

Brian C said:


> I remember many years ago I was packing paint and tools away for the day and forgot about the drum of white enamel paint I left sitting behind my rear wheel.
> Spent the next 2 hours with rags, turps and wire brushes cleaning the mess from the homeowners concrete driveway.


And it always leaves big ole messed up spot from the 'turps' and scrubbing. What else can ya do though?


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Non of my spill stories even come close to those described here. One more thing I can be thankful for today. :yes:


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## BuckeyePainter (Feb 14, 2014)

Ah, the memories! I was painting a NC house once and tipped over a gallon of latex onto the floor. What a lake it left! Fortunately luck was on my side that time. I had just bought a monster box of rags that morning, the new flooring wasn't down yet and the framers were nice enough to leave a pile of saw dust behind. Whew!


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