Boy oh boy! This past year and a half sure has been a whirlwind of events, hasn’t it? And now the painting industry is facing a shortage of raw materials, causing a paint supply shortage from all manufacturers, both locally and nationally. See below for more on the reasons why.
MTS will be undergoing and implementing changes in our project management processes to ensure that we are able to satisfy our customers, as well as keep our prices in-check. This post is to inform any and all of our current and future customers.
For the first time in MTS’s history we are requiring a 25% down payment on painting contracts so that we can order paint materials for your painting project in a timely manner. This will ensure that there is no disruption in scheduling. It also helps us to alleviate cash flow issues (paying our vendors before we receive payment from our customers).
To ensure we will have the necessary paint available as figured in our Proposals and Contracts, we ask that you help us by confirming your final color choices at least 2 weeks in advance.
- Do you have any existing colors recorded anywhere? (color records, receipts, home renovation/builder documents, etc.)
- Old cans of paint lying around your garage or property? Even if they are dried up, keep them to match to! Send photos of the mix labels.
- Take peeling paint chips, or painted cover plates, or any kind of sample from the desired surface to the local paint store to have them figure out the closest stock color match OR to custom match. Please contact us and we’ll point you to the closest proper paint store we were planning to use, and to get our pricing if liquid samples are mixed.
If MTS needs to color-match on-site, let us know as early as possible. We would like to perform this task while in your area for other jobs or estimates.
We are currently scheduling projects up to 2 months out! So, if we are unable to pre-order the materials needed, the paint supplier may not be able to get your specific product in stock. This may cause a scheduling challenge for your project, and although MTS maintains great pride in keeping our appointments as promised to our clients, we ask for your patience and understanding if unforeseen circumstances arise.
What we’re hearing in the industry:
The cause of this shortage in raw materials has been affected by COVID-19 labor shortages, the “Great Freeze of 2021”, and increasing consumer demand. The winter storm that took place in Texas has hugely impacted manufacturers’ ability to produce paint as the storm reduced the state’s capacity to refine petroleum, and many frozen pipe damages occurred at industry manufacturing plants.
Paint supply chain Sherwin-Williams and others are releasing their financial findings from Q1. ICIS has recently reported, “Sherwin-Williams said that inflation in commodities takes about a quarter or so to be felt, so they expect significant raw material inflation in Q2, expecting it to be the highest of the year.” Sherwin-Williams will be taking further pricing actions if the raw material costs remain at these elevated levels, CEO John Morikis stated in the company’s Q1 2021 earnings call.
With national inflation rising and price increases in our materials, we at MTS will be absorbing the basic increases for our existing scheduled (contracted) customers. Please be aware, if we have to upgrade products because of lack of supply, or reschedule and purchase at increased costs, we will probably have to discuss additional costs with our customers.
With this information, we kindly ask for your continued patience and understanding. If you would like to request an estimate or have questions about your scheduled job please contact us! We always do our best to be fair and professional in our bidding.
The MTS team & family would like to thank you for your loyalty, support, and fortitude through these new and ever-changing times. We truly appreciate you, and we are blessed to serve the community!
