Paint shortage puts home improvement projects on hold



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CAPE CORAL, Florida – If you’re looking to spruce up a room with a fresh coat of paint, you might want to hit pause on this project.

Painting is very hard to find right now and it’s not just here in Southwest Florida.

“I went to North Fort Myers, then to Southwest Cape,” said Joe Mulhern of Proper Painting. “I ended up having to hit Home Depot on Pine Island.”

Mulhern, better known to his clients as Joe the Painter, can’t get his hands on the essential tool he needs for his job: painting.

“Calling every story like ‘Hey, let me know. Let me know, ”Mulhern said.

Big manufacturers like PPG and Sherwin-Williams blame a rare February deep freeze in Texas, associated with Hurricane Ida, of impacting their chemical plants.

See PPG’s statement below:

“A number of global suppliers were affected by the weather events in February and the ensuing loss of energy supply in Texas and other states in the southern United States, as well as the recent impacts of the weather. hurricane Ida. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in demand in some of the markets we serve due to increased consumer demand for our paint products for home renovations. PPG continues to take an aggressive approach to securing materials and carriers to minimize the impact on our customers. ”

Greta Edgar, PPG Communications Manager

Sherwin-Williams, who also makes Valspar, said the COVID-19 pandemic was on top of issues such as supply chain disruptions.

See Sherwin-Williams’ statement below:

“In an already contested supply chain due to COVID-19, the February natural disaster in Texas again impacted the complex petrochemical network, causing significant disruption. These production disruptions, together with strong architectural and industrial demand, put pressure on the supply of raw materials and quickly pushed up prices. Recovery from the disaster is still incomplete. More recently, Hurricane Ida hit chemical facilities in Louisiana, putting additional pressure on the supply chain and the availability of raw materials. The rate at which capacity returns and supply becomes more robust remains uncertain. We have been very proactive in managing supply chain disruptions to minimize the impact on our customers. “

Julie Young, Sherwin-Williams Vice President of Global Corporate Communications

Leonel Ferrer, co-owner of Royal Blue Painting Contractor, said he currently has six homes awaiting painting.

No painting means no work, and no work means no money.

“If we don’t get the paint, we can’t continue,” he said. “We cannot continue to work. I actually had three guys who quit and now they work in the restaurant.

Ferrer is so desperate that he got in the saddle and drove over two hours to refuel what is becoming like some kind of rare gem.

“I drove to Tampa about a month ago to get 85 gallons of paint,” he said.

Painting professionals are not the only ones struggling. Residents trying to cool down a room should display the supplies. That’s all because the painting supplies just aren’t there.

“These shelves are usually full of paint,” said Brandon Lepe of A&E Painting Centers in Cape Coral.

On Tuesday, A&E paint centers were full of empty places on their shelves.

“Most of these shelves here that are empty are the ones we can’t get,” Lepe said.

While the shelves may appear to be full of paint, Lepe said what they have in store is nothing.

“This is probably the most we’ve seen in stock for quite some time,” he said. “We get pallets and they came out pretty much the next day. “

Interior paints are hard to fight right now, including satin and matte finishes being rare to spot on shelves.

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