Hosts: Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete
(NOTE: Timestamps below correspond to the running time of the downloadable audio file of this show. Text represents a professional transcriptionist’s understanding of what was said. No guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. ‘Ph’ in parentheses indicates the phonetic or best guess of the actual spoken word.)
BEGIN HOUR 1 TEXT:
(promo/theme song)
TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: This is a very special edition of The Money Pit coming to you from the floor of the 2007 National Hardware Show in Orlando, Florida. This is where thousands of exhibitors come to showcase the newest and the best products that their companies have to offer.
LESLIE: Yeah, this is the final step to getting those products to a store near you. Hundreds of the top brass in retail and wholesale are scouring the 50 acres of show space to decide what products will make it onto store shelves in a neighborhood store near you.
TOM: And you can’t be here but we can. So we’re here to learn about the techniques, the tools, the tips, the trends that you’re going to see on store shelves, if you are a home improvement enthusiast, over the next year or so. This hour you get to hear about these products first. Do you feel like you need to spend more time taking care of your yard?
LESLIE: Always.
TOM: Well, lots of do but we just don’t have the time. We’re going to tell you about a couple of products that will cut your gardening time down with great results.
LESLIE: And also ahead, we’re going to have the latest trends in home improvement. In fact, what are you willing to spend money on when it comes to spending for your home improvement dollars?
TOM: All of this …
LESLIE: We’re going to tell you all that.
TOM: All of this coming up today on The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. It’s home repair because we care. If you want to participate, call us now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Or join us online at MoneyPit.com.
First up, one of the quickest and easiest ways to give your house a fresh new look is paint. And our guest, Hans Mugler is the president and publisher of Paint Dealer magazine.
LESLIE: Now, I want to call him Hans. Is it Hans?
HANS: Yes. (Tom chuckles)
LESLIE: Hans. Hans …
HANS: But I answer to anything.
LESLIE: (chuckling) Hans is going to have some great insight into the tips and trends (Hans laughs) that we’re seeing here at the hardware store. So welcome, Hans.
HANS: Thank you very much for having me.
LESLIE: Well, my big question is – I mean there are so many types of paints out there; types that are manufactured for specific rooms, for specific conditions. What are the consumers really asking for or demanding from their paints? Is it durability? Is it coverage? Is it low VOCs?
HANS: You led me right into it. It’s all of that.
LESLIE: All of the above?
HANS: Low VOC is huge right now. Green – anything that you can do that’s green for your home today.
LESLIE: And we’re not talking the color.
HANS: No, no. But green colors are great, too. (Leslie chuckles) Green products are fantastic out there right now and there are so many low-VOC products that consumers need them in their houses, they want them in their houses. No one likes to paint their house inside and walk around and smell that new paint smell for months, you know?
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Mm-hmm. For days and days and days.
TOM: Hans, let’s talk about VOC. That’s volatile organic compounds. And these actually used to be something that you wanted in paint because it added to the durability, the usability of the paint. So it was really a technical challenge for manufacturers to find out how to continue to produce paint that had the same qualities in terms of durability and applicability but be able to make it safer for the environment. What kind of a job are they doing?
HANS: They’re doing a phenomenal job. There virtually isn’t a paint manufacturer today that isn’t making a low-VOC paint. It’s a priority for them. People are screaming for them. And the government’s getting more and more – you know, cracking down every year on more, you know, lead-free products, lower VOC products. So, if you could paint your house and not smell the paint, you’re doing well. (Tom chuckles)
LESLIE: Do you think that that’s going to replace pretty much all paints on the market; everything is eventually going to be low-VOC?
HANS: I think it’s a good trend because I think it’s all linked to green. That ecological approach to keeping everything good for the environment; good for man, good for pets, good for plants. That kind of thing’s not going to go away.
LESLIE: Well, if you don’t have any consumers, nobody’s going to buy. (laughing)
HANS: That’s right. (laughing) But I mean you can see everything from – I mean it’s such a buzz these days. It’s not just green, let’s do it, let’s keep it a little niche. No.
TOM: Right.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
HANS: The companies are jumping in with both feet and they’re making great strides.
TOM: Let’s talk about some of the biggest mistakes that you see consumers make. I imagine with your paint dealers all over the country you really do serve as the expert advisor on the street; the local guy that you can get a [question and answer to] (ph) if you have a paint problem. What do you see as the biggest mistakes consumers are making when they pick up a paint brush?
HANS: Well, I mean first off it starts even before they pick up the paint brush. It’s going and getting the products. And consumers frequently will go out; they have a job that they think is going to be expensive – to paint their house inside or out or a project. And they’ll go to get the cheapest products they can find. Automatically there’s …
LESLIE: Which is a huge mistake.
HANS: Huge …
TOM: Right.
HANS: You couldn’t start worse. You might as well just not do the project.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Well, especially with a product like paint where the labor is really the big part of it. So, you know, you want to really invest in good quality materials because it is so expensive.
HANS: Absolutely.
TOM: Either personally or if you’re paying a painter, the labor’s what costs the money.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Well and also, with lower quality paint you might end up having to apply two, three, four coats …
HANS: Absolutely.
LESLIE: … to achieve the same coverage.
HANS: There’s plenty of great paints out there. If you pay the price for paint, you won’t have to do your job again anytime soon. So don’t think that little $16 gallon of paint’s going to do your good job. You’re going to use five or six of those gallons compared to one gallon of, say, $30 paint. You know?
LESLIE: Which isn’t that huge.
TOM: Because you don’t get the coverage.
HANS: Absolutely.
TOM: Right.
HANS: You don’t get the coverage. It wears poorly. When you go to wash it off – kids drew on it; you go to wash it off, it all comes off on your sponge.
LESLIE: Comes off on the sponge.
HANS: I mean there are serious problems with slacker products. And I think the industry has turned to better quality products. That’s where our magazine comes in. We go to international paint stores and paint dealers across the country. These independents, they are the backbone of the paint industry.
TOM: Right.
HANS: And they – they’re based on customer service. They’re based on premium products. The best paints, the best brushes, the best prep tools. That’s how you do a good paint job.
TOM: You’re listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, coming to you live from the floor of the 2007 National Hardware Show in Orlando, Florida. We’re talking to Hans Mugler. He is the publisher of Paint Dealer magazine.
Now, I understand you guys had an award that you just gave for Paint Dealer of the Year.
HANS: Correct.
TOM: Who is the star?
HANS: Well, it’s our second year. We have awarded Jones Paint and Glass out of Provo, Utah; some fantastic people. Built their business on customer integrity, customer service, loyalty.
LESLIE: That’s great.
HANS: They’re employees go to work for them and don’t come – you know, don’t go anywhere else. They just stay there. Yeah.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Don’t ever leave. That’s good.
HANS: So we – they get our award today. We’re actually doing the presentation at 3:00. We’ve got a couple of runners-up for the award. And we did this last year for the first time. We’ve got about twice, almost three times as many people registered for it this year. So we’re absolutely thrilled. We just thought it was time to bring an award to an industry …
TOM: Why not?
HANS: … that wasn’t handing out awards.
TOM: Why not? And why not reward the guys that are doing the job.
HANS: Absolutely.
TOM: So …
LESLIE: And the paint is really making such a huge impact in design and it really can make or break the style of a home or a room and …
HANS: Sure.
LESLIE: … you know, I’ve always felt that a colorful is much better than a white room because it really is a wonderful palette. But what about color trends? What are we seeing sort of emerging as new colors?
HANS: Well, if you had just read our latest issue of Paint Dealer magazine (laughter) …
TOM: Available online?
HANS: … we just had a color forecast. And it is available online; www.PaintDealer.com. Quick plug that’s cheap and easy.
LESLIE: (chuckling) That’s alright. You’re allowed.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Why not?
HANS: The trend right now, again, is low-VOCs and green ecological paints. But we’ve got a hot trend right now. Out of ICI Paints is masculine pink. That’s their big color of the year.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Masculine pink. (chuckling)
LESLIE: But those are two contradicting words.
HANS: I know but – you know? And I know your listeners can’t do it but if they walked over to ICI’s booth right now they’d see them all wearing masculine pink. (Tom chuckles) It’s a very light, mellow shade of pink.
LESLIE: Are we talking for all walls or an accent color?
HANS: Accents or walls. (Leslie chuckles) It doesn’t make a difference. It’s how you use it. You know? And it’s going to change every year. But we’re seeing more browns and earth tones, things like that. I mean it’s – the paint spectrum changes every year. Lots of people try different things and see what works. And again, if you go to the east coast or the west coast, you’re going to have different trends out there. And …
LESLIE: Oh, absolutely.
TOM: I can just see us trying to explain this to our guy friends in the men den, you know?
HANS: (laughing) Exactly. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: So, how you like those walls? That’s masculine pink. (laughing)
HANS: That’s right, that’s right. (Leslie laughs) We in the Midwest are a little bit less extreme.
TOM: Yeah.
HANS: We don’t go to extremes at the east or west coast. So …
LESLIE: No, like we have shades of white. (laughing)
TOM: That’s right.
HANS: Absolutely. Many shades of white. (Tom laughs) But color is big. Anytime you can put a splash of color in without having to use wallpaper – which is a very hard product to use – paint is easy.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
HANS: And we promote – we promote the heck out of it because it is an easy product to use.
LESLIE: Well and paint is easy to change. It’s the quickest big bang for your buck if you’re …
HANS: Absolutely.
LESLIE: I mean looking at the TV shows I work on, you add a splash of paint and all of a sudden it’s a completely different atmosphere.
HANS: You have a different room, different atmosphere, different feel.
LESLIE: You could put everything back exactly the same way …
HANS: (chuckling) That’s right.
LESLIE: … but paint those walls and it’s a whole different environment.
HANS: Sure.
TOM: Hans Mugler, publisher of Paint Dealer magazine. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
LESLIE: Thanks, Hans.
HANS: Thanks for having me.
TOM: Great job.
LESLIE: Well alright, folks. You are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com and we are coming to you direct from the 2007 National Hardware Store in Orlando, Florida.
TOM: Up next, what trends are driving the marketplace? We’ll find out about smart homes, outdoor living and the latest colors in home d
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