We're not perfect!

Every company makes a mistake from time to time, but how you handle it is what set's you apart. This is a TV / Liquor Rack for a restaurant package we completed and shipped near Washington DC. We do this finish on a regular basis without flaw, but we tried a new clear coat this time that was "supposed" to be better all the way around.  We call this finish "Black Patina". When the customer wants an industrial look, but doesn't necessarily want to see all of the grinder marks, we mix a patina in with our clear lacquer so that it tints it. We've done this finish 100's of times with zero complications.

Well, this time we tried a new clear and it didn't work like we had hoped. What really stinks is that we didn't find out that it didn't work until the job had been installed 1,000 miles away.

So, did we test the finish before coating all of the metal on this job? Of course we did. We shot it on scrap metal, tried to scratch it etc... to see how it would hold up. What we didn't do was bang on it to see how it would chip. Chipping usually isn't an issue, it's how well does it hold up to scratching, abrasion etc... The worst thing that happens typically is feet scratching foot railing around the bar.

The finish looked perfect, felt great and didn't seem to scratch any worse than our prior clear. But, if you bang it hard enough, it chips and releases in large chunks. It's like it formed a hard shell, but didn't grab the metal. So we wrapped it super well like we always do, because it has a long journey before reaching it's destination.

How did it make there with no issues? How did the installers unwrap it, move it around without banging and noticing it? Not sure, but it didn't chip until they went to screw it in and sleeve it together. It's such a large piece that it had to be built in two sections in order to lift it into place. By the time they had it up and sleeved it together, is when it started to chip around the edges. This is when the installers decided to just go ahead and install it anyway. Their thoughts... "It's to heavy to mess with and it can be fixed in position".

Note: These are contracted installers by the millwork provider, (our customer). They are very professional and perform installs like this all the time. Nothing in this situation was their fault, they did their job just fine.

We get the call from the millwork provider that our finish is chipping off in large chunks. They send us some pictures and we're totally blown away with what it's doing. We've never seen this finish do that before. Remember that we've done this finish 100's of times on all sorts of products. So, we immediately spray the finish on some metal exactly like we did on that job. We let it cure and we start to bang on it. It does exactly like it did on the photos. MAN! Well this is just great! Now what do we do?

Note: The foot-railing and upper rack is what was damaged. It was just the areas where the sleeves were, as well as where the bolts to screw the foot-railing to the floor were.

They need to load the liquor on the rack and start staff training in 1 week. How are we going to get this fixed and looking perfect by then?

Thank god the installers had to come back in a few days to finish up something else. So we built new foot-railing and had it shipped there within 3 days. But what about the rack, it's installed and is quite large. Do we drive or fly there and fix it ourselves? We would have to leave the next day to make sure we had time to do it correctly. Well of course our lead finisher is leaving for vacation and he's the only one we trust to make this look right.

Long story short, we spend the next 5 hours looking up and calling painters and faux finishers in a 75 mile radius. We found a very talented master faux finisher 1 hour away that was willing to come work on a Sunday while no one was there. We had to overnight another type of patina and the clear that we normally use to him.

He spent about 5 hours on Sunday sanding, rubbing patina and brushing on the clear. He did a great job and was a pleasure to work with. You couldn't tell there were any issues at all. The restaurant owner and our millwork customer were happy.

It's been months since that job and everything is holding up perfectly.

We learned our lesson when it comes to trying a new finish. Make sure you test it to the fullest extent. Just because it's a well known brand and the salesman guarantee's you that it's a superior product, doesn't mean it'll work for your application. We mix patina into the clear before shooting it. Now we know that some clears don't want to be mixed with this patina, they loose their ability to adhere. The clear we've used for years has worked just fine. IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!