Aussie Painting Contractor June 2017

Elevated Lead Levels

Found in Sydney Backyards

Technology...

Its disrupting your State of Flow

Registration Victorian Painting & Decorating Delegate!

And drive off into the sunset

Transform a Room with Texture!

www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

CONTRIBUTORS • Angela Smith • Caroline Miall • Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Monroe Porter • Nigel Gorman • Robert Bauman • Sandra Price

EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall

From the Editor Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine.

What a whirlwind year it’s been so far, highlighted even more by 2017’s looming half-way mark and the fast-approaching end of financial year already. APN’s training is travelling well and keeping us uber-busy; and we figure we must be doing it right because the numbers of apprentices continues to grow almost daily! With the collapse of yet another training provider, Careers Australia, in the past week, it highlights how important it is to have the backing of a solid RTO like we have in MIBT. As usual, this month we look at some of the latest news and big issues affecting the industry in Australia, as well as more ways to fine tune your precious time and balance your workload.

Inside you’ll read about the Victorian Building Authority having a licence class for painters introduced late last year that seems to have escaped the attention of many; some startling results for Sydney vegetable gardens found to have elevated lead in the soil; Queensland’s increase occurring in the Home Warranty Insurance Scheme; and the long talked about Sherwin-Williams acquisition of Valspar is finally going ahead. So, a jam-packed month of news and information for everyone to get on top of things in readiness for the new financial year.

As always, if you are needing assistance just contact us or one of our professional writers who offer their invaluable advice.

If you have a story that you think might be of interest, let us know so we can check it out and share with all the industry.

I hope you enjoy this month’s mag.

Until next month,

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Happy Painting!!

J. Anne Delgado Nigel Gorman

nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

07 3555 8010

Contents Finding Beauty in Every Freakin’ Moment, No matter what...

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11 Technology Is Disrupting Your “State Of Flow”... HERE’S WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT Too Much Work, TOO FEW PEOPLE

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16 DELEGATE… Before driving off into the sunset Racing against time?

The ‘French’ and their Smoking Lifestyle

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Victorian Painting and Decorating Registration What Makes a Great Bookkeeper

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SHERWIN-WILLIAMS 36 ACQUISITION OF VALSPAR

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Elevated Lead Levels in Sydney Backyards Here’s what you can do...

Qld Home Warranty 26 Insurance Scheme Update Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms

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31 People with creative personalities really do see the world differently...

ADD TEXTURE for a Terrific Room Transformation

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Industry Idiots

46

Important Contacts

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Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission.

Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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1800 355 344 07 3555 8010 info@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

www.aussiepaintingcontractor.com

Finding Beauty in Every Freakin’ Moment, No matter what...

How often are we anxious, frustrated, looking forward to something coming up, unhappy with ourselves, unhappy with others?

How often are we not happy with what’s going on in this present moment?

What if we could, instead, be completely in love with this moment?

What if, no matter what happened, we could find the beauty, joy, and gratitude in the moment as it happens?

Let’s make it so.

Those are hard things. In fact, if we contemplate some of these horrible situations, it doesn’t take much to see that the smaller problems of our daily lives don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Given these kinds of difficulties (and more), how can I talk about finding beauty in the present moment?

The problem isn’t the situation. We’ll always face difficult situations in life, some dire and drastic, others small and irritating, but we can’t rid our lives of difficulty, pain and struggle.

Rejecting the Experience

The problem is that we reject whatever we face. It’s not good enough, it’s not wanted, it’s not welcome. I don’t want it that way … I want it that way.

There are lots of very good reasons to reject our current experience:

That’s the problem: we reject the parts of our experience we don’t like, and wish for ideals instead.

1. We have too much to do, and it is overwhelming.

2. We have been hurt by someone else.

3. We have deep doubts about ourselves, and wish we could be different.

4. The situation is filled with uncertainty and fear.

5. Someone is being inconsiderate and rude.

6. There is injustice in the world.

7. We are faced with discrimination, racism, sexism, prejudice, ignorance.

8. We are poor, deeply in debt, struggling.

9. We are lonely, alone, with no prospects of finding a partner.

10. We are in pain.

11. We have chronic pain or a terminal illness.

Again … we can’t rid our lives of pain and difficulty. The problem isn’t the external situation, which will always be less than ideal. If we wish for an ideal life, free of our problems, we’ll be wishing until we die.

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Given that we’ll never have the ideal situation … can we make the most of what we’ve been given?

Can we stop rejecting the gift of the life we’ve been given, and find beauty in it instead?

Let’s see how.

Finding Beauty in Pain What good is there in someone angry with us, and us angry with them? How can we find joy in something as sucky as that?

Try this: 1. Pause, and notice how your body is feeling.

2. Stay with the feeling in your body with curiosity.

3. Welcome the feeling. Invite it to tea.

4. See that you are both suffering through pain, difficulty, fear, and tenderness in this moment.

See that you’re connected through your pain and tenderness.

5. Make a wish for relief of difficulty: “May I find peace. May they also find peace.” In this way, you are finding compassion for yourself, which is beautiful … and compassion for the other human being, which is also beautiful. It shifts you from worried about your self-concern, to wanting to ease the pain of the both of you.

6. Find gratitude for what you do have: you are alive, you are connected with other human beings, you can love and appreciate flowers, music, the clouds and the gentle breeze and sunlight.

2017 June Issue | 7

䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀

倀䄀䤀一吀䔀刀匀 䄀爀攀 礀漀甀 挀漀瘀攀爀攀搀㼀

䐀漀 礀漀甀 眀愀渀琀 琀漀 搀攀愀氀 眀椀琀栀 愀渀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 琀栀愀琀 栀愀猀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 愀瘀愀椀氀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 挀漀猀琀ⴀ攀û攀挀琀椀瘀攀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀 琀爀愀搀椀攀猀㼀

䄀甀猀猀椀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 一攀琀眀漀爀欀 栀愀猀 渀攀最漀琀椀愀琀攀搀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 瀀漀猀猀椀戀氀攀 挀漀瘀攀爀 昀漀爀 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀ 䌀漀渀琀愀挀琀 甀猀 搀椀爀攀挀琀氀礀 昀漀爀 洀漀爀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀琀椀漀渀 愀渀搀 琀漀 最攀琀 礀漀甀爀 挀漀瘀攀爀 琀漀搀愀礀℀

吀栀攀 猀攀挀甀爀椀琀礀 昀漀爀 琀栀椀猀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀 椀猀 瀀氀愀挀攀搀 瘀椀愀 䰀氀漀礀搀猀 漀昀 䰀漀渀搀漀渀 愀猀 眀攀氀氀 愀猀 漀琀栀攀爀 䄀甀猀琀爀愀氀椀愀渀 愀甀琀栀漀爀椀猀攀搀 椀渀猀甀爀攀爀猀⸀

8 | Aussie Painters Network

goodness that is in us and everything around us.

We become fully present with an open heart, in full surrender to everything we experience. We reject nothing, and embrace everything.

Every moment, even the most painful, have some kind of beauty, even if it is the simple fact that you are connected to all others who are in pain.

You can feel the tenderness of your heart under your fear frustration and pain, and this tenderness is connected to all other human hearts.

Everyone, around the world, has this good, tender heart too. This connection to human lives is beautiful.

Every moment is filled with learning, with strength, with love underneath the fear.

Yes, if you are unsafe, get yourself to safety as an act of love for yourself.

But you don’t have to have hatred in your heart for the sonofabitch who has hurt you. They are suffering too, and though you don’t have to put up with their abuse, you can wish them peace, for the sake of the peace of your own heart. Take care of yourself, and that includes moving from fear and hatred to love and compassion.

Yes, if you are in constant pain, this is not easy. No one is claiming pain is easy. Who signed up for an easy life? By taking on your pain with patience, forbearance and strength, you are a shining example of love for all others. By taking on this pain, you are developing a capacity

to help others with their pain. By taking in pain, you can find a place of joy in the midst of pain, a place of joy you can share with others.

Take the pain and turn it into art, into caring for others, into a heartrending song of life.

The Commitment to Live Fully When we reject pain, sorrow, anger and loss … we are saying we don’t want all of our lives. We only want the good parts.

What I’m suggesting is that we fully engage with each and every moment. We don’t run, reject or avoid.

We embrace life fully.

We live fully in the groundlessness of our uncertainty and loss, the groundlessness of our anger and sorrow, the groundlessness of our pain. Instead of wishing for a stable, perfect moment … we learn to love the groundlessness and uncertainty of the moment we actually have.

We allow ourselves to fully feel whatever we’re feeling, without rejecting it, seeing this groundless tenderness as the enlightened energy of our lives.

We see this tenderness in our heart, in the midst of groundlessness, as

We see everything as the path to joy and beauty. Everything is filled with goodness, if only we learn to see it as such. If we don’t see it, we only need to look closer.

We see every difficulty as our teacher. Every struggle has a lesson, every loss is a master class in becoming open and letting go of attachment, every pain is a way to touch our tender hearts. Any struggle and any difficult person is a teacher, if we embrace them as such.

Whenever we find ourselves wishing something were different … we use this as a touchstone to coming back to the moment and being fully with it, not rejecting it. Coming back and finding the beauty and goodness. Coming back and seeing this as our teacher.

When we begin to live each moment fully, we start to open up to a vast spacious awareness and beauty. It’s as if we wake up out of a dream to see the incredible mountains that have been in front of us the entire time.

It’s love, this thing in front of us.

We just need to step fully into it, and feel the heart-breaking beauty of this love that we call life.

Leo Babauta

a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog,

ZEN HABITS

2017 June Issue | 9

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Technology Is Disrupting Your

“State Of Flow”...

HERE’S WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT Over the years technology has crept its way into our everyday business and life activities… and personally, I am not complaining!

Technology opens trade business owners, like you and I, up to new and exciting opportunities. When the latest technology software platforms are combined with portable devices (e.g. mobile phone and tablets), activities such as accounting, invoices and managing clients have never been easier!

Despite all these benefits, such heavy use of technology has led to some bad, often counterproductive habits. These habits are interrupting our “state of flow” (YES! It’s an actual thing) leading to work tasks that take triple the time. Here are 3 of the MOST common issues with technology, and my tips to overcome them.

HABIT #1: Exchanging A Messy Desk For A Messy Desktop Whilst technology reduces the amount of paper strewn all over your desk, it can often lead to virtual paper chaos on your desktop. Just as a cluttered desk produces a confused mind, so does a messy desktop!

I have two words to overcome this, FINALISE and FILE! This means at the end of everyday, finalise where you are at in your work and file it

correctly. No excuses… This small effort daily will save you hours of stressful file searching later.

HABIT #2: Replying To Emails As They Hit Your Inbox No doubt as the owner of a painting business, you are bombarded with emails from customers (not to mention that pesky spam). It can seriously get out of hand!

Since it is so satisfying to have a clean inbox, it becomes tempting to action emails as they arrive.

However, by doing this you are interrupting your thought processes on other activities, disturbing your “state of flow”, leading to a serious lack of productivity.

To overcome this habit, turn off your email notifications permanently and designate set times to check your email. Perhaps first thing in the morning, after lunch and last thing as you finish for the day.

To be completely honest, if a matter is urgent, the person will call!

HABIT #3: Easily Distracted I am sure that your life long goal is not to be caught up working everyday (in fact, that’s why we created Lifestyle Tradie, to teach tradies how to avoid this!). That said, work isn’t always where you want to be

and as a result it is SO easy to get distracted.

When you’re working you need to be present… Not just physically present, your mind needs to be connected to the task at hand.

Which means resisting the urge to access Facebook, read the paper online and use your favourite apps (Solitaire anyone!?).

If you struggle to resist the urge while you are doing admin or finishing off that painting job, put your mobile phone in a different room, turn it on silent, switch off the Internet when tasks don’t require it, and remain in your “state of flow”.

By doing either of these things, you are able to focus solely on the job at hand and smash it out of the park in probably half of the time it would normally take you.

The technology available to painters can do wonders for their productivity… if it is used in the right way! We discuss the technology must haves for all trade businesses at ‘The Future Tradie’ live events.

If you want to know more, CLICK HERE for tickets and come along!

Angela Smith

Co-founder – Lifestyle Tradie “Helping Trade Business Owners FastTrack Financial & Lifestyle Success”

2017 June Issue | 11

Too Much Work,

TOO FEW PEOPLE

Having a lot of work but not having enough people to get it done creates mixed emotions. It is a little like watching your ex-wife or exhusband total your favorite car you had to give up during the divorce.

To succeed, you have to rethink your strategy and adapt to the market place.

First, calculate how much work you can get done per day or week with your current crew and work backwards. Determine how much a crew can bill per day, multiply it by the number of crews and then see how much income you can produce.

There is an old joke about the two butcher shops on the same street.

One butcher shop has hamburger for $1.99 a pound but it is out of hamburger. Needing hamburger, a buyer walks into the other butcher shop to buy hamburger but notes it is $2.99 a lb. The buyer complains about it being more. The butcher replies, “Well, my hamburger is also $1.99 when I don’t have any.” Supply and demand drives capitalism. If you can’t get the

12 | Aussie Painters Network

work done because there is a shortage of good craftsman, it is time to rethink prices.

probably find it necessary to have gross profit in the job to offset production decreases.

This brings up the whole concept of when should a contractor reevaluate prices and pricing strategy. The honest truth is that too many contractors are so busy working they don’t take the time to reevaluate pricing. Prices tend to be low in the spring when many contractors are starving from a slow winter. As the cheap springers fill their belly with work, you should begin to get work and adjust prices accordingly. Prices should also be adjusted to reflect the complexity of work, the overall risk, proximity to your shop, experience in this type of work and other production factors. Prices should never be a factor of simple broad square footage average. If I had one foot on a hot stove and one foot in a bucket of ice water, on average I would feel ok. When your backlog reaches a certain point, you should raise prices. Remember, production will drop as you add more and more people who are less qualified as your current workforce. You will

Next, rethink your concept of training and developing people. All contractors want to hire readymade employees that are plug and play but that is unrealistic in today’s economy. Most good employees are employed by someone else and are not looking for a job, if they are, they will probably not be loyal employees and will leave when offered more money.

Understand that much of contracting is repetitive. Yes, to be a master craftsperson or foreman, you have to know lots of complex skills and be good at them. However, if you can’t teach someone in a few hours how to nail a row of shingles or paint a wall with a roller, they are never going to learn how. Hire people who can learn such skills and train them on how to fit into your crew. See a guy working hard behind a fast food restaurant counter; hire and put them to work.

2017 June Issue | 13

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Change your employment culture and outlook towards recruiting. Do you have an application on line on your webpage? Do you constantly advertise with online services? Is your culture one of hiring people who will work hard and teach them a trade? Doing the same old, same old is likely to get the same results.

Always look for potential employees the same way you are always looking for jobs.

Put your production hat on. If you have more work than you can do, maybe it is time for you, as owner, salesperson or project manager to help production. It doesn’t do

any good to sell it if you can’t get it done. Work harder at getting jobs set up, minimizing shop, drive time and anything else that will allow you to get more done. Rained this week and with only one day of production? Maybe you can have one large crew. But unless you are willing to help manage the job and coordinate the effort, it is doubtful the job will be productive. Think and be creative. However, remember that some humans can run a 4 minute mile but you can’t ask them to do it over and over or back to back. There is a limit to how much production you can micro manage and squeeze out of your crews.

Contracting can be a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.

Without work, you don’t need employees. Without employees, you can’t do the work. Finding balance can be tough. Work harder at solutions rather than just complaining about the problem.

Monroe Porter

is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors. Several Aussie painting contractors travel to the US each year to participate in his programs.

www.proofman.com

2017 June Issue | 15

DELEGATE…

Before driving off into the sunset If you’ve found yourself running out of time in your business, then the next logical step is to delegate some business tasks to someone who can do it for you. In last month’s article “Are you racing against time?” we’ve recommended that you do a time audit for yourself first and find out how you actually spend your time and on what activities.

Now that you’ve done that, and if you have staff, you will want to ask your employees to do a similar time audit. It’s really important that you get a good understanding of how much time is spent on each task by each person in your business. Make sure you categorise each activity under the three main categories Sales & Marketing, Production and Finance. Then ask your staff to use additional activity headers under the respective categories for the specific area of work that you’ve delegated to them already, eg administration, filing, customer service, communications, purchasing, quoting, invoicing etc.

Before making any decisions about delegating work to others who can help you, I want you to take a step

16 | Aussie Painters Network

back though and look at the bigger picture. For starters, look at your business performance over the last couple of years. Look at your Profit & Loss statements, your profit margins and your overhead cost structure.

When you examine these numbers, ask yourself if that’s the sort of outcome you were aiming for when you first went into business.

Life and business are always changing, and so can your goals and aspirations over time. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find when you analyse your numbers, or you may feel that the results are falling way short of your goals.

In any case, this is the time to reflect and renew your personal and business goals, before making any decisions for your business. Ask yourself why you went into business in the first place, whether you are still happy with your business, the way it’s running and whether you still love what you do.

Then move on to reviewing your personal goals and bring them in line with your current reality, ie

you might have a new family member to feed and support, which will inevitably require changes to your time schedule. On the other hand, you might have a situation where you have additional family responsibilities that you want to fit in, or simply get to a point where you have more time to spend on yourself rather than your business, the list goes on.

There is no right or wrong here, you just need to be honest when answering the questions you’re asking yourself about what you want to achieve in life, and how your business can help you do that.

The next step is to set some targets for your business performance to match your personal goals. Work out what your business bottom line should be to support your ambitions. From this new platform, you can begin to re-calibrate your business and decide which part of your business activities are best to delegate to give you more time to work ON your business.

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圀攀 愀爀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 眀漀爀欀椀渀最 眀椀琀栀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 琀漀 椀洀瀀爀漀瘀攀 琀栀攀 椀渀搀甀猀琀爀礀⸀ 夀漀甀 爀攀挀攀椀瘀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀愀漀渀 搀攀猀椀最渀攀搀 琀漀 愀猀猀椀猀琀 椀渀 愀搀瘀愀渀挀椀渀最 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 瀀爀愀挀挀挀攀猀 愀渀搀 洀愀椀渀琀愀椀渀椀渀最 愀 栀椀最栀 搀攀最爀攀攀 漀昀 瀀爀漀昀攀猀猀椀漀渀愀氀椀猀洀⸀ 圀攀 欀攀攀瀀 瀀愀椀渀渀渀最 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 甀瀀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 甀瀀 琀漀 搀愀琀攀 漀渀 琀栀攀 氀愀琀攀猀琀 最漀瘀攀爀渀洀攀渀琀 氀攀最椀猀氀愀愀瘀攀 挀栀愀渀最攀猀 眀栀椀氀猀琀 愀猀猀椀猀猀渀最 礀漀甀 椀渀 爀甀渀渀椀渀最 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 眀椀琀栀 瀀猀 愀渀搀 琀爀椀挀欀猀 琀漀

匀䄀嘀䔀 夀伀唀 䴀伀一䔀夀℀

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Working On your business typically includes systemising your activities, or writing a procedure or a position description for someone to whom you can delegate certain tasks. It can also include developing new products or services, engaging with your customers, developing a new marketing strategy around this, or putting in place better technology, if your systems are a bit outdated.

Any investments you are making, be that time or money, should all contribute to re-calibrating your business to achieve your new personal goals and business targets.

Sometimes, business owners ask me why I recommend to take this seemingly roundabout pathway, rather than just focusing on creating efficiencies for your business

to boost your bottom line. The overwhelming reason for this is what I call ‘straight talk in life and business.’ If you’re no longer happy working in your business, because it might have taken on a life of its own, rather than the one you’ve envisioned, then the most important job for you is to recognise this and get back into the driver’s seat.

Without being straight with yourself first, you’ll just end up in a place where you probably don’t want to be… and that can be detrimental to you, your health and your life, even if your business is making money.

If you are stuck for tools or templates to do this, just contact our office on 07 3399 8844 and we can help you out.

If you have any questions on how to increase your profits or prepare your business for sale, feel free to arrange a FREE No-Obligation Meeting with me. Just visit our new website at www.straighttalkat.com.au and complete your details on our Home page to request an appointment.

Copyright © 2017 Robert Bauman.

Call Us: (07) 3399 8844 2017 June Issue | 19

The ‘French’ and their Smoking Lifestyle My only personal experience with smoking was a few I had when I was fifteen, one of them being an ‘Old Port Colts’, Rum flavoured, wine dipped cigar. I clearly remember I was only an ‘inhale, hold it in my mouth for a few seconds, then exhale’ type of smoker. The smoke never touched my lungs as I couldn’t manage to breathe it in fully. It seemed a ‘cool’ thing to do at the time, but after those few ciggies it made me sick and put me off them completely. They have never touched my mouth since.

By my calculations, if I hadn’t stopped 48 years ago and smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day, I would have had approximately 262,800 cigarettes up to now. If each took about six minutes to smoke, it would add up to exactly three years of non-stop puffing (262,800 multiply by 6mins, divide by 60mins, divide by 24hrs and then divide by 365days).

As we all know, Australia has very strict regulations when it comes to smoking, in fact we are leading the way in dramatically reducing smoking rates in the world with Canada, USA and Britain, up there with us.

But in France, where my wife and I are right now, there is only minimal progress in reducing the trend. We have been here for two weeks now

20 | Aussie Painters Network

and driven approximately 2,500 kilometres through small and large towns (not cities) and everywhere we go, sadly to say, it seems like every second person had a cigarette in their hand. Age doesn’t seem to make any difference either; school age to eighty. The French are seen as probably western Europe’s most addicted nation. There are an estimated 13 million smokers in France from a population of 66 million and they smoke every day. The official statistic for students shows 29% of them smoking regularly so there is clearly a problem with young smokers.

A government study showed some years ago, that France’s male population had the highest level of cancer-related death of any country in the EU and was attributable to the excessive consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco harms the health, the treasury, and the spirit

of France. Every year more than 69,700 of its’ people are killed by tobacco-caused disease.

They have been making the effort to enforce regulations in line with the rest of Europe though but there is still a myth that the French can smoke in all sorts of places. Although smoking is banned inside restaurants, they still light-up and puff away outside. Quite annoying when you wish to have an al-fresco meal or coffee, then people arrive, sit at the next table to you and start smoking. We noticed too that there is an abundant amount of ‘cigarette butt bins’ spread around the towns, so at least the streets are kept fairly tidy. There is a hefty fine if caught littering but I don’t think it is well enforced.

Getting back to Australia, each year smoking kills an estimated 15,000 people and costs the Australian Government $31.5 billion in social (including health) and economic costs. The Australian and State and Territory Governments, through the Council of Australian Governments, have made a commitment by 2018, to reduce the national adult daily smoking rate to 10 percent and halve the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult daily smoking rate (from 47 percent in 2008). To me this is all good news.

Some key facts and figures 1. A study that commenced in 2006 tracked 204,953 people for an average 4.26 years and showed two stand-out results. a) Up to two-thirds of deaths in current smokers were due to smoking and that death rates in former smokers who had quit before turning 45 were not different from those in the study who had never smoked. b) The smokers died on average, ten years earlier than the people that never smoked.

With the life expectancy in Australia at 82.1 years, smokers are losing an average of one day in eight off their lives.

2. 52 percent of people diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis.

The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer that has spread (metastasized) to other areas of the body is 4 percent.

3. Cigarette butts are the most commonly discarded piece of waste worldwide. It is estimated that 1.69 billion pounds of ‘butts’ wind up as toxic trash, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of 177,895 endangered African elephants.

4. People living with mental illness are nearly twice as likely to smoke as other persons 5. Today, lung cancer is the biggest case of cancer death is the world.

It is an epidemic spread by the tobacco industry, facilitated by government inaction. An article in the journal ‘Nature’ in 2001 forecast that a billion deaths will be caused by tobacco this century.

Being an employer, and non-smoker, it had been difficult at times having employees that did smoke. As I had restrictions where they could light up, they would inevitably sneak off for five minutes to have a quick puff. This sometimes added up to twenty to thirty minutes a

day in lost work. One of the problems is that you can’t discriminate them from a non-smoker, but then it is very unfair on the non-smoker as they have to carry on working.

So, what is the answer? Deduct the time off their hours worked, or get them to make up the time lost! In both cases, I think you could get yourself into strife with unfair practice or something just as absurd, so you really must make sure they are good at their work and worth the occasional inconvenience.

-------------------------------------------------If you are considering giving up the smoking habit but find it hard to, contact the Quitline on 13 7848 --------------------------------------------------

Jim Baker www.mytools4business.com 2017 June Issue | 21

22 | Aussie Painters Network

Victorian Painting and Decorating Registration Did you know that there is now Registration available for our Victorian Painters? For those who weren’t aware, there is now a provision for work over $5000 per project, that requires the performance of multiple varied tasks, a Painter may need to register for a license under the Victorian Building Authority.

Under the Victorian Building Authority Practitioner Guide for Domestic Building Work there is a ‘Domestic Building (Limited)’ Registration Class under which class a Painter and Decorator may require registration have a license.

There is an interesting parameter on the licensing in Victoria. If you do only painting you don’t require a license to do that work. Registration is only required if you seek to carry out two or more components of domestic building work under one contract. By ‘other’ work they mean plastering, glazing, carpentry, rendering, tiling or any other type of construction work, you require a license. There are 29 components under the class of Domestic Builder (Limited). That is where we question, what constitutes plastering, glazing, rendering, carpentry, roof tiling, etc.? If you fill a crack or hole using filling compound are you deemed to be doing plastering work? If you are replacing the old putty or broken glass in windows, is it glazing? If you replace pieces of rotten timber, is that considered

carpentry work? If you paint rooves and replace damaged tiles, are you a roofer too?

This is where the issue could get tricky. One of the most contentious, ongoing debates we have from state to state… Do we need registration of the painting trade?

APN are of the belief that licensing is a good thing for our industry.

In addition to safety in regulating work with things like asbestos, lead paint etc., registration can simply separate the professionals from the backyard handymen and women. If you believe in your work ability and warrant your work, you should have nothing to worry about when it comes to licensing. Other states have licensing and it seems to work, even though there are doubters about how well, there is no doubting that it does separate the professionals from the amateurs.

If you are running a painting business and can give your clients the perceived safety-net of a registra-

tion by the Victorian Building Authority, you may find it a distinct advantage to your business when talking to potential clients. It could be the best investment you ever make. If you can assure your client that you are a registered tradesperson, and they have a comparable quote from an unregistered painter, who are they going to choose? You instantly look like a better bet than the tradie who knows nothing at all about registration and ‘just doesn’t need it’.

Perhaps it is about looking good ‘on paper’ but there’s certainly no harm in that. It’s another simple way of marketing your business.

Once in the door, if you are one of the few registered painters in your area you will have a massive advantage over all your competition.

I know who I would choose, how about you?

We have requested further clarification about the Victorian Painters License, and we will follow up in our next edition. For more information on obtaining Registration go to: http://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0008/44549/Domestic-BuilderRegistration-Application-Form.pdf http://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0003/38280/Experience-Statement-Domestic-Building-Limited-Paintingand-Decorating.pdf http://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0007/38329/Technical-RefereeReport-Domestic-Building-Painting-andDecorating.pdf

2017 June Issue | 23

What Makes a Great

BOOKKEEPER

Doing the books on your own can be challenging, and hiring just any bookkeeper just doesn’t cut it.

Nowadays, if you want to be ahead of the curve, you need to work with a GREAT bookkeeper. The question then becomes what is it that makes a bookkeeper great?

It’s healthy to be wary of who you’re going to hire. After all, there are many bookkeepers ready to take the job, but not all of them will fit your business and your personality. Imagine working with someone you don’t particularly sync with, or someone whose values are not aligned with your business. At best, that sounds… flat.

Bookkeeping can then become a tedious chore and important information can be lost among the sea of numbers that flow through your business daily.

24 | Aussie Painters Network

If I could tell you all the stories I know of businesses who’ve lost money because they didn’t hire a great bookkeeper, I’d probably talk your ear off and I’ll make you worry unnecessarily. And that’s just not cricket (or cool). The bottom line is, finding the right bookkeeper is worth investing your time in. It’s okay to be choosy!

How can you set great bookkeepers apart from the rest of the pack?

Here are fundamental traits you need to expect from your bookkeeper if you want your business to be successful: • They ask a lot of questions Think of it this way, you can’t be accurate if you just keep on making as-

sumptions and guesses right? Great bookkeepers won’t hesitate to ask the necessary questions if it means they’ll understand your business better.

Plus, through these questions, you might discover something crucial that you’ve missed or have accounting irregularities that need to be addressed. So the next time your bookkeeper rings you up and ask a sh#t-load of questions, it’s a sign that accuracy is their top priority.

• They want to understand your work process Every great bookkeeper must strive to understand how their clients operate and how work and money flows within the business. This is essential if you want your business to run like a well-oiled machine.

Your bookkeeper can make things far easier and efficient for you, plus bring to attention processes that can be improved. It also helps them with their job, by understanding how the business works.

• They are not afraid to acknowledge what they don’t know Bookkeepers have a range of skills, but it doesn’t mean they know everything. Who does anyway? Of course there are still some people who can’t seem to admit this upfront because they don’t want their clients to think less of them.

That’s just ridonkulous. Instead, your bookkeeper should point you to the right person to ask. This is particularly significant if there are some tax and legal issues involved, and you need to talk with a different expert instead.

• They work hard to stay up to date Businesses constantly change, and bookkeepers should be willing to keep up with the demands these new changes bring. As industries evolve, great bookkeepers keep their fingers on the pulse so that they can revise the processes they are using accordingly. Are there new procedures or new requirements? Have new laws been passed that would affect their clients’ businesses?

Not only that, hire someone who’s going to consider developments in accounting and technology too.

Work with someone who’s going to encourage you to adopt new but effective approaches that he or she has learned so that your business can save some time and money.

• They will actively help you promote your business Having a great bookkeeper means you have someone who’s as invested in your business’ success as you. This means he or she is willing to promote your business whether it’s through referrals, connections or networking. Not many This kind of service isn’t usually offered by everyone, but you’re lucky if you’ll find someone who’s willing to help you achieve your goals.

The list may seem overwhelming but hey, your business deserves the best. As I’ve mentioned before, there are many bookkeepers to choose from, so just remain persistent and keep these attributions in mind.

If you’re serious about taking your business to the next level and you need a great bookkeeper you can trust and be comfortable with, you should give Price Bookkeeping a call today… let’s have a chat and discuss how we can help you.

Sandra Price www.pbks.com.au 2017 June Issue | 25

Qld Home

WARRANTY

Insurance Scheme Update

Insurance premiums for residential construction work in Queensland will increase by 3.5% from 1 July 2017. These increases are regretted however they are essential to ensure the continued sustainability of the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme.

All contractors who paid premiums on behalf of a consumer in the last 2 years will be sent information regarding the increase.

Licensees without a registered email address will receive a letter.

The new premiums are payable on all contracts for residential construction work signed on or after 1 July 2017. Our advice to licensees negotiating a contract before this date is to tell the consumer about both amounts and the date the higher rate applies (1 July 2017).

To provide licensees with an opportunity to prepare for these changes we have produced a supporting webpage.

Resources include: • the new 1 July premium tables • responses for Frequently Ask Questions • relevant contact details

26 | Aussie Painters Network

https://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/home-warranty-scheme-premiumincrease-1-july-2017

吀栀攀 瀀漀爀琀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 椀渀攀砀瀀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 洀攀琀栀漀搀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 瀀愀椀渀琀 眀愀猀琀攀ⴀ眀愀琀攀爀 瀀漀氀氀甀琀椀渀最 琀栀攀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀⸀

2017 June Issue | 27

Ee EROSION

Attrition of the film by natural weathering that may expose the substrate.

ETCH PRIMER

A coating material often supplied as two separate components that are mixed wash primer immediately prior to application and have a limited pot-life. The mixed coating pretreatment primer material contains balanced proportions of a chromate-based inhibitive pigment, self-etch primer phosphoric acid and a synthetic resin binder in a mixed alcohol solvent, generally a polyvinyl butyral.

ETCHING EVAPORATION RATE

The time taken for a given quantity of a volatile liquid, such as a solvent, to pass completely from the liquid to the vapour state under specified conditions.

EXOTHERMIC

A heat generating reaction.

EXTENDER

Generally colourless, relatively transparent pigments used in conjunction with pigments to impart particular physical properties to a paint or coating.

Ff FADING

FASTNESS TO ALKALI

The ability to retain chemical and physical properties after exposure to alkalis under specified conditions.

FASTNESS TO HEAT

The ability to retain chemical and physical properties after exposure to heat under specified conditions.

FASTNESS TO LIGHT

The ability to retain chemical and physical properties after exposure to natural or artificial light of specific characteristics and under specified conditions.

FAT EDGE

An accumulation of a coating material in the form of a ridge at the end of a coated surface that may arise during drainage especially after dipping.

FEATHER EDGING

Tapering, usually by abrading, the thickness of the edge of a dry coating system, such as the edge of a damaged area, prior to repainting.

FEATHERING

The operation of tapering off the edges of a patch coat by laying-off with a comparatively dry brush. Cleaning and roughening a surface using a chemical agent prior to painting in order to increase adhesion.

FELTING DOWN

The operation of flatting down the dry film of a coating material by means of a pad made of felt or similar material charged with a very fine abrasive powder and lubricated with water or other suitable liquid.

FILIFORM CORROSION

A form of corrosion under coating materials on metals characterised by a thread-like form advancing by means of a growing head or point.

FILLING

The loss of color due to exposure to light, heat or weathering.

The application of a defective surface of a product of suitable consistency to form, when dry, a smooth surface suitable for painting.

FASTNESS TO ACID

FILM

The ability to retain chemical and physical properties after exposure to acids under specified conditions.

28 | Aussie Painters Network

A continuous layer resulting from the application of one or more coat(s) to a substrate.

Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms FILM FORMATION

The process by which coating materials, when applied to a substrate, are transformed into a cohesive layer.

FINISH

The final or only coat in a coating system.

FLAKING

Lifting of the coating materials from the substrate in the form of flakes or scales.

FLASH DRY

The stage of drying at which most of the volatile solvent, or water in a water-thinnable paint, has evaporated and which is often characterised by a marked change in appearance.

FLASH POINT

The minimum temperature of liquid at which the vapours given off are sufficient to form a flammable mixture with air under specified conditions of test.

FLASH-OFF

The evaporation of sufficient of the solvents in a sprayed coat that is allowed to occur before proceeding either with the application of another coat or with stoving.

FLASHING

The development of patches glossier than the general finish that develop in the film of a coating material, especially at joins or laps in the coating.

FLATTING DOWN

Abrading the surface of a dry coating material with fine, dry or wet abrasives to rubbing down produce a smooth dull surface.

form to movement or deformation of its supporting surface without cracking or flaking.

FLOW

The degree to which the wet film of a coating material can flow out during and after application to produce a uniform smooth surface.

FLOW COATING

The application of a coating material either by pouring or by allowing it by flood coating to flow over the object to be coated and allowing the excess to drain off.

FLUSHING

The application of coating material to the interior of hollow articles by introducing the coating material and subsequent draining off the excess.

FORCE DRYING

A technique in which the drying of the film of a coating material is accelerated by exposing it to a temperature higher than ambient but below that normally used for stoving materials.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Any Terms that are identified within the painting & decorating industry as “defects”, images; possible cause; solution and prevention methods are provided.

--------------------------------------------------------------

More of “F” next month...

Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms

FLEXIBILITY

The degree to which a coating material is able to con-

2017 June Issue | 29

30 | Aussie Painters Network

People with creative personalities really do see the world differently HOW DO YOU SEE THE WORLD?

Luke Smillie

Senior Lecturer in Personality Psychology, University of Melbourne

Anna Antinori

PhD candidate, University of Melbourne

What is it about a creative work such as a painting or piece of music that elicits our awe and admiration? Is it the thrill of being shown something new, something different, something the artist saw that we did not?

As Pablo Picasso put it: Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.

The idea that some people see more possibilities than others is central to the concept of creativity.

Psychologists often measure creativity using divergent thinking tasks. These require you to generate as many uses as possible for mundane objects, such as a brick.

People who can see numerous and diverse uses for a brick (say, a coffin for a Barbie doll funeral diorama) are rated as more creative than people who can only think of a few common uses (say, for building a wall).

The aspect of our personality that appears to drive our creativity is

called openness to experience, or openness. Among the five major personality traits, it is openness that best predicts performance on divergent thinking tasks. Openness also predicts real-world creative achievements, as well as engagement in everyday creative pursuits.

As Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire explain in their book Wired to Create, the creativity of open people stems from a “drive for cognitive exploration of one’s inner and outer worlds”.

2017 June Issue | 31

This curiosity to examine things from all angles may lead people high in openness to see more than the average person, or as another research team put it, to discover “complex possibilities laying dormant in so-called ‘familiar’ environments”.

Creative vision In our research, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, we found that open people don’t just bring a different perspective to things, they genuinely see things differently to the average individual.

We wanted to test whether openness is linked to a phenomenon in visual perception called binocular rivalry. This occurs when two different images are presented to each eye simultaneously, such as a red patch to the right eye and a green patch to the left eye.

For the observer, the images seem to flip intermittently from one to the other. At one moment only the green patch is perceived, and at the next moment only the red patch – each stimulus appearing to rival the other (see illustration below).

Binocular rivalry task.

32 | Aussie Painters Network

Intriguingly, participants in binocular rivalry studies occasionally see a fused or scrambled combination of both images (see middle frame, above). These moments of “rivalry suppression”, when both images become consciously accessible at once, seem almost like a “creative” solution to the problem presented by the two incompatible stimuli.

Across three experiments, we found that open people saw the fused or scrambled images for longer periods than the average person. Furthermore, they reported seeing this for even longer when experiencing a positive mood state similar to those that are known to boost creativity.

Our findings suggest that the creative tendencies of open people extend all the way down to basic visual perception. Open people may have fundamentally different visual experiences to the average person.

Seeing things that others miss Another well-known perceptual phenomenon is called inattentional blindness. People experience this when they are so focused on one

thing that they completely fail to see something else right before their eyes.

In a famous illustration of this perceptual glitch, participants were asked to watch a short video of people tossing a basketball to one another, and to track the total number of passes between the players wearing white.

---------------------------------------------

Try this out yourself, before reading further!

--------------------------------------------Count the basketball passes between players in white.

During the video, a person in a gorilla costume wanders into centre stage, indulges in a little chest-beating, and then schleps off again. Did you see it? If not, you are not alone.

Roughly half of the 192 participants in the original study completely failed to see the costumed figure.

www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

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infor@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

|

1800 355 344June / 07 3555 2017 Issue 8010 | 33

Do you have an

APPRENTICE?

34 | Aussie Painters Network

But why did some people experience inattentional blindness in this study when others didn’t? The answer to this question came in a recent follow-up study showing that your susceptibility to inattentional blindness depends on your personality: open people are more likely to see the gorilla in the video clip.

Once again, it seems that more visual information breaks through into conscious perception for people high in openness — they see the things that others screen out.

Opening our minds: is more better?

It might seem as if open people have been dealt a better hand than the rest of us. But can people with uncreative personalities broaden their limited vistas, and would this be a good thing?

So despite its appeal, there may be a slippery slope between seeing more and seeing things that are not there.

There is mounting evidence that personality is malleable, and increases in openness have been observed in cognitive training interventions and studies of the effects of psilocybin (the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms).

So, from different personalities emerge different experiences, but we should always remember that one person’s view is not necessarily better than another’s.

Openness also increases for students who choose to study overseas, confirming the idea that travel broadens the mind.

But there is also a dark side to the “permeability of consciousness” that characterises open people.

Openness has been linked to aspects of mental illness, such as proneness to hallucination.

----------------------------------------------This article was originally published at https://theconversation.com/people-withcreative-personalities-really-do-see-theworld-differently-77083 and is republished under the Creative Commons Licencing.

Home page link: http://theconversation.com

Trace My Business Keep a record of ALL your clients • • • •

•

Where the referral came from

The quote success and failure rates

•

Suburb comparisons

The different advertising campaigns

•

(what (wh works and what doesn’t) First projects vs repeat business

New vs existing revenue and projects

•

Yearly and overall client revenue

•

Growth analysis

Projects, who referred them, and the referrals they subsequently provided

Written and Developed by Jim Baker

2017 June Issue | 35

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS ACQUISITION OF VALSPAR EXPECTED TO CLOSE ON JUNE 1, 2017 CLEVELAND, OH – May 26, 2017 – The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) today announced it has received regulatory approval from the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Canadian Competition Bureau (“CCB”) to complete its acquisition of The Valspar Corporation (NYSE: VAL). The FTC and CCB were the only remaining regulatory approvals required to close the acquisition.

Sherwin-Williams expects to close the acquisition on June 1, 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

Source https://investors.sherwin-williams.com/press/2017/526_FTCApproval/index.jsp

--------------------------------------------Sherwin-Williams announced it has received the final regulatory green light to acquire the Valspar Corp. for $113 per share in cash, clearing the way for the Cleveland-based paint company to become one of the world’s largest. The deal is due to close on June 1.

Sherwin-Williams (SHW) , founded in 1866, is the leader in the North American coatings/paint industry.

The company is the third largest coatings corporation globally and plans to expand its reach in Asia and Europe also. The purchase of Valspar will raise Sherwin-Williams to the number one position in the global coatings industry.

The Valspar acquisition will see Sherwin-Williams sales outside of

36 | Aussie Painters Network

the US from 16% to 25%. SherwinWilliams marketing catch phrase is “cover the Earth” with its paints.

This certainly brings them in line with their motto.

According to website http://www. suredividend.com/ “..SherwinWilliams is buying Valspar when everything is going just right. As a result, the company is paying far more than it would if it waited to purchase Valspar during a recession or a period of high oil prices (or preferably, both).

Valspar shareholders are likely dancing in the streets due to the large premium the company is being acquired for. They are the biggest benefactors of the announced deal.”

Sherwin-Williams will remain headquartered in Cleveland, but said the combined companies will maintain a “significant presence” in Minneapolis, where Valspar is based.

About Sherwin-Williams Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. The company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams®, HGTV HOME® by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy®, Krylon®, Minwax®,

Thompson’s® Water Seal®, and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, SherwinWilliams® branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,100 company-operated stores and facilities, while the company’s other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Global Finishes Group distributes a wide range of products in more than 115 countries around the world. For information, www.sherwin.com.au About Valspar Valspar is a global leader in the coatings industry providing customers with innovative, high-quality products and value-added services. Our 11,000 employees worldwide deliver advanced coatings solutions with best-in-class appearance, performance, protection and sustainability to customers in more than 100 countries. Valspar offers a broad range of superior coatings products for the consumer market, and highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets. Founded in 1806, Valspar is headquartered in Minneapolis.

Valspar’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: VAL). For more information, visit www.valspar.com and follow @ valspar on Twitter.

2017 June Issue | 37

38 | Aussie Painters Network

www.lead.org.au

ELEVATED LEAD LEVELS IN SYDNEY BACK YARDS:

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO...

In our recent study we found that 40% of 203 Sydney homes we sampled contain lead in garden soil above the Australian health guideline of 300 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).

This presents a hazard because soil lead can adhere to or get absorbed into edible plants. An additional pathway of exposure occurs when contaminated soil dust enters homes and is accidentally ingested.

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that affects childhood development.

Urban agriculture and VegeSafe Urban agriculture is becoming more popular across Australia. Almost half (48%) of all households in met-

ropolitan areas are now growing some form of edible produce.

Most lead contamination is a result of the historical use of lead petrol and lead-based paint (now phased out) and previous industrial emissions. Scientists and regulators are well aware of these legacy issues, but the general public remains underinformed about the potential risks.

To help urban gardeners assess contamination risks associated with their garden soils, we started the community science initiative VegeSafe in 2013. This program offers free soil metal screening to participants.

Each participant receives a formal report on their soil metal results

and advice about what to do next if soils contain elevated concentrations of metals. We have provided 5,500 free soil metal tests to over 1,300 homes and community gardens (Australia-wide), the largest program and study of its kind in Australia.

What did we find?

As well as the 40% of Sydney gardens containing soil above the 300 mg/kg Australian health guideline, approximately one in seven homes had soils lead levels greater than 1,000 mg/kg. Soil metal concentrations were typically greatest around drip lines.

2017 June Issue | 39

Soil lead concentrations were greatest in the City of Sydney and former local government areas of Leichhardt Municipal Council and Marrickville Council, which had mean soil lead concentrations of 883 mg/kg, 960 mg/kg and 689 mg/kg, respectively.

in 2002) in our study. Garden soils at newer homes contain the least lead. Soil lead concentrations decrease with distance from Sydney’s city centre, where there are more old homes and greater density of traffic and industry.

Public health Lead exposure is especially detrimental for children because their neurological and skeletal systems are developing. Adults are also adversely affected, with studies showing increased blood pressure and hypertension associated with sub-clinical exposures.

Toxicological evidence also shows that exposure reduces semen quality and extends the time to pregnancy. In short, lead is detrimental to all human systems and exposures should be avoided or minimised at all times.

Our study demonstrates lead contamination in garden soils is greater at painted homes than non-painted homes. Many pre1970 Australian homes still contain paint with up to 50% lead on exterior walls, fences, eves, doors and window frames.

Soil lead concentrations of vegetable garden soils from 141 Sydney homes.

Map represents one of four areas around homes (front yard, drip line, back yard and vegetable garden) in this study. Source: Rouillon et al. 2016

Homes with painted exteriors built before 1970 were more likely to have soils contaminated with lead.

The highest levels are at homes 80 years or older. This is likely to have been caused by lead-rich paint, which contained up to 50% lead prior to 1970. Lead in paint was reduced to less than 1,000 mg/kg (0.1%) by 1997.

We observed the environmental benefit of withdrawal of lead from paints and leaded petrol (removed

40 | Aussie Painters Network

Cross-section schematic of a typical inner-Sydney residential home with median soil Pb (lead) concentrations for painted pre-1970 homes, non-painted pre-1970 homes, post-1970 homes and reference homes. The vegetable garden is displayed at the rear of the back yard, as this was the case for the majority of homes. Source: Rouillon et al. 2016

The main risk of exposure arises when lead-based paint deteriorates or is removed improperly.

Indeed, many home renovators unwittingly expose themselves and others due to a lack of knowledge of lead hazards.

Paints containing lead are no longer used in Australia, but remain on countless homes.

Reducing exposure

Lanphear’s “prevention paradox” (see the image below). The graphic illustrates that the most IQ points across a population are lost from low-level lead exposures.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency introduced legislation specifically targeting houses with lead paint to prevent contamination and to minimise avoidable lead exposures.

Unfortunately this regulatory gap has not been filled in Australia. Despite the widespread historic use of lead-based paints and the high proportion of exposure related to it, our data reveals a concerning legacy of soil lead contamination in older suburbs.

We recommend that people residing at or planning to purchase or renovate homes built before 1970 should get their soils and paint tested for lead. Using a qualified lead-abatement decorator in older homes would also help prevent exposure. Where parents and homeowners think they may have caused exposure, their GPs can provide a blood lead test.

Reducing even low-level exposures is critical, as demonstrated by Bruce

to an above-ground vegetable plot (again with new soil).

In this way, gardeners can exercise our motto, which is to carry on gardening knowing their soils are clean.

The VegeSafe program is ongoing for all Australians. Gardeners can send their soil samples to Macquarie University for free soil metal screening of their soil. We do, however, take donations to help sustain our program – so please support your citizen science.

Bruce Lanphear’s prevention paradox.

The majority of IQ points lost to lead exposure occurs in children who have lowto-moderate exposure to lead. Adapted from Reference (Lanphear 2015)

What can gardeners do?

Where non-food-growing soils exceed the Australian soil metal guidelines, we recommend maintaining year-round cover of lawn or mulch to minimise dust generation.

Where metal guidelines are exceeded in food-growing soils, we recommend either replacing existing soil with new, uncontaminated soil, or relocating the food garden

Authors

1.Marek RouillonPhD Candidate, Macquarie University 2.Louise KristensenPostdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie University 3.Mark Patrick TaylorProfessor of Environmental Science, Macquarie University 4.Paul HarveyResearcher of Environmental Science, Macquarie University 5.Steven G GeorgeResearcher of Environmental Science, Macquarie University ------------------------------------------------This article was originally published at https://theconversation.com/ elevated-lead-levels-in-sydney-backyards-heres-what-you-can-do-68499 and is republished under the Creative Commons Licencing.

2017 June Issue | 41

42 | Aussie Painters Network

ADD TEXTURE

for a Terrific Room Transformation Want to transform a dull looking room into a beautiful living space? Incorporate wood, plants, bricks and several other things in the room and you are ready for a terrific room transformation.

Do you want to offer fresh ideas to your clients? Or have you recently renovated a room? Do you still feel that something is missing? If you think that even after spending a lot of time in upgrading your home it does not look perfect to you, do not worry. You do not have to undertake another home renovation project.

A terrific room transformation doesn’t require large-scale renovation. You can add texture to a room and transform it into a beautiful living space.

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What are the different ways of adding Texture to a Room?

Here are a few sure shot ways of adding zing to any room in your home:

chaotic quickly. So, it is best to hire an expert to do the work for you.

If you are living in a rented apartment and think that the landlord will have a problem with making big changes in the building, ask the contractor to tell you about faux brick wallpapers, brick stencils and brick veneer walls.

• Wallpaper is an Option

Usually, when it comes to adding texture to a room, homeowners consider wallpaper as the go-to option. One visit to the local home improvement store will help you to choose from a plethora of options.

You can even visit the online stores to find the right textured wallpaper for the walls. But, remember installing wallpaper is an art. Ask your home renovation contractor to do it for you. An experienced contractor can work beautifully with wallpapers and make sure that there are no unsightly wrinkles and tears.

• Exposed Bricks

An exposed brick wall is the perfect way of adding old-world charm and rustic beauty to a room. It is an evergreen look that continues to fascinate homeowners and guests. If you like a beautiful but understated look, bricks should be your weapon of choice. It is easy to strip the plaster but it can get

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• Incorporate Wood in the Layout

A versatile gift of nature, wood can add texture to any room in more than one way. You can build a beautiful wooden shelf to showcase your collection of books. Alternatively, you can consider installing attractive furniture in the room. Find something unique at the thrift store or hire a handyman to assemble and paint furniture pieces according to your requirements. Installing hardwood floors is another option with you.

• Green is In

Organic texture is very trendy among homeowners. If you want to make a bold statement, you can think of installing indoor vertical garden adjacent to a wall. Instead of using pictures to create an accent wall, succulents can become the focal point of the room. For a minimalist look, create harmony between different pot sizes and shapes. It will definitely add zing to your home.

Texture has the power to make a dull sterile room look warm and cozy. If you feel that the bedroom or the living room of your home lacks personality, add texture to the space. It will do wonders for the room and provide you with a beautiful-looking home.

Source: Affinity Renovations, Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Affinity Renovations is your perfect partner for terrific room transformations.

Consult Toronto’s best home renovation company and get ideas of adding personality to a room. Get in touch for renovating a kitchen, living room or bathroom in and around GTA.

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The Industry

Idiots

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Important Contacts Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

Ph. 0430 399 800

National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au

Ph. 1300 319 790

Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au

Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65

Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au

Ph. 13 13 94

Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au

Ph. 1800 003 338

Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au

Ph. 1300 642 111

Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania

www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au

1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322

www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au

(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333

Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA

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