Although smokers at The Dog Inn are now legally obliged to go outside for a cigarette, Dave and Sandra found plenty of evidence in the bar of the less restricted, pre-smoking ban era. No decorating had taken place for over six years and the interiors were heavily discoloured with nicotine stains. When Dave tried to rearrange pictures in the bar, the glaring patches of original paintwork he uncovered showed exactly how grimy and stained the walls had become. It was definitely time to decorate.

The couple were looking for a quick and inexpensive makeover that didn’t involve wholesale repapering of walls and ceilings and lots of mess. They didn’t want to lose any takings so it had to be business as usual throughout the improvements.

They decided to retain all the existing wallcoverings and have them repainted: although discoloured, they were still in good condition. They also decided to have all the work done after hours, starting after the last person left each night at around midnight, and finishing at dawn, leaving time for paint to dry before the next session. This way they could keep the beer flowing and the tills ringing, and keep everybody happy.

Sandra approached Crown Paints for advice. She wanted her decorator to use the best possible primer to hold back all the nicotine staining and stop it ‘leaching’ through. She also wanted a fashionable flat matt finish that could withstand the knocks and scrapes of a busy pub environment, and importantly, that could be wiped clean whenever it got dirty. Because of the need to fit in all the work around normal opening hours she also needed to be sure that paint odours and drying times would be minimised.

Sandra was advised to specify Crown Trade PSB to seal in the nicotine and stop it from migrating through the new paint finish. Formulated to hold back challenging stains and resins the stain block primer can be used on nicotine, graffiti, ballpoint pen, crayon and water marks, etc. Based on water-borne technology. PSB has much lower odour than traditional oil based, high solvent primers and also dries more quickly.

When it came to the decorative coating, Crown Trade Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt was recommended. Offered in an extensive range of colours the new water-borne high performance coating delivers the contemporary chalky finish of a conventional flat matt emulsion, but has additional properties that make it ideal for use in high traffic areas. As the name suggests it offers exceptional durability and cleanability. Many marks and stains can be easily wiped away with water alone. Scrubbing with a cloth soon gets rid of tougher soiling, and for more deep-seated stains, scrubbing with a mild detergent will eliminate all traces, without risk of burnishing.

The decorating work began as soon as the hectic Christmas and New Year period was over. All traces of nicotine, soiling and discolouration were obliterated with just a single coat of Crown Trade PSB. “It was amazing to see the bar with all the walls and ceilings primed,” said Sandra,” The place was so much lighter, brighter and fresher-looking once the yellow stains and grime had gone.  I was really impressed with the PSB. It left such a solid opaque finish. Even though it was just a base coat, some customers thought we’d decided to have all-white interiors and the job was actually finished!!”

Seeing the bar in its white primed state, Sandra and Dave reconsidered their colour choices, opting for a very different colour scheme from the one originally envisaged. As Sandra explained, “We had tried tester pot after tester pot at the outset, but all the time we’d been applying colour against a dirty yellow backdrop. Once we faced with this bright white ‘canvas’ it really changed the way we saw things. Light seemed to be flooding through the bar for the first time and we realised we didn’t want to lose this new fresh look. From then on we concentrated on different shades of pale rose-white, and finally had the Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt tinted and mixed to order in a shade that perfectly complemented the existing furnishings and carpets.”

“Once again we were all very impressed with the coverage and opacity of the Crown Trade product,“ said Sandra. “The decorator hadn’t used Scrubbable Matt before but found it really pleasant to work with, using brush and roller. There were no spatters and runs and it went on like a dream. We were very pleased to find that one coat was sufficient. Because the PSB had given such a good opaque white base and because the Scrubbable Matt is such a good quality paint, we just didn’t need a second coat.”

There were other tangible benefits as Sandra added:  “The paint is water-borne so it dried very quickly – we didn’t need to make ‘wet paint’ signs! And, an important point to note for premises where food and beer are served, the Scrubbable Matt didn’t seem to have any odour – there was no paint smell in the bar afterwards.“

So, the décor at the Dog Inn has now been transformed, the nicotine patches are long gone and there’s no lingering evidence that anyone ever smoked a single cigarette, pipe or cigar in the bar. The regulars are reported to be very pleased with their new surroundings.  They are particularly pleased that with a little help from Crown Trade, Dave and Sandra were able to give their local such a dramatic makeover without disrupting a single drinking session!

For further information on sealing difficult stained surfaces, and high performance coatings for heavy traffic areas, please contact the Crown Trade Customer Relations Team, tel: 0845 389 9583 or click on www.crowntrade.co.uk.

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