Protecting the future of coatings with education

By Emma Peterson. 

BITEC®’s Shane Millwood discusses the importance of helping contractors understand proper product selection and installation practices. 

With the advent of new, more powerful products like BITEC®’s Storm Breaker™ coating system, the coatings market has never been more popular among contractors and building owners . But with that popularity comes a growing need for proper installation and maintenance training. Connecting contractors to the education resources they need to succeed with coatings is something that the team at BITEC® is passionate about. To learn more about how they foster these connections, Shane Millwood, BITEC®’s VP of sales and marketing, stopped by The Coffee Shops™ for an interview.  

When roof restorations are done properly – the roof surface is cleaned, the right coating is chosen, installation follows manufacturer recommendations and it has ample time to set – they are a powerful tool for extending the life of a roof assembly. But when coatings are applied improperly, they are likely to fail prematurely and create more extensive (and expensive) issues. In our interview with Shane, he highlighted education as the factor that separates a proper and improper installation, sharing, “A true roof restoration involves more than just slapping a coating on it. There's a lot of steps to go through and I think one of the challenges we see today is a lack of education about these steps.” 

Where should contractors and installers be looking for this game-changing education? Start with trusted associations like the Roof Coatings Manufacturers Association and manufacturers like BITEC®. Shane shared a bit about how his team educates their contractors about best practices:  

Our team works hard on education. We work with our contractors to teach them about proper evaluation of the roof they are on... Further, we will never just blindly recommend our product for every roof. Instead, we bring an educational piece to our contractors. We might show them three options and explain the pros and cons of each, but that final decision is theirs. 

Why is this education aspect so important to the BITEC® team? Shane put it simply, “When the quality of restoration projects go down, it’s bad for everyone.” By helping foster education and awareness, BITEC® is not only protecting their market, they are building a better industry for everyone.