Interview with Joel Endersby

How did you come to your current profession?

I took an apprenticeship with a local engineering company; I think by the third day I realised my lively nature wasn’t suited to a sedentary job, so I handed in my notice. My dad was a painter & decorator and had run his own business for years, I always enjoyed working with him and he agreed to take me on. I used to do a week at the technical college for the early version of NVQ’s and the rest of the time on site, that was 30 years ago it’s been fun.

What is the process of preparing a project? How long does a project take on average?

I was always told right back at the beginning of my apprenticeship that preparation was 99% of the job the other 1% was the easy bit. The preparation really starts from the moment you visit the client, often that’s mentally. In Cornwall, we have to plan well for logistics, parking isn’t always available, so things have to be planned well to be able to start the work on time and be sure we have everything we need. It is then a case of taking a good look at the property; what type of paint does it have already or what is the construction of the property, is there signs of condensation and mould, and most importantly what is the client expecting, so good communication and planning starts early. This is where KEIM as a company have been excellent to work with, often our local KEIM rep, Julian, will come down if we come across something that needs his professional knowledge of the surfaces that we will be using KEIM on, followed by a specification sheet this has been invaluable. We then start with colours and finishes, we order sample colours and paint them out onto boards for the client. Once all those things are finalised, we set a schedule to start and work through the physical process of getting the building thoroughly prepared, cleaning down, protecting surfaces, repairs, and application.

What type of projects do you work on?

We have had the privilege of working on all sorts of buildings; from heritage to modern, cob farm buildings, old mills, large properties with multi rooms and even just a single bathroom. We also work on commercial properties, ones of historic interest, as well as specialist decorative finishes such as KEIM Restauro Lasur & KEIM Colourwash, clay plasters and wallpaper. We carry out a lot of work using linseed oil paint on sash windows, doors & floors which combined with KEIM makes for a very healthy home.

What are the biggest challenges? How do you overcome them?

Weather for sure. It’s something that’s becoming more of a challenge with the weather patterns shifting, the winds and rain in the far west of Cornwall can make a challenging diary, along with allowing sufficient time for things to dry. To overcome this challenge/worry, we have had to reduce the number of exterior jobs in an exterior season to allow for such challenges.