SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Beyond the Brush: How Canyon Painting Builds Trust and Quality

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!In this episode of Castl 11, host Megan McClenahan sits down with Justin, Branch Manager of Canyon Painting’s Prescott division, to talk about what sets their team apart in the world of residential and commercial painting. From top-tier Sherwin-Williams products and meticulous prep work to a strong commitment to community involvement and customer trust, Justin shares what it takes to make every project last. Discover insider tips on winter interior projects, learn about Canyon Painting’s AI-powered color selection tool, and hear how their passion for doing things the right way has built a stellar reputation across Northern Arizona.Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Welcome back on Megan McClennahan. This is Castell Devin. Today with me, I've got Justin from Canyon Painting. How are you? I'm well and yourself. Good. I'm so excited to have you here. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Yeah. I know we've been trying to plan this for a while and we're finally making it happen. This is awesome. So you are the Prescott Branch Manager. Yes, I'm a branch manager of our Prescott Branch. A little history on the company. We actually started out. but in Sedona about 12, 13 years ago. Our focus has always been on doing the job right, you know, not just going in and slapping paint on something, but we're really looking to get all the preparation. We're looking to analyze the project and, you know, make things right, you know, to where our products couldn't last, use the proper painting systems, use the proper prep.

And on top of that, we're using, you know, top quality paints. You know, we use Sherwin Williams paints. I have a history with them as I used to work for them for quite some time over 20 years. I just really like their product and it works well. And I, you know, it gives me peace of mind, I guess you could say that, you know, when putting their products on the wall, it's going to last, it's going to perform. What about their product works well?

So their products, they, you know, they do. a lot of research on their products. So, you know, before it actually comes out on the market, it's, it's gone through kind of a research and development phase. And, you know, they design their products to work well, to apply well, to hold up well. And, you know, they have, they have their different grades of products for, you know, kind of whatever you're looking for. You know, every paint company has a good, better best, I guess you could say. And so they have a whole line of products that kind of fit into that scheme. Now, with us, we're always focusing on the premium quality products with our jobs.

You know, we want the customers that we have to know that their paint jobs done right, that their paint's going to hold up. You know, that they're scrubbing the wall. They're not going to burn us the paint. You know, we want to give them that, you know, that value, I guess you could say, with their, with their painting project. Right, right. Right. And I did want to mention that this is sponsored by Sherwin Williams for Canyon Painting.

Because they are such a good company. They are. 100%. How long have you been with the company? So myself, I started with the company in January of last year. Polly, the owner, I had known for quite some time. In point of fact, I was when I was working for Sherman Williams, I was his sales rep. And, you know, it's how we met. became friends.

And even after I had left that area as a rep, we had still kept in contact. And Polly had always had this vision to expand the company, I guess you could say, over the mountain and kind of work into the Prescott area. So we collaborated, we talked about it. And we decided to make a go of it. So started, like I said, January of last year. came out here, started, you know, advertising, building up our clientele and, you know, starting starting an area from scratch is a bit tough. Oh, yeah.

You're like the new kid on the block. Any business starting from scratch is hard. Yeah. So. You know, especially developing your territory, building that client base, then getting that reputation out, that word of mouth. Yeah. And I think that's one of my, why you guys are one of my, and I hate to say this, but they are

one of my favorite accounts, and it's because I got to see you guys start from the very beginning and get to where you are today. And you guys have such a great reputation. Thank you. So we're kind of getting ready to go on to fall in winter. And I know that you guys kind of shift your focus from the outside of the house to interiors. You tell us a little bit about that and why that's so important during winter versus summer? Well, winter we're really focusing on Terriers mainly because of the weather. You know, the paints we use, Sherman Williams paints, exterior paints,

they are rated down to 35 degrees. So we can paint, you know, usually up to November, December, we're fine. But generally in the winter, we're not wanting to put coatings on the outside. It's problematic. When you have those really cold days is going to take your paint longer to cure.

You know, we put two coats on everything. So we get that first coat on the house instead of waiting, you know, the three, four hours. Right. As per specification, you know, sometimes we're six hours and the paint's not ready to be painted. You know, on top of that, say we got those days that are 40, 50 degrees, that's in the sun. We could have the shade inside the house that's going to remain cold all day and it's just not really good for paint to be applied. So that's really why we tend to focus on the interiors and winter. Absolutely.

Perfect. I kind of wanted to jump in just a tiny bit to how you guys all partner as a team. And then we'll go into something else. Okay. As far as with just because you guys are. So you're here. Polly's in Sedona. Yes.

And then I know you guys cover just a wide variety of areas. You want to kind of tell everybody a little bit more. about that. So how we partner as a team, I mean, we really are each, you know, responsible for our respective areas. But we do collaborate a lot. You know, we get together. We find out, you know, what's working, what's not, you know, we're always trying to improve. We're always trying to find bigger and better ways to do things, whether it be, you know, products, through training, through advertising, you name it. I mean, we do have meetings once a week between myself, Polly, and our office manager,

and really discuss the direction of the company and where we're taking it and, you know, anything from training the employees to new products to changing the way we do things, you know, learning and improving and growing. Right. And for anybody watching and listening, that is so important because this is a company that's coming into your home and doing an estimate for you, you know, walking through and they want to feel that this is important, you know, that they're investing their money with the right company. And so I really, I really appreciate that you guys do that. Yes. So if I was someone calling, hey, Justin, can you come out and give me an estimate. We get that scheduled. What does that look like when you come out? So when I come out,

we'll spend anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. We're going to discuss the project, kind of walk the whole area. We want to go over anything that needs to be fixed. The processes we're taking with our paint job, which we also outline in wording and our proposals. Answer any questions. We want to talk about the type of products. We want to talk about the type of products. we use and why we use them and just, you know, address every aspect on the project so they know what we're doing and they're comfortable. You know, we want to make sure to explain our surface prep. We want to we want to explain if there's something that maybe needs to be fixed but is out of our hands and make sure they know that. I mean, communication is very big. So,

you know, we'll spend that time. We'll go over. We'll take pictures. We're going to take measurements. And then we're going to write up a very detailed proposal and we'll send it to you via email. And then we want to follow up with you and answer any questions you have. Go over the project, you know, and details and scheduling, whatever questions it may be. Right.

But we want to basically build that relationship with our clients. with our clients built on trust, that they know that they are going to get their money's worth because your home is your biggest investment. And we want to go on there. We want to do it right. And we don't want to be called back for any reason. We want to make sure everything's right the first time

and your paint job's going to last. So four or five years down the road, you're not calling us to go repaint something unless you want to color change. That's different. But, you know. I'm in that phase right now. Yeah. I want to color change.

change. We want that lasting product for you. That's wonderful. And that's why you guys use Sherwin-Williams. 100%. We can trust that their products hold up. And, you know, we with Sherwin-Williams, too, they're great. You know, we have a relationship with their sales reps and their stores are very knowledgeable and they're very on point. And they always have the products that we need. So how does that work? Do you guys just send them the colors, tell them the colors you need and they order it for you? Yes, we either bring physical samples or if they are, you know, paint colors, whether it be their colors or competitor's colors, they can match them up. You know, we go, we place the order with the products we need and, you know, either pickup or deliver. They have an outstanding delivery service. So we usually get our product within two hours or less.

Nice. That's great. That's fast. That's really fast. That's really fast. I mean, like I said, they're always on point. Now, I know you guys are real big in the community as well. Yes.

You want to tell us a little bit about some of that stuff? Yes. I mean, with our company, we are really big in, you know, community involvement. Whatever we can do to help partner with any charitable contributions or, you know, really big on helping out the vets. Last year, we had teamed up with Lower 22 Foundation. and finishing touch painting. And we actually donated a paint job to a veteran in need. So, you know, we had the paint donated.

And then the two paint companies, we donated our labor and went over there. And we got this house painted. This particular gentleman was being, I guess you could say, hounded by the HOA where he lives to get things done. And he wasn't, didn't have the means to take care of it. So we got his house looking nice and neat and new and got that HOA off his back. I love that. And you're also a chamber ambassador for the Prescott Valley Chamber.

I love the Prescott Valley Chamber. Me too. Yes, I worked with other chambers and Prescott Valley is definitely my favorite. I've got a great team there. And all the events are fun. It's great, you know, welcoming new businesses into the business community and, you know, just helping people out wherever we can because we want. We want those businesses to grow and be successful.

Absolutely. And I know right now you guys have a huge fall special running. Do you want to tell us about that? Yeah. So right now with our fall special, again, we are focusing on interior. So if we have complete interior repaints, we're offering $400 off your complete interior repaint and then free upgrade on any of your product. So there won't be an upcharge for using the absolute best product on your job.

That's huge. Yeah. That's huge. $400 off your complete interior repaint. Sponsored by Sherwin Williams. Absolutely. I love it. I love it.

What else can you tell us about interiors and why we should really focus on? Are they funner? So interiors versus exteriors are more detailed. You know, generally with the exteriors of the house, we're, you know, prepping the house, we're caulking cracks or sealing around windows for pressure washing. Sometimes we're doing stucco and drywall repairs on the outside. And then, you know, once everything is properly, you know, prepared, we're out there with a sprayer, you know, applying our two coats of paint. Insides, especially in occupied home, you know, we have a lot more detail or focus on.

One, we're not spraying because when you do spray, you're getting a lot of overspray. And no matter how much we mass up in the area, that's going to create dust on everything. So that's a no go right there. And then, you know, take an average. room, for example, you're generally using three different paint sometimes on one room because you're going to have a paint for a ceiling. Your ceilings are going to go flat finish. Not all the time, but I would say 75, 80 percent of your ceilings are flat finished.

And then we have our wall paint. So, well, I'm just saying. So what if someone isn't sure what a flat paint is? Can you tell us the differences in how they kind of work? Yes. I mean, the flat paint basically is going to have no reflectivity. So you're going to look at the sheen of the paint. You're not going to have any shine whatsoever.

And why that is a lot of times important for ceilings is say you have a ceiling and you have a lot of windows in the room, you're going to catch a lot of light coming through on the ceiling. If you have any kind of sheen up there, it can highlight any imperfections on the ceiling and just make it more apparent because of the reflectivity. And when you get a nice flat paint on the ceiling, you're eliminating that. You're getting everything to, you know, blend in and just look a bit more flush. Gotcha. Yeah. Perfect.

You know, and then as for walls, we have our wall paint. And then our baseboards are our doors. We're using a different paint. And again, we're not spraying it. So we're brushing and rolling. And, you know, we're having to cut in around where the paint transitions are, you know. And on top of rooms, you have closets. You have just a bunch of different.

obstacles to overcome too with the interiors. You're doing a lot more masking and prep because, again, you have an occupied home. So we're moving furniture. We're making sure everything's covered. We're covering floors because we don't want to make a mess of the house. We want to be very respectful of the environment. We want to treat it like it's our house. So we're just making sure everything is covered and everything is clean and organizing me. And oftentimes we're to be working in sections in a house because people are living there. You know, we're not going to, you know, we don't want to make them go to a hotel or anything. We want to make it as easy as possible. Just kind of transition from area to area. Yep. So we'll do that, get all cleaned up, work around our

customers to, you know, what works best with their schedule. Again, we we want to make it as easy as as possible because, you know, interior painting, things do get a little displaced naturally, you know, and it can be stressful for some people. So I want to try to take that stress away and, you know, communicate as we go and explain what we're doing and why we're doing. Right. And just make our clients feel, you know, just comfortable and have trust in us. So say you have an older client that you guys are gone in and you've done a proposal for

and they hire you and they are not able. Say you're doing like the kitchen in the cabinets and you're going to pull all the cabinets covers off. How do you guys do that? Do you want to maybe help them move some of this stuff? Yes, absolutely. We're going to help people move furniture, you know, take things off walls. We'll be as accommodating as we can. That's wonderful. We do that quite often, especially with our older clients. You know, we're going to be just extremely helpful and do whatever we can to make it easy for them. Now, you guys are commercial and residential. We are commercial and residential, yes.

That's wonderful. So, yep, we focus on repaints mainly, but we do also do, you know, new construction as well. Wonderful. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Anything else on interiors you want to share with this? Nope.

Just, again, we're using the top quality products. We're making sure that surfaces are prepped right. You know, we're going in. We're filling nail holes. We're patching drywall. You know, baseboards and doors are using a really tough acrylic enamel paint. It's going to hold up because doors open and closed. People are putting their hands on them.

We want some durable and cleanable. You know, again, with the walls, we're using paint that's going to be scrubble. So especially if you have kids and pets. I would say. You know, we all know what happens with walls when kids and pets are around. So we want crayons, ketchup, mustard, whatever it is, want that wall to be cleanable to where you're going to clean the wall. You're not going to have a dull spot. We want to look the same after you're done cleaning.

And then, you know, again, we're focusing on being very accommodating and very clean, tidy. And we want that house just to shine after we're done and not have to worry about paint drips or anything like that. You know, at the end of every project, too, we want to walk the project with our client. We want to go around, show them what we did, ask them if they have any questions, get anything addressed. needs to be addressed and take care of it and when you want them to be happy at the end. I love that. I love that. One more thing I wanted to highlight too. I know on your Canyon Painting website, you guys have a color tool. Tell us about it. Yes. So we do have a color tool and it can be very helpful for our clients that are indecisive about colors. I mean, color can be a big deal. It can affect,

you know, the total ambiance of your of your house. So, you know, a lot of people will get, you know, paint samples. They'll brush a little bit on the wall. That can be great for deciding, you know, your overall color, but it doesn't give you a big perception of the color. So what we have now is we have a link on our website to where you can go. You can import a picture of anything you want painted where there would be a bedroom or the outside of your house. And, and, you can import a picture of And then this tool is great because it's AI. So you can basically just type in the command bar on the AI, hey, or just say, paint the body of my house, alabaster, let's per se. And it'll do that.

And it'll, it's the most cleanest, accurate painting tool I've ever seen because it'll literally be sharp and paint only the body of the house. I've had other tools I work with, which you know, you're painting the body of the house and it hits another part of the house. It's not even related and it kind of doesn't give you a good perception. But this one's great. You can say paint the fascia green, paint it black. And it'll it will do that. Paint the garage door a certain color. So it's, you know, technology has really come a long way with that.

So it'll give you a really good perception of what your house could look like and make the whole color selection process that much easier. It's really cool. So I got to play with it. I got to play with it. Yeah. I got to try it. I got to use it. It's really cool.

100%. I showed my husband. I'm like, look, these colors. Look. Look. He's like, oh, you and your colors. Oh, yeah. I was like, yes.

Yeah, you could definitely, you know, take up half a day with that. Yeah. Oh, I sat there for, I sat there for an hour trying different colors. Uh-huh. It's a lot of fun. Oh, it was, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we want to thank our great sponsors for Canyon Paints. at Sherwin Williams today. And Justin, it's so good to finally have you get in here. And whatever else we can help do for Canyon Painting, go to their website, try the new color tool, look out for their coupons, watch for their ideolios,

go on SignalsazZ.com. They've got their ads on there as well, and watch for their direct mail. All right. All right. Thank you so much. You bet. Thanks for coming in.

My pleasure. All right.