Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-08-18 | Page 35 | Painting is Economy Commissioner Says

jmm is ran , mmm m V?. F. Jensen Gives New Phase of Campaign for Thrift in Utah. A new phase of the thrift campaign, and one that has not been emphasized half enough, is the economic value of paint. W. F. Jensen, commissioner of public ecouomy. has the following to say on the subject: "Paintinc- is economv through pres ervation. Too many people' today consider con-sider paint only "from a docorativo standpoint. While paint is a decorative medium, its first purpose, nevertheless, is preservation and protection. Painting Paint-ing is directly in lino with war-time conservation and economy. The natural processes of decay are arrested by paint, and at this" time there is nothing noth-ing which should be oncouraged more than the preservation of that which is already, constructed. "Late summer and early all are the logical seasons in which to paint up, because be-cause a building needs a protecting coat of paint in the winter months more than at any other time. A house which needs repainting should never be allowed al-lowed to go over tho winter months without this protection agniusl the decay de-cay which snow and rain bring about. "Loss by decay and disintegration through lao,k, of paint, has become in these war-luhes a problem that, should create more cuueern than ever before for from 50 to 100 per cent moro money than their original cost would be required re-quired today to replace any home or other building. Tho protection and conservation con-servation of our buildings against preventable, pre-ventable, slow destruction by storm are more necessary now than ever before. Vlt's a strong statement but true, nevertheless, never-theless, that the annual loss through Vk of painting exceeds the annual loss bjvfire. " Besides the feature touched upon by Mr. Jensen, there is another economic phase to "painting up," and that, is tho matter of light (and this is espe cially significant during tho rail and winter months when sixteen hours ot the twentv-four are practically dark). The light 'reflecting value of the proper tints of paint is wonderful. Many industrial in-dustrial establishments have reduced their lighting costs to a marked degree through the application of the proper tints of interior paint. The savings thus effected have annually amounted in some instances to 50 per cent of the former lighting cost. In one city one ef the largest office buildings was not properly painted and the rooms required re-quired an average of 2000 watts for illuminations. These rooms now re-quiro re-quiro only 900 watts as a result of the proper application of paint. , Considered from an economic and san-'tary san-'tary standpoint, fall becomes the natural nat-ural season, for painting. There are some technical reasons also whv best results will follow fall painting. In rle fall the surface has had a chance to become thoroughly dry, and dry yoo will absorb more of the paint, give's giv-e's it greater tenacity or holding qualities quali-ties Then again, the weather in early lall is uniform and settled.