Mile High Coatings: Only Recommending What You Need

How Does Your Company Ensure Customers Only Get The Services They Truly Need?

Ever been told your patio needs an expensive overlay or that only the most premium paint will do? We pull back the curtain on coatings, concrete prep, and repaint strategy to show how smarter choices—and fewer steps—often deliver better, longer‑lasting results. Our focus is simple: diagnose the substrate, match the method to the space, and protect your budget without compromising quality.

We walk through the real value of on‑site estimates for garages, basements, and patios across Colorado’s Front Range. From measuring floors accurately to spotting cracks, spalling, and existing coatings, we explain why ballpark phone quotes miss crucial details. You’ll hear when polished or stained concrete samples make sense, how grout‑line ghosting appears after tile removal, and why samples on your actual floor are the gold standard for dialing in color, sheen, and finish. We also tackle the pitfalls of redundant patio overlays and break down when a solid coating system beats adding a weaker layer on top of a healthy slab.

On the paint side, we challenge the upsell myth. Modern mid‑upper tier exterior paints already offer excellent durability, and most repaints go over existing coatings—not raw siding—so extreme “lifetime” claims rarely add practical value. We share how to balance aesthetics with performance: gloss vs matte, flake systems that disguise imperfections, and the realities behind picture‑perfect Pinterest inspiration. With 17+ years of field experience, we translate manufacturer promises into outcomes you can count on, using photos, on‑floor samples, and transparent pros and cons to set clear expectations.

If you’re planning a coating, epoxy floor, or repaint, this conversation will help you ask better questions, avoid overspending, and choose the right system for how you live. Subscribe for more practical guidance, share this with a friend planning a project, and leave a review with your top question so we can cover it next.

To learn more about Mile High Coatings visit:
https://www.MileHighCoatings.com
Mile High Coatings
970-314-1023

Transcript

Welcome And Mission Of Quality

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Mile High Coatings Podcast, where we elevate your spaces to a new peak in quality. Hosted by David Naniga, president of Mile High Coatings, this podcast explores how expert residential painting, concrete coatings, and epoxy flooring can transform garages, basements, patios, and commercial spaces across Colorado's front range. So grab your favorite beverage, sit back, and dive into the world of high-quality coatings.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Trust is built when customers know they're getting exactly what they need. Nothing more, nothing less. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer in the studio with David Nanaga, president of Mile High Coatings. David, it's always great to be with you. Hi, Julie. Hey, David. So a great question for you. How does your company ensure customers only get the services they truly need?

Why In‑Person Estimates Matter

Options, Samples, And Real Constraints

SPEAKER_03 1:00

My personal approach, and I would think that it translates into um, you know, my my sales guys too, is that um I don't oversell or or yeah, or recommend something that that someone doesn't need. And that, you know, starts with having a conversation about you know what the customer is looking for, um what what their experience is, you know, up to this point, you know, have they had, you know, um coatings or or maybe uh you know painting done before. Um or you know, we do a garage storage too. Um, you know, could be, you know, what what what kinds of things worked and didn't work, you know, if they've had stuff. And if they're brand new to it, you know, it's just talking through all the various options. Um, again, whether it's painting or floor coatings or or storage. And so, so that is is gonna typically uh most likely involve you know an in-person estimate. I know sometimes, you know, people like to call and they just want, you know, an over-the-phone kind of ballpark price. Oh, you know, I've got a uh three-car garage, how much is that gonna cost? Well, um, you know, the ballpark price for a reason because you know, a lot of times, you know, there's different factors. Um, is there an existing coating on the floor? Uh are are there repairs that need to be done? Um, is the you know um you know cracks or scaling spalling um the stem wall. So the stem wall is like the the side foundation perimeter wall around the garage floor, um the steps. And so so there's a few things that that need to be considered, uh, which typically involves you know getting getting eyes on the on the on the project. And and that way we're able to you know accurately measure the floor. Uh and it it's it's funny, sometimes uh people don't always know or have a have a good concept of how large their floor is. Um, you know, they they may be you know orders of magnitude off um when when guessing how big their garage floor is or their basement or or whatever. And so um so so I think it definitely starts with having an in-person consultation. You know, we bring samples when possible. Um it's and it's and sometimes, you know, there's some applications where we just can't have physical samples, like for instance, polished concrete or uh stained concrete. We can't really carry around humps of or chunks of concrete. Um and and so it's just you know, being able to explain and show, you know, the pros and cons to each application for that person's situation or space. You know, there could be, you know, if you're talking about a basement floor, um, there's all kinds of options, but you know, maybe the options are limited if if uh they have tile on the floor or they have an existing um, you know, something else, carpet or whatever. Um tile can can can cause some some issues um when you know after you remove it and you prep the floor, um, it can it can you can see the the the grout lines kind of we call it like ghosting through the concrete. And so so there's just little little examples like that um can really influence you know the ultimate the ultimate um result or or application you know that we choose uh to go with. So so I I would say, you know, I I definitely don't don't want to uh recommend something that that that a customer doesn't need. So I usually start with kind of the simplest application and kind of kind of work our way up. Um and it's funny too, because sometimes people, you know, they do some research online or maybe they talk to someone else who is trying to oversell them. It's like, oh yeah, no, you don't you don't need all that, or no, that's not the right application.

Avoiding Redundant Overlays Outdoors

SPEAKER_01 5:12

So and when you were talking about attempts to oversell, you know, your prospects or your, you know, or maybe they became your clients. Can you share with us an example of where you in a way saved a client from accepting a competitor's quote because you just kind of came in with your cape and just told them, you know, what they're offering you, you really don't need that.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

That's a good question.

Paint Tiers And Realistic Longevity

SPEAKER_03 5:37

So I would say I probably see it on maybe on outdoor types of projects, maybe patios um to where someone gets sold like an overlay um on top of a perfectly good concrete substrate, and they want to cover the whole patio with essentially another layer of concrete, you know, a cementitious overlay. And and and then and then coat that. Why? That's a in a way it's redundant, and and you're you're putting in a way uh a likely inferior um substrate on top of a a perfectly fine substrate. Um so that that's probably one off the top of my head that I could that I could come up with. Um I'd say maybe the other one is uh related to painting. You know, I I see you know companies overselling maybe the the top of the line uh most expensive paints. And it's like at the end of the day, the manufacturers, you know, Sherman Lyons or Benjamin Moore, whoever, don't cover fading. You know, paint, house paint, for instance, is really is is really pretty good anymore, especially combined with um the substrates, you know, you a lot of cement board, um, but but but even not, even just regular um, you know, older older types of siding and substrates um can hold paint really well. And so with that in mind, you know, people, you know, they're thinking, oh, you know, my siding is it's this type or that type. But if it's a repaint, you know, that new paint is going on top of paint. It's not at that point, it's not going on the raw substrate. Um, with with maybe an exception of small little areas of maybe peeling, you know, paint where you get down the substrate, and in which in which case you're gonna prime it anyways. And so sorry, I'm I'm I'm switching gears kind of from from coatings to to painting, but but but um I guess to answer your question, that's where I see maybe some some unnecessary overselling. It's like, you know, this this mid-upper tier of paint is gonna do really well. Um and it's gonna last a really long time. And you know, a lot of times people aren't in their homes for 10 or 15 years anyways. And so, you know, having a you know, a potential product that's gonna last so long, maybe, maybe isn't necessary. So um, and people like to change the color of their house too. So, and and and you know, I guess those that's probably the the best example I can come up with off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Oh no, thank you for answering that. I appreciate that. And a last question for you is how do you balance expectations with of the clients with, you know, realistic outcomes? Because I'm sure that comes up a lot of what they're expecting, you know, it to look like, or they have this vision based on, like you mentioned, maybe they researched themselves and they they thought it was gonna be like this, but it turns it turns out that this is really what it's gonna turn out to be.

unknown 9:10

Yeah.

Setting Expectations With Proof And Samples

SPEAKER_03 9:11

No, that's a great, that's actually a really good question. So, and I I think part of that relates to, you know, having done this for over 17 years at this point. You know, back when we first started, you know, and I didn't have actual, you know, project completion experience. It was, you know, it's funny you go to go to product demos or manufacturers, you know, send you stuff and they and they send you fancy brochures and all this stuff, and they tell you how how awesome their their uh their their their products are. And um, and you know, you go to a little demo and you're doing in a in a super controlled environment on a anyway. So, you know, so then you know, without having that experience, you're trying this new product. And so then you go sell them sell the customer, like, oh, this is gonna turn out great because you're relating a information that you learned in in a demo without really having any true experience and in your you're converting that that minimal experience into and telling, you know, setting that expectation with the customer. So now they expect some maybe perfect, you know, level of project. And so setting expectations is is huge. And so one way I do that is I have l a lot of photos. So when when I when I you know do a consultation or an estimate, um, you know, I bring a an you know, an iPad with me, and I show them, you know, so we we kind of dial in um you know what what kind of application we're talking about, and I show tons of photos, and I do go over pros and cons. And you know, this is what you know it looks like if you know if we have to repair this area, or you know, this is you know, this is what this color combination looks like, or this sheen of coating looks like, you know, um, whether it's a semi-gloss or a flat sheen, and you know, and then and then I the I guess the the other big thing is I as you know, if we're talking about a basement floor, for instance, you know, and we're talking about a dye and seal, you know, we always want to try to do samples of this of the dye and seal, which is like stained concrete. We want to do samples on that actual floor that we're gonna be working on, as opposed to me just bringing a little sample um that's you know on on a on a piece of uh concrete that's not the same concrete mix as what's what they're for is and it's gonna look a lot different. And so um so those are probably the the the easiest ways to to set expectations and to really help the customer understand what they can be getting because you know an another example is um you know, gosh, I I see it all the time. People will send um uh you know inspiration photos of things they find Pinterest or or or wherever, and they're like, oh, I I like that, I I want that floor. It's like, okay, we can we can get close, but you know, here's some examples of floors that we've done with products that that we know, because you know, if I'm looking at some random photo on Pinterest, I have no idea what the substrate potentially is, how it was finished, uh, what product we've used, how it was prepped, how it was applied.

Pinterest vs Reality And Final Tips

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Um how they could have edited the photo.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Totally. And so all those variables, you know, there's there's no way to match a floor. Um, and so again, that that that involves having a conversation and again ultimately doing samples and trying to trying to get something that the customer is is gonna be um you know super happy with.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

So okay, David, that was awesome. Uh, thank you so much for explaining how your company Mile High Coatings puts customers first. And we'll see you next time on the Mile High Coatings Podcast.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

All right, thanks, Julie.

Closing And Free Quote CTA

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Thanks for tuning in to the Mile High Coatings Podcast. Ready to give your space a fresh, durable finish? Visit MileHighCodings.com for a free price quote or call 970-314-1023. At Mile High Coatings, we're not just painting walls. We're setting a new peak in quality. Until next time, keep your standards high and your coatings higher.