Getting back to normal after Nashville's "1000-year" flood has not been an easy task. Commercial Painting Inc., one of the city’s largest commercial painters, has been a key player in the cleanup after the May 2010 storms, which caused $2.3 billion in property damage.

"We've been involved in several different areas in the city," says CPI Vice President Ken Darby. "Our business is prefaced on being able to do whatever is required, and we have the manpower to tackle any size project."

That capability was key to completing a number of simultaneous projects in Music Valley, downtown Nashville and other parts of the city. For instance, a crew of 60 CPI painters worked seven days a week for three months to repaint more than 300 guest rooms and other areas at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

"All the lower-tiered rooms were flooded and had to be gutted," Darby says. "Walls, ceilings, door frames, wallcoverings – everything had to replaced."

CPI won the coatings bid for the previous guest room renovation project, which included about 75 percent of the rooms. After the flood, the facility owners took advantage of the time the resort had to be closed to renovate all the other rooms as well. Cashmere Interior Latex was specified, with Sherwin-Williams DTM Bonding Primer used to provide better adhesion in some of the more severely damaged substrates. For the hotel’s laundry facility building, CPI used a combination of A-100 Exterior Latex Satin, Industrial Enamel and Sher-Cryl High Performance Acrylic.

The company was also hired to repaint the nearby Grand Ole Opry House.

"There was eight feet of water in the Opry House after the floods," Darby says. "Everything was ruined."

A wide variety of Sherwin-Williams products were needed on this job. There was A-100 Satin and primer for exterior surfaces, along with Macropoxy 646 and Hi Solids Polyurethane. Loxon Siloxane Water Repellant was used on some unfinished concrete surfaces. Minwax stains were used on both exterior and interior wood, and ProMar 200 in flat, eg-shel and semi-gloss sheens was the spec for interior walls and trim.

CPI’s latest Music Valley project is at Opry Mills, a shopping mall with more than 200 stores. Litigation had postponed some of the post-flood reconstruction, but work has now begun and a grand re-opening of the mall is set for March. No matter where CPI crews go, Sherwin-Williams service plays a key role in its success.

"We're lucky to have some aggressive, talented people working for us," Darby says. "Our rep Brian Quick was basically on hand seven days a week to take care of us. He arranged for paint deliveries to the Opryland jobsite, and even opened up the store on the weekend to ensure we had the materials we needed to get the job done on time."