I don’t know about you, but I think painting is a drag. Yeah, sure, it looks good when it is done. . . but the prep work combined with the knowledge you will have to do it again in several years really puts a damper on my enthusiasm. I am all for any solution that rids me of the painting monkey on my back. And what better to rid yourself of a monkey than with a Rhino.
Rhino Shield is an innovative product that is advertised to never chip, flake or peel. The material used is actually a ceramic coating system and comes with a lifetime warranty. It looks like fresh paint, comes in any color, and bonds permanently to surfaces including wood, stucco, brick, and aluminum. According to the manufacturer, ceramic coating reflects over 90% of the suns energy, giving it a 25-year fade rate that is virtually undetectable to the human eye. For more information, visit Rhino Shield online. Thanks to Darren for the tip.
UPDATE: It has come to my attention that several of the comments in the post may have been posted under different names by the same persons and/or business(es). This seems to be a heated product analysis, with some questionable comments. I recommend taking comments with a grain of salt and performing non-Homefixated due diligence as you evaluate any of the products or companies mentioned in the post or comments. -Marc
When looking for a paint or coating company, you can find one based on direct consumer reviews through services like Angie’s List.
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I have not heard anything bad about rhinoshield. I have used them extensively on multiple homes that I own, all the way back 5 years ago and they all still look great. I tried once to paint with a lifetime paint on a home and not being a pro and/or the paint being bad…it peeled in a year. Then…I called rhinoshield and a couple of other companies, 3 different companies did 3 different houses and the only one that did not peel and crack was rhinoshield. Rhino was also more pro in the way they looked and talked and went about the job. Rhino seems to be the only legit company out there…and I will continue to use them as I buy more property. They solved my problems, the question to myself was…..could I afford NOT to go with them. The answer was simple…NO. So the rest is history, for me, rhinoshield was the answer.
Well I finally had my last investment property done by rhinoshield. I am very pleased, they all look great and will last forever. I could not be happier, it cost me more money than regular paint, but a liftime warranty by a company that has been around since 1997 with 45 dealers nationwide makes me feel secure that they will be around for a long time. Now…..if I could get a water heater with a lifetime warranty i would really be happy! Anyway for anyone who cares…..all the painters spoke english….one was very Irish the other guy was very Italian American and the 3 other guys were just regular white guys. So I don’t know how everyone else feels….but, I had a great experience with rhino and can recommend them very highly! Thanx and good luck everyone….!
I called Rhino Shield for a quote today, this blog has not offered much help, just a lot of mud slinging. As I see it the people who post here are mostly the ones with problems. I hope this is a very small percentage of the number of houses they actually do. I did however get some valuable information, I will not have the job done if a bunch of non-English speaking subs show up. I’ll keep up to date with this thread as I get closer to having my house done.
I have read about exppcs. The 2 top men have no background in coatings….just finance. I don’t want my taxes done, I want my properties painted. I will stick to the hand of experience in lifetime paint, Rhinoshield. I stay with what works.
Ceramic microsheres actually reduce the quality, breathability and performance when used in any paint. A true permanent coating, while rare, is available. It must be waterproof, and the entire system including the primer must be breathable, and INDEPENDENT ASTM test results should be made available to the public. For information on the real “Permanent Coating System” visit EXPPCS.com or http://www.exppcs.com for the real truth. For everyone’s information, you don’t need a special company to get ceramic microspheres. You can order them on the internet and stir into any paint. It’s just not a good idea. I personally would NEVER buy from a company who’s web site did not provide a physical or mailing address. That sounds like a “virtural” company instead of a real company. That said, some specialty products are not available at stores because they are not “consumer friendly” for use, and often require special equipment and training for proper preparation and installation.
just had rhinoshield applied to my 9th investment property. The one they painted 5 years ago is still looking as new as the day they put it on. These guys are saving me a bundle on maintenance and painting. Hey….thank-you rhinoshield of Ma. you guys are truly the best!
Hi Tom Alsop,
Just to be Devils advocate.
Please explain how a homeowner would be covered if the worst happened. They purchase your product, they find some painter that never applied it, your very thick product needs to be removed from the house due to installation / prep issue / not suitable for the substrate. It would be impossible to find an applicator that will give a labor warranty for life going this route. A complete strip of such a thick coating (10 times thicker than paint) would cost 10k – 25k.
Do you offer a labor warranty in case things go wrong with your product? Specifically an installation issue? Hiring someone that has never seen or used your product and having them coat my entire house with it seems like a VERY risky DIY experiment.
You can purchase vinyl siding for 3k to do your entire home but if you get a quote from a professional they charge 15k – 20k for installation. I think it’s all relative, you need a pro that will warranty the installation.
Ben Moore (Aura) and Sherwin Williams (Duration) have the same Lifetime Warranty you offer (without labor) and they are sold in every town in America.
How is your product any different?
Hi All –
I am the owner of Liquid Ceramic International, Inc. In June, 2000, I became involved with the “permanent coating industry” and promised I’d wear the “white hat” in this business. At that time, I was already hearing about the mud-slinging that was going on in this industry. So I certainly didn’t want to jump into the middle of it. I signed an marketing agreement with a company that I believed would allow me to build a good and solid business centered around our flagship product, Liquid Ceramic Exterior Wall Coating. We originally did about a hundred homes in our area (Charlotte, NC) to gain some experience with the product, then 9/11 hit. Buyers were shy about investing the amount of money we normally charged. The economic climate was much like it is today – - people want to hold onto their money. So at that point, we got out of the business of applying this product and went into the business of signing other entrepreneurs as dealer-applicators of our product. In no time flat, we had a couple of dozen dealers throughout the country.
As much as times have changed, things have remained the same. The same mud-slinging goes on locally between our dealers and their local competitors. Things that we create, write and post on our website shows-up all of a sudden on the competitor’s websites as if they’re a “me too” product.
This industry is filled with entrepreneur companies that eventually find themselves in a corner. It’s costly to run advertising. I’ve been there. And it’s scary when dollars invested don’t pay off. They put up their life savings promoting their new “lifetime” product where the consumer is charged an arm-and-a-leg and if someone doesn’t get the amount of business they think they should be getting or out of fear believe they’re being attacked by the competition, then the counter-attacks and mud-slinging begins.
There’s a book called “Blue Ocean Strategy” that describes the red and bloody waters that most businesses compete in. Liquid Ceramic chose not to compete in the red waters but the blue waters. Years ago, after seeing the potential of being drug under with all the alligators, we decided to take a different path.
First, we found many of our dealers had “grass is greener on the other side syndrome.” When three hurricanes came through Florida back in ‘06, we lost three dealers because they wanted to be in the roofing business where they could make much more money. Some dealers, we find out, wanted to “pop some customers a big dollar amount and an unbelievable warranty” and get out, leaving us holding the bag.
Second, we keep in good graces and exclusivity with our manufacturer because we want what they want: volume sales. It’s nice that we provide some folks who “live and breathe” our product but we’re not in the business of representing to entrepreneurs that we can make them rich overnight. If a painter wants to buy our product and provide a lifetime warranty to a homeowner, we just hope that it’s represented correctly and that the homeowner read his warranty before the do the deal.
Here’s my take on things: any dealer can go under at any time. And that could possibly leave some homeowners upset. The inside joke in the industry when someone promises a “lifetime warranty” is “the lifetime of who and what?” If any homeowner believes everything they’re told, well, I wonder how they ever became homeowners.
Last week, I was contacted by a very senior, senior citizen who had already signed a $27,000 contract for one of these ocmpanies to come out and paint her house. She had to have been 75 years or older, giving her a “lifetime warranty.” As in many comments I’ve read, nothing was given to her in writing in terms of a warranty, just a promise of a warranty after the job was completed. After nearly an hour on the phone, there was nothing I could do to help her except advise her to see her attorney.
So, are you working for someone else and thinking, “hmmm, I could do this on my own…” let me tell you how easy it is to become “one of them” in no time flat. Here’s how this little industry of ours works:
a) contact a paint company (just google “paint manufacturers”) and asks “can you make a paint product for me and put my own private label it?” (answer: yes and anyone with a few thousand bucks can do this. In fact, Nationwide Coatings advertised in national paint magazines looking for customers they can private label for. But my guess is that any paint manufacturer, in this economy, will do the same, if you have a volume commitment. And, by the way, be sure to have them throw in some 3M ceramic microspheres just because you need some sizzle with that steak!)
b) the product arrives in your newly-rented mini-warehouse (a/k/a “home office”) with your label on it, perma-something, rhino-this, giraffe-that, monkey-see-monkey-do, etc., whatever name you want to put on it. The tougher-sounding the name, the “better” the product, right? Can’t wait for Ram-Coat, Trojan-Coat or Hillary-Coat to hit the scene sometime soon!
c) run some ads on TV, radio, newspaper, internet. Hire a good website company to make you look good. Make some promises and certainly state how long you’ve been in business. If you’re a relatively new start-up, then think about how you can make it LOOK like you’ve been around for a while. (Hey, 3M and BASF have been around for a while, let’s keep throwing-out their name!) We even saw one company list 3M as one of their “partners.” Wow, think of that. You can start your own company and 3M will actually “partner” with you!
d) continue to make-up stuff. Whatever you make-up at your “home office” is what your dealers and their “independent sales reps” will run with. You say the fish is a foot long, they’ll say two feet. Go for it. (That’s what got the Kryton/Procraft/LiquidVinyl/LiquidSiding/Multi-Guard R20 (same organization) folks in deep doo-doo with the FTC back in 2003/04. Just google “liquid siding” and FTC for some fun reading.) And if things don’t work out, take off like a herd of rhinos and start another company. Isn’t America great!
e) promise high profits for anyone who wants to become a dealer. If the product fails, just tell the dealer to deal with it because you’ll make a killing on the next job and therefore you’ll never want to get out of this business. And as long as there are gullible consumers, America is stil great!
f) don’t allow the consumer to buy the product. Why? No reason, except that no one will make a ton of money. But you’ve got to have a reason to give to the consumers. So let’s go with this story (hey, it worked with your predecesor company, and it will work with your new company as well): Tell them, well, these NASA scientists spent all-night developing this secret formula and our “factory trained” applicator-engineers who’re given special equipment are the only ones who can properly apply it. Plus, we’ll guarantee it for someone’s/something’s “lifetime.” Yeah, that works. Let’s go with that! They swallowed it before, they’ll swallow it again. Watch!
Pretty sick, isn’t it. Makes those folks selling “store-bought” paint look pretty good after all. Or does it? I was in Lowe’s the other day. Their “American Traditions” paint, made by Valspar, give you a lifetime warranty as well. And who could doubt a big-box store? Unfortunately, they made the fine print a little too large and it was discovered that if for any reason you’re not pleased with their product on your house, you’re to bring back the empty paint cans (that have been stored in your garage for years, right?) along with the (now-faded) cash register receipt for a full refund or exchange with comparable product. So who keeps empty paint cans around? What value is this warranty?
That’s my perspective on this industry. I’m not bashing individual, honest entrepreneurs who want to make an honest living. But when Mrs. Jones needs her house painted and you have a hungry sales rep who’s trying to get caught-up on his mortgage, gosh-dang, it’s difficult not to charge that proverbial arm and leg, right? And who doesn’t want to get that high-5 from the boss when returning to the office the following morning?
Homeowners are sensitive to the fast-talking, slick Willie’s who come into their home and make unbelievable, time consuming presentations. We even encountered one professional con artist who provided a form for the homeowner to “waive” their 3-day consumer rights period so work could start right away. In other words, it didn’t allow the consumer to think about the transaction, which is what the law, embodied in the Federal U. S. Code, allows. It’s a paint job, guys, not a hole in the roof that has to be fixed el-pronto!
We don’t want to go down that dealership path again. We changed our business model and sales are up because of it. Our model now allows painters, yes, real painters, and homeowners to buy our product directly. It’s unbelievable the number of homeowners who call and say “the ______ guy just left our house and quoted us $20,000 to paint our house. He promised the world but we just find it too good to be true.” We end-up selling the homeowner $1500 in product and suggest to them that they go to the Painting and Decorating Contrator’s Association’s website (www.pdca.com) and click on the FIND A PRO button. What does that do? It puts 5-gallon pails of a great product on your front porch and it allows them to find a real pro to apply the product. The PDCA is a 115-year-old association of painters. Membership in PDCA does not guarantee anything but getting 2-3 quotes from reputable PDCA painters improves your chances the prep work and job will be done correctly. These guys invest a few hundred bucks to join PDCA and that, in the least, makes a statement about their commitment to this industry. Costs savings of $12-15000.00 to the homeowner. Now, the homeowner’s give YOU a high-5.
Okay, you say, this cuts most of the posters of this website out of the picture. But why do we need an industry filled with folks offering promises that they know they shouldn’t make and have no knowledge of the actual product itself? If it weren’t for Ambien, I don’t know how many of them would sleep. If a dealer makes a promise to the homeowner thinking their “home office” will back-up their promise, they’re living in fantasy-land. If the dealer were a 25-50 year old, established local painter, I might have a different take on all of this. But I don’t see those legacy paint firms making these kinds of promises.
This industry has no “association” or “standards” they subscribe to, unlike the PDCA, which does. There’s no National Association of Permanent Paint Promisers who monitor what is said and is willing to reject membership if they don’t clean-up their act. But there’s also not a national association for con artists. Before the internet came around, the Number One category of complaints the BBB received, nationally, was Home Improvement Contractors. We’re happy to be suppliers to the home improvement industry but want no part with any individual or company who mis-states what our product is or does.
In case you’re a homeowner who might happen to be reading this and you want a product that has a proven 40-year history manufactured by a publicly traded company which is listed on the Master Painter’s Institute’s List of Approved Products (www.paintinfo.com) – - then talk to us. We’re at http://www.LiquidCeramicDirect.com. Yes, we want your business. We’ll deal with you directly and help you through the process of showing you how we differ from the store-bought paint products and why our product actually lasts longer.
We’ll promise to respect you as a person, homeowner and customer. We’ll be happy to speak with whoever you end-up hiring to prep your house and put the product on your house in the manner recommended in detail by the Master Painter’s Institute’s Repaint Manual. House values have dropped 10-15 nationwide in the past two years. There’s no point in loosing $20,000 more over some promise that it will add $20,000 in value to your house. We believe Liquid Ceramic is the right choice and as far as we see, we’re the only product in this industry who will sell to you direct, in at least 90% of this country. We hope to hear from you.
Hi Rick. . . it’s refreshing to see a positive post on here for a change! Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I have to agree with you that mud-slinging has no place in ethical business conduct. Let’s hope your latest comment sets a tone for more constructive commentary on this post!
I am an owner of Lifetyme Exteriors, and I have to say that all of this mud-slinging back and forth between these companies makes me completely embarassed to be a part of it all. Rather than simply doing business in a professional manner and telling a potential customer why your company may be their best option, it seems that many have resorted to relaying negative aspects of other competing companies. Frankly, it seems to me that this whole debate makes all of us look bad. It is no wonder many people consider the home improvement industry the bottom of the business barrel when it comes to ethics and the ability to be trusted. In a previous message from earlier in the year, someone from Rhino Shield attempted to enlighten the readers with ‘The Facts’, or at least as he believes them to be. Unfortunately, there were a few mis-representations with regard to the information about Lifetyme Exteriors. We have been coating the exteriors of homes for the past 6 years throughout New England, and we have indeed coated hundreds upon hundreds of homes, condominiums, churches and businesses. We have an ‘A’ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Our product – Smart Color – is specially formulated for New England weather conditions. It is manufactured by the largest paint and coatings manufacturer in North America. We were the first coatings company in the New England area to perform a significant amount of work. The two owners attended and graduated from Williams College prior to starting out in business together. We have never once re-incorporated or gone bankrupt. That is all I have for now, and although it makes me feel like I need a hot shower after participating in this forum, I do feel a sense of catharsis in at least attempting to clear up some misconceptions about our company that have been forwarded by competitors. Keep in mind that this entire response was made without the benefit of negative or slanderous comments about another company. Novel idea, I know, and the best and only way to do business as far as I am concerned.
Feel free to check my blog for additional information about our company and product, the URL is listed here – http://lifetymeexteriors.wordpress.com or check us out at http://www.stoppainting.net
I have know idea who this Larry guy is but he has nothing to do with Easychoice or our Manufacture Lanco & Harris. Lanco has been around for 60 plus years and backs there product for life. This guy who wrote this I suspect is from are comp. Im a co-owner of Easychoice and would be glad to show you our warranty as well as the Manufacture warranty. My competion won’t even mention who they are on this site and ask them about there manufacture because they won’t tell you. Because they have no manufacture warranty in writing like we do.
LET ME GIVE YOU SOME 3RD PARTY VERIFIABLE INFORMATION.
NOT ANONYMOUS POSTS FROM WHO KNOWS WHO.
Easy Choice’s product is a Multi Trade Coating AKA owned by Larry Mancini.
Your warranty is backed by this company.
Larry – has been at this for a while and without much success.
This company reincorporates and switches product so much it’s tuff to keep track of it. They were also Ceramic Guard, CeramaXGuard & Elasticoat – told everyone they were as good as the other companies or better. We will give you a manufacturer’s warranty blah blah.
Each one of these coatings by Multi Trade has been a failure. No one that has dealt with them in the past has a warranty.
Here is Multi Trade / Larry Mancini HIMSELF defending Ceramic Guard on the Bob Villa website years back.
Multi Trade – Ceramic Guard
http://www.bobvila.com/wwwboard/messages/81833.html
Here is Multi Trade in action reincorporating down in Florida:
MULTI-TRADES COATING COMPANY OF ORLANDO – INACTIVE CLOSED
http://ccfcorp.dos.state.fl.us/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P01000013263&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=MULTITRADE&names_filing_type=
MULTI-TRADES COATING COMPANY INTERNATIONAL – INACTIVE CLOSED
http://ccfcorp.dos.state.fl.us/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P00000117203&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=MULTITRADE&names_filing_type=D
Current Multi Trade in business in Florida:
MULTITRADES COATING CO INTER INC
http://ccfcorp.dos.state.fl.us/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P08000031786&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=MULTITRADE&names_filing_type=
Now Multi Trade is out of South Carolina
Best of luck if you decide to go with Easy Choice Exteriors / Multi Trade !!!!
(Who knows, maybe the 5th time is a charm and you will get a Warranty that lasts longer than a normal paint job.)
I don’t know who Bob is but I’m a co-owner of EasyChoice Exteriors and we have a flawless BBB record and if it was true that you had a problem I would know because I call all my customers each year to make sure there happy So Please call if your a real customer 877-easy-989. In regards to Rhino saying we use a elasticoat product is a total lie. We use Armorex ceramic coating only so please get your facts right.
I have 20 properties-I tried rhinoshield, easychoice and lifetyme. The people from rhino were more informed and professional in the way they operated. After all was said and done………….1year later…easychoice house is bubbling right off the house, they were sloppy with paint all over my nieghbors house from the overspray, the foul mouths on those clowns was totally unprofessional. Lifetyme was a little better, but the paint is cracking in some sections, and trying to get them down here has been hell. The rhino house is still looking beautiful and I am very happy the way it turned out. Rhino will be painting my other 16 properties.
Marc this guy from Rhino does not no what he is talking about when it comes to EasyChoice Exteriors. I don’t know where he gets his info. The manufacture for EasyChoice is Lanco&Harris who has been the manufacture for 63yrs they have never changed there name and have 5 plants world wide. Rhino manufacture is nation wide chemical 1 plant in Florida.But there web site claims Amcoat Tecnologies is. Give Nation wide a call and you will find out the truth.
This blog is really a disgrace. The person who owns the blog even states at the top that there is multiple posts from the same IP address. It states at the top of this blog ‘It has come to my attention that several of the comments in the post may have been posted under different names by the same persons and/or business’ MEANING, people pretending to be someone else. Typically all webmasters remove multiple posts from the same IP with different names, because they are obviously lying. These lies damage people personally and financially. This is a thread you most likely wont find anywhere else because it’s mostly built on lies and crap from the salesmen of each of these companies bashing each other.
HERE ARE REAL FACTS AND NOT ANONYMOUS POSTS:
Rhino Shield of New England
Rhino Shield has been in business for 5 years.
Never had a complaint with the MA Attorney Generals Office.
They have done 100’s of homes in New England
They have a spotless BBB record for all 5 years
Have an A rating with Angies List
Rhino Shield has dozens of dealers listed on the BBB, all with satisfactory ratings.
Rhino Shield has completed work for Disney, NasCar, Comfort INN and locally at Harvard University.
Lifetyme Exteriors Lifetyme Exteriors has been in business for approx 5 years.
Was formely an Alvis Spray on siding dealership, Alvis went bankrupt.
Have multiple complaints with the MA Attorney Generals Office.
Have done 100’s of homes in New England
They have 13 plus complaints with the BBB
Have an F rating with Angies List
Have been banned from advertising on WTKK
Easy Choice Exteriors
X – Salesman from Lifetyme
Violated his non compete and created this company in 2008.
Product they apply is unproven and is manufactured by a company that reincorporates very often.
They are still selling the same coating as http://www.elasticoat.com
Dear “The Facts”. Thanks for taking the time to comment on HomeFixated. I find it interesting that you call HomeFixated a disgrace, but still take the time to write up such a lengthy and carefully worded comment. I appreciate your input, and would like to reply to a couple of the the points you brought up.
I believe in free speech, which is why I tend to avoid editing or deleting comments if I can help it. I think HomeFixated readers are sophisticated enough to discern sincere comments from comments with an agenda. The line that you quoted indicated several comments “may” have been posted by the same person, but I don’t have absolute proof of that in terms of IP addresses or otherwise. And frankly, anyone can post from a different network under a different name, and a webmaster will have no way of knowing it. I have a very clear policy on comments which you’re welcome to review http://homefixated.com/legal/
Since you seem so opposed to anonymous posts, perhaps you’d like to share your name and contact info publicly? The reason I suggest that, is that you seem very invested in the topic and seem to have a lot of inside information that I would suspect only someone affiliated with one of the companies in question might have. I have repeatedly been asked by various coating companies mentioned in the post/comments to remove select comments. If I had done so, I would have been doing a disservice to my readers since I would have been deleting some potentially legitimate comments. I also would have been favoring some companies over others, without any direct knowledge of their services. Interestingly, your comment about IP addresses is almost word for word what one of the coating companies said to me when they were asking me to delete some of the negative comments. In fact, not “all webmasters” follow the same policy about comments, and to suggest they do is simply misinformed. I leave the Rhino Shield post up for the same reason I leave all my posts up. . . . they are a legitimate part of the HomeFixated site. If you have further concerns about this post, the comments, or HomeFixated’s policies, please feel free to contact me directly via the “contact” link in the upper right.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
Kindly,
Marc
It sounds to me like Rhino Shield is full of crap. This smells like another Tex-Coat / Alvis Spray-On-Siding deal to me. Buyer beware if everyone here is saying Rhino Shield is a bad company with a bad product maybe it’s true. Bad news travels fast.
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