Rain leaves painters in deep water

“There have been bad summers, but none as bad as this one,” laments Ívar Þór Hilmarsson, managing director of Stjörnumálun house painting. He has worked in the painting business for 19 years.

This has been a wet summer in the southwest corner of Iceland, with only five dry days reported in Reykjavík in July. May and June, too, were well above average in terms of precipitation.

Ívar Þór tells Morgunblaðið that all outdoor projects are behind schedule, and it is unclear whether they can be completed. Some may have to be postponed until next year.

“Everyone I equally stressed out about it, at least the ones who are involved in larger projects.” The company stopped issuing bids for projects at the beginning of July to be able to complete the ones that were behind schedule.

It can be expensive sending people back and forth, depending on the weather, he explains. Luckily, no one has been laid off, but fewer workers than usual were hired for the summer. Sudden ten-minute showers can ruin a day’s worth of work. “You can’t rely on the weather forecast. That, too, is bad,” Ívar explains.

Már Guðmundsson, head of the Association of Painters, has been a house painter since 1980. He can’t recall a summer as bad as this one, as far as house painting is concerned. He asks customers to please be patient.

What has saved companies in the house painting business this summer is a high demand for indoor painting. Már reports that companies have cooperated by supplying each other with workers, depending on demand. “Hopefully, we’ll get a good autumn, so we can work on the projects longer. We have to be optimistic,” he concludes.

Painter at work. mbl.is/Ernir Eyjólfsson