Kimball Midwest Blog

Making School Look Cool (and Buses, Too!)

Written by Kimball Midwest | March 10, 2021

Let’s face it, school districts often operate with limited budgets, so regular maintenance is crucial to keep buildings, grounds and buses functional and in good condition. Paint touchups are no exception, and bus seats need TLC after so much wear and tear. Luckily, Kimball Midwest has high-quality products to restore and spruce up parking lots, athletic fields and buses.

Buses

According to School Bus Fleet magazine, a standard school bus has a seating capacity of 80 passengers, or three students per seat. Smaller buses can accommodate up to 32 passengers, and the largest school buses can carry 90. Any way you look at it, each school bus carries many passengers daily, which means a lot of wear and tear over the course of an academic year.

Let’s start with the seats, which need frequent touch-ups. Vinyl-Flex restores their original appearance, permanently bonding to the vinyl to return the seats to their original color. It will not crack, peel or chip and resists fading and discoloration. It comes in black, Thomas Green, Thomas Blue, Thomas Gray, Ward Chocolate Brown, Blue Bird Brown and Thomas Brown.

The exterior of the bus needs touching up, too, after being exposed to the elements. School Bus Yellow Ultra Pro•Max Paint is formulated to match the exterior paint. And because the amount of paint solids is extremely high, you get better coverage with less paint (and save time, too). School Bus Yellow comes in spray paint, gallon cans and paint markers for small touch-ups.

Don’t forget the trim! Gloss Black Ultra Pro•Max Paint is ideal for this purpose, whether you need spray paint, gallon cans or paint markers.

Paved Surfaces

School parking lots and other paved surfaces need periodic repainting, too. We have the inverted traffic marking paints you need in yellow, white, red or blue. All these Ultra Pro•Max paints produce crisp lines up to 4” wide and dry fast in warm weather, so traffic can resume about an hour after application. Plus, they offer superior coverage.

Use any of these paints with the Traffic Marking Paint Machine to apply even 2” to 4” stripes on concrete or asphalt. It’s easy to use and provides excellent results every time.

Athletic Fields

Athletic fields are exposed to a lot of foot traffic and weather, which means frequent restriping. Water-soluble marking paints are a must, whether you’re painting a football gridiron, baseball diamond or soccer field.

These paints do not apply in crisp lines like traffic marking paint, but they do provide fast identification and marking on various surfaces, including dirt and gravel. They are also safe to use on grass. Plus, their inverted design makes for easier marking than standard spray paint cans.

These water-based marking paints are long lasting and come in a variety of colors, such as white, red, florescent orange, green and florescent red. If you want to preserve the paint color and help it last longer, protect it with clear marking paint.

For a more temporary option, we also have marking paints that wash off easily with water and a stiff broom, power washer or several rainfalls. These temporary paints come in white, florescent orange or blue.

All these paints can be applied with the Compact Inverted Paint Marking Gun, which allows for easy, one-handed paint marking. The short-handled design allows you to paint hard-to-reach areas, and it has a comfortable pistol grip with a rubberized trigger. The Inverted Paint Marking Stick is another option, providing pin-point accuracy without the need to bend over.    

Maintaining school grounds and buses is no small task, but using the right products can help you work more efficiently. Need a helping hand? We will help you