How DJ’s Painting Became the McDonald’s Painters

In 1998, DJ’s Painting was a regional painting company working in NJ, DE and Eastern PA. We were painting all kinds of commercial and residential properties including McDonald’s restaurants and some Wawa stores. In the fall of 98, we were given the title “The McDonald’s Painters” when we were asked if we could handle a 200-store project in 100 days… This meant completing 200 full wash & paint of the exterior walls, trim and most importantly painting of the McDonald’s mansard roofs, 200 of them in 100 days.  This had never been done before anywhere in the world. The stores had to be done during the day while open, which of course made it a bigger challenge.

We had tried painting at night, but we had limited success due to many reasons.

1. More Bugs –  the bugs would get in the paint.
2. Lights – it’s much easier in the natural sunlight than with spotlights
3. Temperature Drop –  the temperature dropped below the dew point causing the roof paint to drip and not cure properly.

So we agreed to take on this crazy challenge and did in fact paint 200 complete exterior paint projects for McDonald’s Operators in the Philly market on time and on budget in 100 days!

The McDonald’s Painters

After the project was done, we found out it was going on in Dallas, TX and Southern Florida. In both areas, they had major issues and did not complete the projects. News of our success had spread to other McDonald’s regions. We then got request after request from owners, McDonald’s Facility, and construction managers to come do their areas. We accepted their jobs!

When the dust settled and all the restaurants were painted red, we had painted over 4,000 locations! During this time frame, we found a niche doing national painting projects. Therefore, we started painting for Gap, Burger King and many other large national chains. It all started in the NJ market, painting McDonald’s buildings. The credit goes to that famous red roof and yellow trim!