Our Story
My name is Bob Sands and I am the founder of Indiana Painting. I thought you might like to hear our story. Our family has been painting since the 1940’s when my grandfather, Mendell Sands, came back from serving in the 101st Airborne in World War II. Looking for a way to support his family after the war, he took a job with his uncle who taught him to paint. He painted around Northwest Indiana until the 1960’s when he began traveling the western United States painting Phillips 66 fuel stations as a vendor directly for the company. In the 1980’s, I traveled with him and my Dad in the summers with the crew bringing these old gas stations back to life with their bright white bodies and clean red stripes. What fun that was seeing new places and meeting new people every week! Our small crew of four could knock out a fuel station in about two days leaving behind no evidence that we were even there except a great new paint job! People were always asking things like, “When did that happen?” and remarking about how quick that was. When you paint the same thing over and over again, you get really good at it!
After high school, I thought I was done with painting! I tried my hand at several jobs including house moving for my other grandfather at Dillabaugh Inc. and foundation repair with another uncle at Don’s Foundation Repair. Finally, in 1996, I enrolled in Boyce Bible College in Louisville, KY. I wanted to pastor a church or at least serve in the church in some capacity. My last year there, I served as youth minister at a small Baptist church in Crestwood, KY for about six months. Youth ministry was eye opening and I began to doubt if my calling was really in church leadership. Not knowing what to do our little but growing family moved back to be with my family in Bloomington, Indiana. I took a job as a painter with Sands Painting, a company owned by my Dad and brother (did I mention that painting has always been in the family.) The company dissolved in 2002, leaving me without a job or any clear direction in life. In January of 2003, S & B Construction asked if I would take on a few contracts that were terminated when the family company dissolved. I accepted the offer and I started Indiana Commercial Coatings in an effort to serve general contractors with painting services. After two years in the business, it became clear that we wanted to serve a broader community than the commercial customer. We rebranded as The Indiana Painting Company and began serving business owners and homeowners alike.
We’ve spent the last two decades trying to help bring about lasting change in the painting trade through holding ourselves to a higher standard and training our painters to be customer services professionals AND painters. Painting is in our DNA, I can’t imagine doing anything else! Many of my kids work in the company and one of them, Joel, team leader in our company and we couldn’t be more proud to pass on this honored trade to our own kids! Now, our company is well know in the commercial painting industry as a reliable trade partner. Even though we are placing a higher emphasis on residential painting now, you will still find us painting at the local Starbucks or at the new store that is coming soon at the Fashion Mall. We always feel honored to help improve the community whether it is a bedroom in your home or at the new restaurant at the IND airport. How exciting it is to be part of our growing central Indiana region!
Our Vision
We aim to continually change the painting industry by being a little better today than we were yesterday.
Our Mission
Indiana Painting exists to provide the highest quality of craftsmanship paired with unparalleled customer service, integrity, and reliability to clients who want to improve their lives through painting. We believe that a good paint job executed in a professional manner is one of the first steps in bringing order and tranquility into the lives of our customers. We believe in our service so strongly that you don’t pay until you are satisfied.
Our Way of Life
To Our Customers –
- To be the company our customers come to trust through honesty, fair dealing and keeping our word.
- To invigorate the lives of our customers by enhancing their surroundings with knowledgeable, professional staff and the best products on the market.
- To make the painting experience enjoyable by being a cheerful partner with the customer to accomplish their goals.
To Our Workplace and Employees –
- To help build each other up so each one of us can be more useful to those around us.
- To provide a place where tradesmen can earn a living with dignity and self-respect.
- To have a workplace where honesty and hard work are a way of life.
To Our Community –
- To make our community brighter and more pleasant with our craft and our actions.
- To deal fairly with all we come in contact with.
- To act wisely to conserve all that has been given us for future generations.
Our Office Team
Our office staff is dedicated to continued company improvement and meeting the needs of all of our clients. We also serve our field teams by ensuring they have the materials, scope, and information that will lead to project success.