The US Drought Is So Bad People Are Painting ... - Business Insider

AP

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? When this summer's?drought?turned her prized?lawn?brown, Terri LoPrimo fought back, but not with sprinklers: She had it?painted?green, making her suddenly lush-appearing yard the envy of her neighborhood.

The Staten Island, N.Y., resident and her husband, Ronnie, hired a local entrepreneur to spruce up their yard by spraying it with a deep-green organic dye. By Monday, the couple's property was aglow with newly?green?blades of grass and no watering needed to sustain it.

"It looks just like a spring?lawn, the way it looks after a rain. It's really gorgeous," said LoPrimo, a 62-year-old retiree.

With two-thirds of the nation covered by a?drought?that stretches from coast to coast, residents and businesses in normally well-watered areas are catching on to the lawn-painting practice employed for years in the West and Southwest to give luster to faded turf.

LoPrimo paid $125 to?green?up her roughly 830-square-foot?lawn. She said it was worth every penny to keep her home of 33 years graced by an attractive yard.

Neighbors and friends have complimented the LoPrimos on their?lawn's?appearance, and she said one envious friend asked for the number of their contractor, Joe Perazzo.

Perazzo, who teaches physical education at Brooklyn's High School of Sports Management, began?painting?lawnsduring his summer break three years ago. His Staten Island company, Grass Is Greener?Lawn?Painting, has touched up close to 20?lawns?this summer, making it his best year to date.

"I'm booked solid for next week. If you look around, most of the?lawns?need some TLC," Perazzo said.

He charges 15 cents per square foot to spray on a non-toxic, environmentally friendly turf dye that he said is commonly used on golf courses and athletic fields to give them a lusher appearance.

Perazzo said the dyed?lawns?will hold their verdant look for a few months, in some cases up to five months.

"It's a night-and-day difference," he said. "People are amazed by how natural it looks."

Kansas City, Mo.-based Missouri Turf?Paint?Inc. has been selling latex turf?paints?for more than 40 years. Company president Jon Graves said his primary customers are golf courses looking to keep their?greensattractive and athletic fields "getting ready for show time."

But he said he's seen a slight increase this year in calls from people interested in either?greening?up residentiallawns?or wanting to get into the lawn-painting business.

"We've had calls primarily from people saying 'Hey I think I'd like to do this for a business,' but we've also had them about houses in foreclosure, homes they want to look a little bit better," for potential buyers, he said.

In the frequently parched Phoenix area, Brian Howland has been?painting?lawns?for about five years as a side business to his full-time job with a sign- and banner-making company.

Howland said he started Arizona?Lawn?Painting?after the foreclosure crisis left scores of Phoenix-area homes empty and their?lawns?neglected. He charges $200 for up to 3,000 square feet, and more if there are numerouslawn?features to?paint?around.

Some of his customers have been residents fearful that their homeowners' associations will penalize them for letting their?lawns?fade.

"Usually it's people who don't feel like messing with their yard or it's a rental or a foreclosure or a sale ? something where before everything gets going they want it to look nice," he said.

A newer entrant into the lawn-painting business is Tim Birdwell, whose Imperial?Painting?normally?paintsIndianapolis-area homes and commercial properties. But this month, Birdwell?painted?his own desiccated?lawn.

His first paying customer was a Meineke muffler shop on the south side of Indianapolis, which, like most of Indiana, is in the midst of an extreme?drought.

Last Friday, two of Birdwell's workers sprayed the long strip of brown grass in front of the store with latex?paint, creating an oasis of?green?in a suburban strip mall filled with faded grass.

Store manager Damon Riggles said Birdwell's price for the?paint?job ? about $600 ? was worth it because the vibrant-looking grass has attracted customers.

"It looks great," Riggles said. "It gave us some curb appeal and definitely got us some new customers' attention. And that's what we were hoping for."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-drought-is-so-bad-people-are-painting-their-lawns-green-2012-7

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