Welcome to the 12th Annual TOP JOB Awards sponsored by Zinsser. Each year entries flood in from all over the country as the APC staff readies itself to make the toughest decision of the year. Squabbles over favorite jobs run into the late evening hours and the local pizza dive receives a boost in business. You might be asking yourself right now, “What does it take to win a covered American Painting Contractor TOP JOB Award”?

Well my friend, it is no one thing. We rustle through page after page of project descriptions and pore over thousands of pictures looking for the very top jobs. We consider each step that goes into a project: sales, consultation, preparation, unique product usage, employee obstacles, dealing with difficult customers, dealing with difficult customers’ difficult pets, safety, cleanliness, attention to detail and artistry.

Every job we receive is top-notch so it is no easy decision. Our publisher is still nursing a black eye after a particularly heated discussion involving hand scraping or blasting. Now that the smoke has cleared and feelings have mended, we can bring you the winners of our 12th Annual TOP JOB Awards.

Our grand-prize winner took on a unique job that required decorative techniques on the inside and outside of a residential ranch in Florida. Regina Garay and Jason Rosales pulled out all the stoops to make this job number one, including convincing the homeowners to rethink their color choices to get the look they wanted.

Our first-prize winners successfully hurdled multiple obstacles to produce some amazing work. Gindera Painting and Decorative Finishes used everything from modern art to jovial chipmunks to illustrate the imagination of her clients. Rumburger and Company used more than 100 bags of plaster to restore the glory of a Connecticut church. David Durno Paperhanging took on the heavens in Vegas by installing an 80-panel digital mural. The owner of Graphic Construction and Painting finally got the chance to show his artistic abilities on a house he had been pursuing for over 20 years. We hope you enjoy the jobs in the following pages as much as we did.

Thank you to all our industry partners that supply valuable prizes for TOP JOBS. Our grand-prize winner was ecstatic to hear about the grand prize of $10,000 from our sponsor, Zinsser. Thank you to all who entered excellent jobs in this contest. Don’t forget to enter your next extraordinary job for the next round of American Painting Contractor TOP JOB Awards.