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Painter brushes up for record-book bid

CLOVERDALE - Surrey resident Matt Begley is working on securing the title of a Guinness World Record holder. The worldrenowned record keeping franchise, known best for its annual publication The Guinness Book of World Records, includes giving people notoriety for such arbitrary feats as longest egg tossing distance and world's longest dreadlocks.

 

The title that Begley's looking to snag? World's fastest indoor house painter.

 

While it may seem arbitrary to some, to Begley, the reasons to aim for that title are not so trivial.

 

"I figure I'm doing this because it'll be good for business," he told the Now. "I've been painting since 2001; however, I've been out of business and I figured this will not only be good if I wanted to start up a painting business again (but) any other business, too."

 

Begley feels that, besides giving him a kitsch-factor that'll up his publicity, holding a Guinness record will inevitably give his name credibility in light of an industry that can be marked by scam-artists akin to those seen on shows like Holmes on Homes.

 

"If I do decide to start painting again - and I haven't even made that decision - if everything goes as planned and is certified, I could maybe even use it for consulting as well, to consult with other painting firms and come in and train their people," he said. "This is what I figure... if I can say that I'm a Guinness Book of World Records holder, that's what separates me from scam artists and con artists. If I can show them my certificate or my Guinness card, I can flash them that badge to say, 'Hey, it's okay, I'm a record holder.'" To beat the current record holder, Austria's Wilhelm Probst, Begley will have to have the 10 square-metre wall completely painted in under four minutes and 40 seconds. Probst has held the title since 2006.

 

Begley is more than confident he'll come out victorious in earning the title of world's fastest indoor house painter since he's been practicing beating the record.

 

"I've broken it quite handsomely," he said, self-assuredly. "I have beaten it and I am practicing further and further, I know it's going to be beaten. I want the notary to come by ahead of time so there are no questions on his end and to make sure that when it actually does happen that the quality is acceptable."

 

Here in Canada, we're more closely linked with this competition than we know. "To get this record complete, I'll be using two Canadian inventions: the paint roller and the garbage bag," he noted, and "not many people know this in Vancouver (but) the Guinness family built the Lions Gate Bridge to connect the British Estates with downtown."

 

Begley will have his attempt to break the record filmed in the morning of Tuesday, June 2 at his Cloverdale home.