So arduous was the task of painting the Forth Bridge back in the day that it spawned its very own euphemism.
For much of its life, the famous rail crossing required a permanent team of workers to continuously paint its entire structure from end to end.
But while this perilous operation was certainly not for the faint of heart, with the bridge rising to a height of 361 feet above the Forth, it was the very definition of a steady job - for it could never be considered "complete".
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In the early 20th century, it took a team of 50 men three years and 18 tons of paint to keep the 1890-built bridge corrosion free and looking fresh, by which time the whole process had to be repeated.
The quirk became so well-known that the phrase "painting the Forth Bridge" soon entered common parlance among Scots to describe any never-ending task.
Covering the 135 acres of steel and 6.5 million rivets making up the 2,500-metre-long bridge with a fresh coat of red oxide of iron paint was no mean feat. Clutching their brush with one hand and clinging on to a rope and bucket with the other, the fearless men had to work to a strict timetable to ensure that they kept to schedule.
External painting was carried out in the summer months, with the inside of the bridge's tubular girders conducted during winter.
The lower girders of the structure, lashed continually by salt spray, were painted with a black mixture, mainly composed of pitch to counteract the corrosive actions of the salt.
Workers required nerves of steel and the agility of a cat in order to cope with not only the extreme heights involved, but the almost constant vibrations caused by trains traversing the structure every five to ten minutes. They even had to contend with dodging the coins that rail passengers would commonly launch out of carriage windows for good luck.
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The sound of the bridge itself could also give you a jolt. Variations in temperature would cause the cantilevers to expand and contract by up to a foot, with the clatter they made likened to "revolver shots".
At all times, there would be one man in a boat positioned beneath the area where the painters worked - as accidents were not uncommon. Serious falls, fortunately, were rare, with the boatman usually employed to fish out workers' caps, coats and planks of wood that had been dropped from above.
In March 1919, one painter fell into the Forth from a height of 150 feet, and, miraculously, survived. The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported that painter James McMath was rescued after lying "lifeless" in the water before being successfully revived in hospital.
In spite of these extreme occupational hazards, the Forth Bridge's hardy gang of painters took great pride in their never-ending task. It really was a job for life, with many of the workers employed on the crossing for generations.
Speaking to the BBC in 2011, Matti Watson recalled his days as a Forth Bridge painter in the 1970s and the inherent dangers that were still part and parcel of the job.
He said: "There were rope cradles when I first started with the pulleys. A bucket and a brush, that's how it was done. A big round brush and a big bucket. You had to carry them wherever you went. There were no safety belts in those days."
While it would later be made easier with the advent of more efficient paint applicators, the task of repeatedly painting the Forth Bridge continued until 2002, when a new, more durable, glass-based epoxy was introduced. The special paint creates a chemical bond that protects the steel like never before.
The new paint now means the bridge only requires repainting once every 25 years. This means we should expect the iconic landmark to be made ready for another paint job by 2027.
