A method for bonding a material to a first substrate surface that includes providing a catalyst at the first substrate surface and then contacting that surface with a material that undergoes a metathesis reaction to bond the material to the first substrate surface. There are two embodiments of this method—a coating process and an adhesive process. In the coating embodiment, the metathesizable material is contacted with the catalyst on the substrate surface so that it undergoes metathesis polymerization to form the coating. The adhesive process includes (a) providing a catalyst at the first substrate surface, (b) providing a metathesizable material between the first substrate surface and the second substrate surface, and (c) contacting the catalyst on the first substrate surface with the metathesizable material so that the metathesizable material undergoes a metathesis reaction and bonds the first substrate surface to the second substrate surface.