Painter's responsibility?

18 years ago

I posted here a few years ago re best way to prep exterior wood around window for paintin. It was suggested by many pro painters to use an oil base primer and latex top coat. I purchased Ben Moore products and the painters went to work. It has been almost three years since the painting and I have about six windows that are peeling terribly and look as though they were never painted. I had the painters return two years ago for the same thing and they were supposed to SAND, PRIME and PAINT. Who konws if this was done, but in their defense, could they have done everything the proper way and still have this peeling paint?

I am so disappointed because, of course, painters are not inexpensive and i payed dearly for this job and chose, what i thought, was a reputable, responsible company.

Am i wrong in asking and expecting them to return after a job that was done nearly three years ago? Should a professional exterior paint job last longer than three years??? I noticed evidence of this peeling last fall, but decided to wait until Spring to compalain since it was too cold to do any painting.

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Comments (4)

richardkittyhawk
18 years ago
You are right to expect the painter to fix the problems with their paint work. Painters agree to guarantee a paint job based upon their experience in dealing with paint problems. Windows can be a problem for many painters. If they primed with oil based primer and painted with a latex topcoat, this should not have happened. Part of the solution is to ask why the paint peeled. It could have been a moisture problem with the windows. If moisture is the problem, the painter is not responsible for the failure. If there is no moisture problem, then either the painter failed at his preparation or the paint itself failed. No exterior paint should fail under normal circumstances after three years unless there is either moisture or poor preparation.
paintguy22
18 years ago
What is the wood? If it is factory primed brickmold, 2-3 years is about all you can expect out of it. However, I know this beforehand and will tell the customer that this wood will peel every 2-3 years and there is nothing that can be done unless you replace it. What do your painters say when you ask them to come back and fix it after 2 years? If they fix it for free, they must think it is their fault.
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dorry2
Original Author
18 years ago
I do not know if there is a moisture problem. The windows in question face east, west and south. These exposures receive plenty of sunshine. How would i determine if there was/is a moisture other than visual inspection and touch? Is there an instrument that measures moisture in wood? They never mentioned anything about moisture when they returned the second time.

The windows are Wenco, double pane, sash windows with grids between the glass and interior and exterior all wood frame They certainly look and feel like wood - does not appear to be a composite. I am sure they would have noticed this and made it known to cover their bases.

I really think the prep work was not done properly and I was very explicit about sanding - the house was four years at the time and the builder's paint job was very poor and i knew in time we would have to do the job right.

I dread having to deal with this, and am not optimistic about his returning, but i will keep you posted.

Thanks for your input.
paintguy22
18 years ago
Moisture meters have small pins you stick into the wood that read moisture content. You can probably pick up a cheap one for under $25. Painters look for a moisture content of under 14 percent before painting.

It's not likely that the wood is composite. What they do is take a bunch of fragments of pine and meld them together with finger joints. If you look closely at the wood you can see the joints and they become easier to see when you put a shiny paint on the wood. After that, they prime it with the cheapest and thinnest primer on the planet. Builders buy this crap by the boatloads and put it all over their houses because it's cheap. In 2 years it all starts to peel. Now, the painters could sand the primer off, seal up the finger joints and re-prime everything with a high quality primer, but of course no builder wants to pay a painter extra for that and no painter wants to work for free and even if they did do all that the finger joints are eventually going to move anyway and take in moisture which will make the paint fail no matter what. And of course I am sure you can see how easy it is now for the painter to take the blame because it is his paint that is peeling, but the fact is the paint never stood a chance.