Am I being too picky over a paint job?

13 years ago

I had my wood floors and ceilings sanded and painted white. There seems to be a lot of mistakes. I'm not sure how much of this is acceptable (what is the usual margin of error when getting a job like this done?) and how much is due to sloppy work. A lot of the flaws obviously needed fixing (satin finish where eggshell should be, a spot with no paint at all, etc.) I have asked my painter to correct these mistakes and he agreed to do it. But there are a lot mistakes that, because I'm not a painter, I don't know if they're acceptable margins of error or not. These include longs hairs being visibly painted into the floor, uneven paint, little pieces of tape or paper being painted into the floor, small rock like pieces of dried paint being painted into the floor, primer showing through paint, etc. These occur frequently in the paint job that my painter did. I attached some images, I hope you can see them well. Photographing all white is difficult. Are these standard mistakes easily preventable that warrant correcting? Or am I being too picky?

Featured Answer

User

13 years ago

No, you are not being to picky unless you found this guy on Craigslist posing as a painter. Have you paid him in full yet? I sure hope not.

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Comments (10)

mcbriec
13 years ago
You are not being picky! This is unacceptable SLOPPY painting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dashiell Bark-Huss thanked mcbriec
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Dashiell Bark-Huss
Original Author
13 years ago
The thing is that he keeps coming back to fix stuff. If I tell him to fix something he's very cooperative and attempts to fix it. But there's just so many mistakes. He came once to fix these things but they're still there. He's coming back again but to me it looks like so much work is required to fix it all these mistakes and he just isn't capable of doing the job.
PRO
Linda
13 years ago
No, that quality of work is not acceptable. All the painting jobs I've seen have issues, typically because all the surfaces to be painted have issues. The one area which would bother me the most is that you are describing a surface which wasn't properly clean before being painted.

A good floor finish, either clear or painted, requires a thorough cleaning before any product is applied. My partner and I stained the wood floors in a house yesterday but before we did so, we cleaned the rooms, wiping down the walls, vacuuming windows and doors, dustmopping the floor, vacuuming the floor and finally using a cloth with mineral spirits over the floor. I know we'll miss some dust, but we certainly try to get the surface clean. Then, whatever grit makes its way into the finish coat is knocked off with a light sanding before we do the next coat.

I have known painters who will paint over anything - I've seen them paint over stickers and even a band-aid on the trim in a kids room.
Dashiell Bark-Huss thanked Linda
Shelley E.
13 years ago
I would post pone him coming back to finish get someone else's opinion like a pro! Ask them how much it would cost to fix it and deduct that from the guy that really just needed a job and said he was a painter!
Dashiell Bark-Huss thanked Shelley E.
Sue Potter
13 years ago
Wow, what a mess. Linda is correct proper prep is what makes the job and is always necessary. I hope he didn't charge much, or you didn't pay him in full..I would demand a refund, and if he doesn't, I would take him to court. And I just had my entire enterior painted NOTHING like yours..damn, it's Unexceptable, no reason for sloppy work. Unless he's not a pro.. sorry.
Dashiell Bark-Huss thanked Sue Potter
face39
13 years ago
I agree with Shelley e. you are not going to get satisfaction from this contractor. He seems to lack basic skill.

An honest review in social media may be your best and only recourse.

I'd be careful about refusing payment unless you get a lien release. He did work on your house. If you don't pay he can file a legitimate lien on your property. Always get a lien release for anyone who works on your real estate.
Dashiell Bark-Huss thanked face39
PRO
Palace Painting & Decorating
9 years ago
What did your painter in his scope of work and details? Either way, yes the job results are less than satisfactory and should be resolved. Job results always come down to the prep work. If it is not prepared well the results will suffer. The applicator (professional) should be capable of achieving the great results as long as the type of job detail matches what he quoted in his contract and what would be done. All of the issues are preventable and should be resolved. One now should sit down with the contractor and discuss where things go from here. Is he capable of remedying the issues? Does the contractor think the results are satisfactory? What type of job quality was discussed by both parties in the initial meeting and laid out in the contract? Find out these and possibly some other important factors on the job so you both know where things are at and hopefully you can come to an agreement and have the results you are after. Hope things work out for you.
PRO
Ellsworth Design Build
9 years ago
Old post 2013
Cindy Wang
7 years ago
I realize this is an old post. OP doesn't mention whether prep work was part of the painter's scope, or whether he was only hired to come in and paint the surfaces as-is. Painter is clearly an amateur, because even if prep work was not in his scope, he should have mentioned something to the homeowners before proceeding to slap paint on poorly prepared floors and walls. Prep and clean up (making sure work area is dust-free) is 75-90 % of the work, which needs to be done before painting.