10K was too much. For any paint job. You got ripped off.

Carlt: I dont see any brush mark issues, maybe they dont photograph well. The lack of divit repair is very evident. When hubby and I painted our entire interior: ceilings, walls, doors and moldings in our 30 year old home, it took hours and hours to first repair all the nail pops, cracks and divits with fillers( including auto grade Bondo) , extensive sanding , and then priming prior to painting. Was this divit and crack repair all included in your written and signed contract? Have you considered taking legal action?? The cost of your” paint job only” is quite outrageous.

@arcy_gw Five different painters all quoted $28-30k. Not unusual in San Francisco where everything is 100 times more expensive. l wish it was only $10,000.

@kculbers lt isn’t just the divits, there is just so much sloppiness overall. 😞

For $30,000 Id expect perfection too.

Our painters are doing final touchups and every doorway and wall have blue tape marking even the tiniest imperfection to be fixed. For the ridiculous amount of money youre paying, go around your home and mark everything you can find and have it fixed or hold back money. It will get done. Holy cow….$30,000!

@M Riz l have been marking for weeks now using the Post-it arrow stickers. There are so many around the house that l have lost count! He has promised to make it right, (after the holidays) but is asking for another payment. l told him no way, but he is a slick talker and refuses to give up getting money.

Tell him to finish his job and he can have his money… simple. Good grief, I cant get over the sticker shock. Hes not abandoning that cash cow over a few touch ups.

That last picture is the edge of a door that’s almost 100 years old? You embrace those dings and divets. The paint applied over it looks fine to me.

For 30k i wouldnt embrace any imperfection. 100 yr old or not.

@thinkdesignlive Many beg to differ. The overall paint job is sloppy in several places, and the door paint you love so much is peeling off. Personally, l dont find peeling paint and paint chip remnants something to embrace, especially for $30,000.

What does the contract state? If he quoted "painting of interior walls & trim" - that is what was done. It seems you expected extensive cosmetic repairs as part of the prep work (filling of divots, skim coating of low spots, sanding).

Exactly what chiflipper said. If it's not in the contract, it doesn't get done.

photo doesn’t show ‘peeling paint’ - which that shouldn’t happen and should be remedied for sure.

So with five quotes you received all in the same ballpark of 28-30 did any of those quotes specifically state you would have all woodwork repaired to ‘like new’ conditions? I would argue no. Unfortunately your expectations may be more in line with a 50k paint job or more - who can say other than the professional painters you vetted well and had a written contract with. Peeling paint should be fixed, drip marks should be fixed, unless your contract states that all woodwork was to be repaired you shouldn’t expect that as you weren’t quoted that. Good they are saying they will come back.

They do have a point and its an expensive pill to swallow. What was the understanding about repairs?

The photos you posted seem to show imperfections on the underlying surface rather than the paint job itself. If fixing those was part of the deal, then they should be fixed as part of the price, not as an extra. Same with any drips, peeling or other deficiencies in the paint job itself.

To be honest, those are not the sort of thing I have ever fixed; I'd expect to see that sort of wear and tear in a house. I wouldn't expect a painter to fill those dents unless specified in the contract. It's not so much a question of whether $30k is expensive, but what did he actually agree to do for the $30k.

I will say this - if the trim and walls have imperfections in the surface those will translate thru to the surface. $30,000 does seems like a lot for an interior painting job and you might think the painters would try to tidy up the imperfections as best they could but to get a really smooth surface walls and trim would have to be patched and sanded.

I would need to see the contract . This is a really old house with many coats of paint probably never done by a pro and now you want it to look perfect. I think you need to share your contract . As for the price if all the quotes were in that ball park that is what it costs in your area. We renovated a 1905 house and believe me the walls and wood work were not perfect I chose to strip the worst and redo but I did it myself since my budget did not include a pro job.Did you specify the type of paint , I think there was probably oil paint in places and if now you have latex there will be peeling .Where I live for that money the whole house would have been primed for sure just to make sure. 10K is not a lot and I agree if you want this fixed fork over some more of the agreed cost.

@ShadyWillowFarm Your snarky comments are totally uncalled for!

@Patricia Colwell Consulting It was $30,000 , not $10,000.

NICE TO SEE THAT SO MANY OF YOU DON’T ACTUALLY READ THE ENTIRE POST! DIVITS ARE JUST A FRACTION OF THE PROBLEM. THE OVERALL PAINT JOB IS A MESS. ENOUGH SAID. IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE SNARKY COMMENTS THEN THAT SAYS FAR MORE ABOUT YOU THAN IT DOES ME!

So given the photos that were posted, it appears all of these conditions were met. The painter has stated that he would come back and correct errors after the holidays.

The holes mentioned, would mean to me, obvious holes and not even nail holes left from hanging pictures unless it involved a wall anchor of some sort than needed to be recessed further and then skim-coated and sanded.

Divots in trim and door are not covered according to the contract above as they are not cracks (or deep holes).

It's so interesting to go through the process and realize all the little places where miscommunication and our own assumptions can fail us. Thank you for posting this, it's another lesson in being very clear in your requests and expectations. It's only because of this forum I knew how specific I needed to be when questioning my contractor during an extensive addition to our home. Everything I was thinking I essentially said aloud and he would either confirm or not. This resulted in very few surprises for us, thankfully. (There are always some despite the best-laid plans!)

@Anna (6B/7A in MD) Thank you Anna! As a first time home buyer, l have had to learn lessons the hard way. These are all new experiences. l never would have known to ask about divots until now.

If you want pristine looking trim in an older home, replace it. Dings/divots in the walls appear not to have been filled.

They sand the paint in between coats? What the heck? Is this some form of interior painting I never heard of?

Jodyrah, can you point out where these are? All I can see is the normal texture of plaster walls.

OP, I'm sorry this has been your first experience as a new homeowner, I know it can be a very overwhelming process, but every project is a lesson. Next time, you'll know.

@Anna (6B/7A in MD) Anba, @jodyrah is referring to the unfilled divots in the photos. l know the photos aren’t great.

@Carly 1979, as Anna says, this seems to be a difference in expectation, even with a more detailed agreement than I have ever had for a paint job. It is a learning for me as well as for you. I don't think the subsurface dents, etc. are a big issue. I have lived mostly in houses that are not new and that sort of thing seems normal to me. My main concern would be whether the paint job itself is good. If the divots and dents bother you, you might need to pay more to get those fixed. Any drips, peeling, etc. you should definitely not have to pay for and I hope they will be fixing those issues for no additional cost.

For what it is worth, I have moved house over twenty times in my life. Every time I learn something that I hadn't thought to ask the previous times. You have to hope that it's not going to be something that is a costly and unfixable mistake.

Lastly, the quotation you posted looks as though it has your address on it. You might want to remove that one and post a cropped photo.

He was hired to paint and spackle unless your contract explicitly states otherwise- the dings in the wood work is carpentry work and it is unrealistic for you to expect that to be repaired/replaced

That contract is pretty explicit and I believe it is fair that you based your expectations on that.

Before paying anything further, ask the paint contractor to come to the house and go through the contract with you step by step particularly in places where there are less than satisfactory finishes.

Agree on his next steps to fix/repair and complete the job to meet the terms of the contract.

Then agree on a payment schedule to move forward. I'd suggest instalments based on specific milestones in the job being met with a lump sum at completion to the terms of the agreement.

Well done you for getting a detailed contract which will now allow you to "drive the bus" so to speak on redo/repair etc.