is this really the work of a professional decorator

[rorton]

Hi All

spent months and months doing our house up, re-plastered throughout etc.

We mist coated everywhere after the plaster was dry, but decided getting a perfect finish was beyond our capability, so decided to spend a £1000 to get in a pro.

We wanted 3 bedrooms, lounge, and hall/stairs/landing doing.

Quote for 2 coats emulsion (we supplied, Leyland Trade Contract) on walls, prime, undercoat and gloss (eggshell) wood work

All doors were new pine, as were the architrave and skirting boards. The door frames/jambs were existing, and the majority of the stair wood work was existing, with just new spindles.

From the pics its a little difficult to capture, but hopefully you can see my issues.

http://gallery.me.com/richard.orton#100125


The emulsion has been slapped on with a thick pile roller, causing a heavy pattern. This in itself is OK, not really what i wanted, but OK if the whole wall was like this, but then there are THICK brush marks round the sockets and switches etc which look terrible!

The woodwork hasn't been properly sanded back, with the stairs still having different layers of paint on them. I know there is still a top coat to go on the stairs, but the heavy, thick brush strokes i feel wont get hidden by the top coat

Again, in the kitchen with the white paint (the kitchen was extra work) he seems to have just slapped the white on with a brush, with runs and thick bits of paint galore!!

To add insult to injury, there is then paint spatters and gloss paint on my brand new £10,000 kitchen, as he failed to cover anything up, or mask off his skirting properly, you can see where he has over painted.

Im going to see him at the property tomorrow (not living there yet) to discuss, but im concerned about letting him do any more, and causing any more potential damage which is going to cost me to put right.

This is the first time i have ever paid for a decorator, and expected better.

Appreciate thoughts on what you can see from the pictures, and perhaps what i should do.

I haven't paid anything yet, and am prepared not to pay anything, get another pro in to quote to put it right, and seek damages if this is going to cost a lot to fix? Im presuming that the next person in to try and fix this mess would need to sand all the walls down to get them ready (he never did sand any walls down.

Any help appreciated. Spent months trying to get everything perfect, only for it to get messed up at the most critical, final finish stage.

Thanks

Rich

 

[carl27]

hello rich it is hard to see some of the bad stuff from the pictures but i can see the brush marks. They will be a pain to get rid of you will need to give them a good sand and face fill them. where about are you from?

 

[rorton]

hi carl,

if i could get higher resolution pics up it would help, they do look bad on my laptop!

Im in stoke on trent

Just wondering if i stop the work now, and then get someone else to come in.

Also, should i get him to pay me back for the materials he has wasted, (paint isnt cheep at £30 a tub) and also if its costs me a lot more than his quote to put right, could i ask him for the difference too.

These brush marks aint right though are they?!!?

 

[jondecs]

I couldn't make out all the pics, tho agree some show up sloppy work. The ceiling on landing edge is a plasteres job if you just asked for decorating the bloke will go over whatever is there, this is common on site work where the painter is paid/ programed to paint only.Three beds h,l,s and lounge ,kitchen etc for £1K I suspect the bloke priced low or was knocked down? and didn't have time to do it properly.
Afraid I woud have charged more, but confident that you would have had no complaints. We all have overheads.
interested to see what others say.

Good luck.

 

[carl27]

no the brush marks should not be like that hes put it on the thick.

The job dont look the best but its if the painter will give you some money back which i dont think he will sorry to say but hope you do get some back.

is the hand rail new or has be striped it back to wood?

 

[rorton]

Hi. Quote was for h/l/s, lounge and 3 beds. The kitchen was an agreed extra.

With ref to the ceiling, the plasterer initially plastered right into the wood which looked better than this, and the painter specifically quoted to make this good.

Seems all he has done is chipped some out poorly

Hand rail was origional but seems like had a very light sanding to give a key for new paint, but not stripped back by any means

Should I not pay for this. Am I in my rights too? I haven't paid a penny yet

 

[carl27]

you should just say you are not happy with the work and will not be paying till it is all done to your standard.

i have sent you a message

carl

 

[dextrous]

You can't complain about the woodwork not being stripped if it wasn't quoted.

However, you can complain about not fine-filling and sanding since this is all part of basic prep work, and certainly about your kitchen and any other areas damaged by non-protection.

Certainly bring your concerns to his attention and give him the opportunity to make good - he may well be able to legally claim against your unwillingness to pay if you don't, but make it clear that you expect a professional standard of finish including not being able to see brushstrokes nor a heavy roller pattern with either emulsion nor gloss. Remind him the walls were all in good condition due to them being replastered. Also make it clear that you expect all extraneous paint splashes to be be removed. Don't take "quality of paint" as an excuse - leyland/johnson is excellent paint in my experience and can produce superb results if applied properly with decent rollers and brushes. Don't accept the £1000 is a good price argument - it's his problem if he's underquoted, not yours.

It's all very heartbreaking, and I feel for you.

 

[rorton]

well, spoke with him today, and he blamed the paint!

he said cause it wasn't a vinyl matt, it was thicker, and as such, would never be able to get rid of the brush strokes.

he did offer to sand them down and re brush, but said you would always see them?!

I've given him the opportunity to finish, and then will go through with him once he feels its complete and go from there.

He is going to sand back the stairs a bit more, so we'll see what happens with the wood work.

Nightmare.....

 

[Adrian80]

The guy is talking absoloute S H I T . The reason for the heavy roller pattern is the thick roller, i am decorating my own place with johnstones jon mat, its thicker than leyland paint.

I use thin pile rollers on fresh plaster, the paint goes much further, cut in with a brush, like the rest of the world, but i do take care to brush out the brush marks. If i am feeling exceptionally picky i roll close to the edges with a small foam roller.

wood work is tricky if its brand new it should be relatively faultless, however even if its old, you can fill the dents, rub it down then paint, also you can feather in chipped edges, and put a couple of layers of paint on the really chipped stuff. then give it another rub down.

I feel for you.

you need to pay a couple of pros to give you detailed independent reports and quotes to put it right.

Your a brave man letting him finish.

good luck...

 

[kjacko]

If i may, pic no. P1010360 shows a wall that looks like its been plastered by Stevie Wonder! If that was the level of craftsmanship your palsterers were capable of then i'd be more concernced about that.

I know you said the decorator seemed to put the paint on too thick, but unless he threw it on without rolling/brushing out most of the marks, then some of the other walls don't look very well skimmed either. P1010361 also shows this. That aint just paint thats given that uneven look imho. I've spent the past 2 weeks skimming and painting my entire kitchen and extension and although not a pro, i could honestly do better.
I also work with a company of pro decorators and they were a little disgusted when i showed them the pics.
I think you have an absolute right to demand he make good his crappy work, and i wouldn't part with a penny until he does.
AS for teh brush marks around the wallplates, why did he not:
a) use a smaller roller, then only a very small amount of cutting in would be needed;
b) remove the wallplate enough to get the roller behind it thus eliminating the need for a brush.

My god if a diyer like me knows these kind of basic trade tricks, surely as a pro, he'd know plenty more to get a good finish.
£1000!!! I'd never part with that amount of money to have someone paint some walls (no disrespect to the pro decorators here), especially when the plastering doesn't look so good.

Hope you get it sorted mate, must be kind of heartbreaking for you.

 

[dextrous]

If i may, pic no. P1010360 shows a wall that looks like its been plastered by Stevie Wonder! If that was the level of craftsmanship your palsterers were capable of then i'd be more concernced about that.

True it could have been better in parts, but I've yet to see a plastered wall that's perfectly finished. That's partly the purpose of a mist coat, to identify any rough spots to enable fine-fill and rubbing smooth.

I know you said the decorator seemed to put the paint on too thick, but unless he threw it on without rolling/brushing out most of the marks, then some of the other walls don't look very well skimmed either. P1010361 also shows this. That aint just paint thats given that uneven look imho.

Any half decent decorator would make the surface as perfect as possible. Poor plasterwork doesn't explain brush strokes nor heavy roller pattern - whereas poor quality of tools does.

I've spent the past 2 weeks skimming and painting my entire kitchen and extension and although not a pro, i could honestly do better.

Not doubting it

£1000!!! I'd never part with that amount of money to have someone paint some walls (no disrespect to the pro decorators here),

2 blokes at 120 per day each is nearly a weeks work, which is adequate for prep and painting.

especially when the plastering doesn't look so good.

The decorator will have seen this when he came round and should have advised and made appropriate efforts to remedy it where possible.

 

[joe-90]

You've gone for the cheapest plasterer and the cheapest decorator -so guess what? you got what you paid for. It's YOUR fault. Stop blaming the world for your cheap jobs.

 

[darkan9el]

Any decorator worth his salt knows not to apply thick paint, it looks to me like he was going for one coat and the plaster soaked up the moisture to quickly. Dulux, in particular, is terrible for this, in fact I have to plaster a ceiling because a customer tried to paint an artexed ceiling without thinning Dulux paint down first, consequently the paint has peeled and cracked. Thick paint on a porus surface like artex will end in a nightmare.
There is a fine line though between applying too thick a paint and over thinning and getting bubbles and colour patching.

The plastering is a poor, not much has gone into the finish, and paying out a bit more for the finish is where the money would have been spent.

Sandpaper and filler always come in my toolbox but obviously not in theirs. The woodwork is appalling and the finish is shoddy, I wouldn't dare put my name to that, that's what I normally go to fix. I'd say 15-20% of my work is to fix bad decorating, what people seem to miss is its false economy and a great job is not that much more than a cheap job. The other point is if you pay more expect more, I ask at regular intervals during a job if everything is as my customers want it, a happy customer = repeat custom and positive talk = more business = me happy.

You would have made a better job because you care about your house and how it looks.

 

[kjacko]

You would have made a better job because you care about your house and how it looks.

The perfect sentence! Couldn't agree more.

I used to hate deocrating, but after having a friend show me some techniques for papering, sanding, prepping, cutting-in etc, i actually quite enjoy it, cos its my house, i'll take my time, i'll do my darndest to get it right...and i'm usually happy with the result.

If indeed you do think the plastering could have been better as well as the lousy decorating, why would you shell out all that cash on your kitchen and scrimp on the surface work for the rest of the house where its most visible?

If i may, pic no. P1010360 shows a wall that looks like its been plastered by Stevie Wonder! If that was the level of craftsmanship your palsterers were capable of then i'd be more concernced about that.

True it could have been better in parts, but I've yet to see a plastered wall that's perfectly finished. That's partly the purpose of a mist coat, to identify any rough spots to enable fine-fill and rubbing smooth.

I'd say that's usually cos you've HAD a shoddy plasterer in the 1st place.
And i agree its what i'd use the mist-coat for when i plaster, but with pro's its nearly always spot on, with the mist-coat then being applied with its proper purpose in mind......moisture fixing.