Does this sound like a bad painting job?

[flunkymonkey]

Hi all,

Completely clueless about decorating and hoping someone can answer my stupid question...!

I've recently moved into a flat where the previous tenant was a smoker. The landlady said she'd had the walls painted, but two weeks later now that I've moved in there's still a bit of a smell of some kind. So a friend suggested the walls might use a clean so I gave one spot on the wall an experimental rub with a cloth and some warm soapy water, only to find the paint coming straight off the wall and onto the cloth (enough to turn the water in the sink cloudy when I washed it).

After that I gave another part of the wall (this painted dark purple) a not-very-hard rub with a piece of kitchen roll and you can see the colour has come off on to the paper (although not so much that you can tell on the wall) - I know absolutely nothing about decorating, so I have no idea if this is normal! Can anyone give any advice before I talk to the landlady about it?

Thanks,

David

 

[Bosswhite]

sounds like the Landlady employed someone to do a quick "Flash Over" with the paint to tidy it up for the new tenant (You)

She paid for the work to be done, its possible she was quite happy with the result but it dose`nt meet with your approval,
could be a bit difficult to resolve. Mention the problem to her, but dont expect miracles.

 

[xr4x4]

Sounds like they used trade Matt emulsion. ..Maggie by any chance?

 

[sparkwright]

Emulsion is water based, and not particularly waterproof normally. Some emulsions can come off very easily with the lightest rub of a damp cloth, especially if it's new.

If you mention it to the landlady she may blame you. Best get some emulsion and re-do it.