www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Right the long and short is that approx 18months ago while carrying out the house restoration work, we also had the house re painted.

This is how it looks now!





The whole of the exterior is like it, and the painter agreed to come back today to start to sort it out.
I came home from work to find that they had re done the whole house in a day, and not even removed the old crap, let alone prime it, under coat and two top coats. I climbed a ladder, and just peeled off what he had done with my bare hands.
It takes alot for me to loose it, but when I do, I loose it big time, and I have never been this angry in my whole life, and to be honest I am well and truly fecked off enough to say that I am going to get this guy sorted out. I work bloody hard, give ten tenths in everything that I do, and I'm not going to take any crap from this chancer or his company. If this guy doesn't cough up, that is it for him!

So how the hell do you paint this in one day with no scaffold and from ladders?

Won't be recommending them to a client and time soon then.

Hmmm the scale model for Eddies next project is rather disturbing

So how the hell do you paint this in one day with no scaffold and from ladders?


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Errrr Quickly.

Not only did he mess up first time round by not undertaking the correct prep he has now caused you even more problems as the paint applied recently will be soft for weeks to come.

I know it's hard but I would suggest you leave this problen unitl next spring, anything done this time of year and with the recent added problems just isn't gong to last. I suppose that gives you a few months to try and extract some form of compensation out of the guy or very least get him agree to re-do it???

I'm not surprised you are mad.

I have seen paint peel like that when cowboys have used emulsion as undercoat because it dries fast.

Painting that house from a ladder gives me the immediate impression that he is a cowboy!

Call me naive but I'm amazed he managed to bullshot a craftsman like yourself, guessing you were busy with the rest of the project? I remember the pictures it's a beautiful place!

Was it someone you knew or were recommended??

It wasn't a decorator from Wales by any chance was it?? If I was you I'd be after the money to get a proper firm in to do it, certainly wouldn't have him back

If that fails theres always the gallows

Many thanks for the replies, some very interesting comments there. I was particularly interested in the comment about using emulsion under the gloss.
The story that I was being fed, was that Dulux water based paint had been used over the existing oil based paint, and that a reaction had occurred. I know nothing about painting, so that kind of sounded plausible to me, but given the way that they just toshed over everything yesterday including leaves and cobwebs, the use of emulsion sounds highly likely. The paintwork that is peeling is powdery and dry underneath.

In respect of me being taken for a ride, the main contract was handed out to a local builder, whose work and skill I have no question with. He is a perfectionist of the old school, but sadly the main paintwork contract was given by him to a supposed reputable local company. By memory, the builder was away when the painting was carried out, and I was up on the roof working and never gave the paintwork a second thought.

The builder did replace a fair bit of wood work and he and his son painted all the replacement timber themselves. They primed and undercoated both the back and front of each piece before fitting, and their work is as good as new.

I have sort of calmed down a bit, although not alot, and my next stage is to get an independant surveyor around to inspect the old work that the painter missed, and the new work as well. I also intend to get three quotes to do the work properly, and will be hitting the builder and painter with these quotes. I'm not going to let this matter drop, and I will be making sure that this painters days of ripping people off come to end one way or another. The gallows are be designed in my head as write this, along with thoughts of drilling knee caps and elbows, or using a paslode first fix nail gun with 90mm fitted. I also feel a letter to HMRC coming on.

In case they don't see it it might be worth posting the close up pics of the gable end in the decorators section along with any details of the paint system they claim to have used.

I'm sure some of them will give an honest opinion on the works. Problem is I would think it's too late to do much about it this year it'll stay like that 'til Spring

That is very shocking.......possibly the worst illustration of poor practice I have ever seen. I am so sorry you have been left with such a mess.
Are the builder or painter members of any professional body like the BDA
I am assuming this was a cash job by your little comment.....so no paperwork?

Nice to see the builders primed and undercoated new timbers before fixing them. very good practice that. Doesn't take any longer to do either, because you can get them coated up at ground level rather than fapping about at high level. I used to do that on external repair work as standard and depending on what it was, I used to gloss the backs and sides up too before fixing .

It is easy to get caught out when you are busy doing other stuff. It happens, it shouldn't, but it does. Especially easier when it is a firm brought in by a contractor you trust. With a high level of trust and trusting their judgement, periodic checks every hour or so isn't something you think about.

They could of used a water based undercoat


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You can use this outside but I don't believe Dulux offer a guarantee when doing so. This paint gets used over solvent based paints all the time without issue.


What they should have done was use a system paint so Dulux would stand behind them... well if they prepped correctly.

There is also an exterior water based undercoat. The important difference between interior an exterior paints is the flexibility of the paint, as I’m sure you are aware timber exposed to the elements will move a hell of a lot more than interior timber in a controlled environment.


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But that still wouldn't be my choice, i would have..

2 coats of

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followed by 1 coat of

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Bit of a mess there.

Only thing I can add is that you mush pursue them - but keep it clean.
If you get into a legal / small claims wrangle then any dirty tricks will weaken any case you have.

Keep it above board - keep a written diary of events to present as evidence if needed - put everything in writing. This is usually enough to show you are serious about getting a resoloution.




(then you can make the HMRC call in 6 months................... )