House Painting

[nfotiu]

So we are getting our 2 year old house painted. The estimate was $2100 including paint. The main issue is he didn't really know the colours we picked when he did the estimate. The colours are quite dark. A dark brown through most of the house, Dark green in one room, Dark red in another. The original colour is a light generic new house colour.

So after putting on 2 coats for most of the colours it did not cover at all. It ended up taking twice as long as he said. He talked to me about a third the way into it, and said that we'd have to pay $55+paint for the extra coats, which I thought was only going to be 2 or 3 at the time. So he pretty much did 4-5 coats every where. Is this really legit that it should take this many coats? Are they just being crappy painters? Using crappy paint? They want about $3000, and I don't mind paying some extra over the $2100, but nothing over the $2100 was in writing.

Bottom line, if the colours we picked were at fault, I don't mind paying some of the extra. But if it is just crappy painting skills, or bad paint, I don't want to be on the hook. Thoughts? Comments?

[red sky]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

So we are getting our 2 year old house painted. The estimate was $2100 including paint. The main issue is he didn't really know the colours we picked when he did the estimate. The colours are quite dark. A dark brown through most of the house, Dark green in one room, Dark red in another. The original colour is a light generic new house colour.

So after putting on 2 coats for most of the colours it did not cover at all. It ended up taking twice as long as he said. He talked to me about a third the way into it, and said that we'd have to pay $55+paint for the extra coats, which I thought was only going to be 2 or 3 at the time. So he pretty much did 4-5 coats every where. Is this really legit that it should take this many coats? Are they just being crappy painters? Using crappy paint? They want about $3000, and I don't mind paying some extra over the $2100, but nothing over the $2100 was in writing.

Bottom line, if the colours we picked were at fault, I don't mind paying some of the extra. But if it is just crappy painting skills, or bad paint, I don't want to be on the hook. Thoughts? Comments?

Dark paint always requires more coats however 4-5 seems a little high. I would think 4 max but around 3 would do the trick. That also depends on the brand they were using obviously.

[Reaper]

Dark colours are the hardest for coverage when it comes to painting. We painted a room in our old condo a dark red and it took 5 coats for even coverage.

[Shazam]

Did he tint the primer? Did he even use primer?

[Engine09]

I found some of the darker reds especially were hard to cover, 4 coats is sometimes needed when you get one of those colors over a white primer. An experienced painter would have warned you right off the bat after seeing the colors and show you coverage after each coat if possible.

How do you tell if they are crappy painters? Do they apply the paint like on commercials in a blob around chest hight and then work it around?

Or do they apply the paint from ceiling to floor vertically and move quickly left or right while feathering out the edges?

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

How do you tell if they are crappy painters? Do they apply the paint like on commercials in a blob around chest hight and then work it around?

Or do they apply the paint from ceiling to floor vertically and move quickly left or right while feathering out the edges?

For something so easy as painting, you'd be surprised how few people know proper technique.

I always laugh when I see paint on baseboards and ceilings too... that's just sloppy.

As for the topic at hand, cut him a deal. 2500 sounds about fair, considering the "extra" work he should have known about. That lesson alone is worth the 500 bucks.

[zamler]

If he didn't prime, then he is just setting himself up for wasting paint. Tinting the primer the same colour as the top coat obviously makes a huge difference.

I've done a tremendous amount of painting way back when, including dark shades and never used more than a primer+3 coats. The quality could be at issue, many painters use the bottom of the barrel stuff to save on material costs. And as mentioned, an experienced painter would have told you right up front that dark shades are going to require more work etc.

If you are happy with the quality of the work at least, I would compromise and give him 50% of the extra he's asking.

[You Need a Thneed]

IT might have just been the specific colour that I picked, but we have a really dark brown as an accent, ONE coat was enough. I can't remember if we even put on a second coat.

The bright orange in our living room however, was 5 or six coats, with 2-3 extra coats in patches. We should have painted the wall one solid colour (Red or white) before starting with the orange.

[algernon]

I received a spam e-mail yesterday from a painter here in Calgary.

"Price List

Paint you’re Doors @ $50.00 per door

Wood and paint grade trim 0.99 per sq ft.

Walls @ 1.70.per sq ft.

Ceiling @ 0.99 per sq ft.

Ceiling and walls @ 2.70 per sq ft."

I'm glad I'm not hiring Shane to correct my book report...

[nfotiu]

Thanks for the help guys. I ended up paying him a little more than I wanted, but less than he wanted. We both ended up pissed off, so I guess it was a fair deal?

[Icon]

Sounds like the paint quality wasn't up to snuff, or he lied about how many coats he did... 3 coats should cover pretty much anything.

[nfotiu]

And this ended with the very happy ending of the painters taking $18,000 worth of our jewelry.

[zarrell]

I'm assuming you put a stop payment on that cheque immediately?

[REDVAN]

Wow...

[Reaper]

Wow, that sucks. I hope it can be recovered or that the person responsible can get trapped under something heavy for an extended period of time.

[Shazam]

I hope you called the police.

[nfotiu]

Paid cash for the painting, so no cheque to stop or anything.

Police are actually being more agressive in pursuing them than I thought they'd be. Right away, they had someone over dusting for prints (within an hour of when we called). They had 2 detectives assigned to our case immediately, who then went straight to the painters, and have requested they all take polygraphs. The 3 that were there agreed to, but the other 2 weren't around. So we'll see how it all plays out.

[michalek]

with good quality paint youshould get away with no more then 3 coats , regardles on colour.
Do you know where did he got paint from?

[algernon]

Yeah, I heard Sherman Williams is good, and Benjamin Moore as well. You can also buy mis-tints at most paint places for like, $10 a gallon...You just have to like the colour that someone else rejected.

[nfotiu]

The paint was Sherwin Williams for the record.