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The painter did not paint the ceiling. The current ceiling color is builder-grade. Also, I really thought I did my homework when choosing paint. I could have gone with Lowe's Valspar, but decided to choose Sherwin Williams SuperPaint because I heard good things. I also went with a Satin sheen because I have a small child and I read that it can take some wiping over time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL
It's a common practice to touch up paint spots. If you used "ceiling paint", it's a dry hide paint and is a cheap formulation. I would have suggested 2 coats of a premium quality paint rather than the cheapy. If the ceiling only received 1 coat, that won't work regardless of the quality of the paint. Any ceiling, to come out correctly, is going to require 2 coats and if he's rolling it, it needs to be cross rolled. Otherwise, because of the perspective of your eyes, it's going to look patchy and it's not going to touch up.
Who speced the paint- you or the painter? Not to bash the job but there's a lot of wrong going on here and it sounds like you hired a labor only job with you supplying the materials. When it comes to paint, you cannot cut any corners and always figure at least 2 coats even if going over the same color. Usually the labor is more expensive than the paint so never try to cheap your way out in buying paint. When buying paint of any color, ask a lot of questions like is this color stable or will it fade. Anything with red in the formulation WILL fade as red is the only color that will evaporate. Yeah, I know that sounds odd but red really does evaporate. Ask about different sheens being more washable, staying cleaner, reflects more light, etc.
Another question for you guys/gals: the painter got some color on the ceiling in a few spots. He went to touch up the spots with some ceiling paint, but the color didn't match up. (The touch up paint is white and the ceiling is more of an off-white) How do I go about fixing this? Do I pick a ceiling paint and have him paint the entire ceiling? It will be very hard to pick a white to match the existing ceiling color.
I'm starting to question the ability of these painters...!
OK, so the house probably isn't that old...
Is there any paint left by the builders? Generally there is, somewhere, unless it's been thrown out. Even if it's a nasty old can you may be able to figure out what it is. Usually in the basement.
Is it a Pulte home....if so it's probably a "Pulte White" and SW should have it.
SW Dover White is another builder favourite.
Or call your builder and ask what they used in your sub.
It can be tricky but any painter worth his or her salt really ought to be able to mix up some paint on the job and get close enough to fudge the color for minor ceiling touch ups.
Oh, I'm sure some of this is the painters' fault. I just wanted to know if it was possible for the paint to NOT match.
I'm not sure if they reserved some from the first batch. I'll assume they did because they told me that they will not have enough (sounds like they hadn't run out yet). When I was there, they were doing touch ups with a roller... they rolled the walls. They did not spray.
This painter was a recommendation (from someone on City-Data actually). I wouldn't say that they are refusing to fix the issue. They are willing to come back out after our floors are put down to do touch ups, but from what I saw, it looks like the entire walls need to be redone.
And to clarify, the paint in question was for the living room, hallways, master bedroom and second bedroom.
Oh I missed this.
Well I guess your question has been correctly answered by many fine folks here. Yes, it is definitely possible for paint not to match from batch to batch - even from the same store with the same machine, a bit more likely from store to store.
I still stand by my stance that the painters (being the professionals) should not have let this happen, and should fix it. It is what I would do. Assuming you are not being a wildly picky and unreasonable client (they DO happen ) it would be a nice gesture by you to offer to pay for the materials and have them repaint the walls that can't be successfully touched up. Since everything has been prepped and the walls still accessible, it shouldn't take long to cut and roll out even a big wall.
You mentioned floors being put down...is it possible that there's a fine layer of dust on the walls from other work being done, and later touch ups look different because they're not covered with a film of dust? That would be easy to determine by cleaning off an area with a duster, I guess. Long shot but I figured I'd ask.
To my knowledge, there isn't any paint leftover from the builders. The house was built in 2006 by DR Horton.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiroptera
I'm starting to question the ability of these painters...!
OK, so the house probably isn't that old...
Is there any paint left by the builders? Generally there is, somewhere, unless it's been thrown out. Even if it's a nasty old can you may be able to figure out what it is. Usually in the basement.
Is it a Pulte home....if so it's probably a "Pulte White" and SW should have it.
SW Dover White is another builder favourite.
Or call your builder and ask what they used in your sub.
It can be tricky but any painter worth his or her salt really ought to be able to mix up some paint on the job and get close enough to fudge the color for minor ceiling touch ups.
To my knowledge, there isn't any paint leftover from the builders. The house was built in 2006 by DR Horton.
That's only seven years ago; I'd call them up and ask what they were using. Or at least what brand of paint they were using at the time. Any paint store that sells to commercial builders will keep records of what paint was bought when and for what job name. So it should be pretty easy to track down.
Thanks! I'll try this route. But, what do I have the painters do with it? Should they just do a touch-up or repaint the ceiling?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiroptera
That's only seven years ago; I'd call them up and ask what they were using. Or at least what brand of paint they were using at the time. Any paint store that sells to commercial builders will keep records of what paint was bought when and for what job name. So it should be pretty easy to track down.
Thanks! I'll try this route. But, what do I have the painters do with it? Should they just do a touch-up or repaint the ceiling?
Whatever it takes! Hopefully they will be able to touch up.
But speaking for myself....if I or one of my crew ***** up and hits the ceiling even once, let alone several times (WTF), then the onus is on me to make it right. Obviously I would not want to repaint an entire ceiling after I've already done the walls so I'm going to try my hardest to find an easy fix.
The painters screwed up. Therefore the painters ought to do whatever it takes to fix the issue. This is not your responsibility; it is theirs. Because they ****ed up.
My opinion is the painter should have known how much paint it would have taken and had you buy extra.
Also, a good painter would have recommended tinted primer so that it would not take more than 2 coats of regular paint. This could have saved you some $$ as the cost of primer is much less than SW super paint.
The painter did not paint the ceiling. The current ceiling color is builder-grade. Also, I really thought I did my homework when choosing paint. I could have gone with Lowe's Valspar, but decided to choose Sherwin Williams SuperPaint because I heard good things. I also went with a Satin sheen because I have a small child and I read that it can take some wiping over time.
You made a good choice of materials, don't worry about that.
Everyone hit upon it prettydead on........former painter here also.....I always boxed my cans...meaning the first two cans opened were mixed together, then every can would be mixed with a new can when I got to 1/2 left in the can. When using 5 gallon pails boxed them also and would always stop to get more paint when I knew I could tell I was running out.......mixed the new with the old just like the beginning.
I learned a long time ago....people can make mistakes mixing paint....I always box my paint, and this is from someone who would trim out several rooms and then roll.......never had a problem.
Painters should have known they needed more paint......and anyone who cannot trim in a wall to the ceiling and keep the roller off the ceiling is definitely not a professional.
For a little more info.......tile is the same way.....had a buddy pick out 15 boxes of white tile at Home Depot had the tile guy install it and after it was cleaned noticed slight color differences......all were the same style white.......but different batch numbers
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Yes, it is definitely possible for paint not to match from batch to batch - even from the same store with the same machine, a bit more likely from store to store.
) it would be a nice gesture by you to offer to pay for the materials and have them repaint the walls that can't be successfully touched up. Since everything has been prepped and the walls still accessible, it shouldn't take long to cut and roll out even a big wall.
