Decorating.

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
I've recently come to the conclusion that home decorating is addictive.

I hate it but I can't seem to stop myself.

We moved house less than 12 months ago, in a mad rush before we moved in the entire house was done. Since then the living room, hall and bathroom have been redone, I'm in the process of doing the office and before the end of the year the kids rooms will be redone as well and I'm starting to look at colours for our room.

In my defence it was a quick job initially to eradicate the 10 year old magnolia on every wall and celling but there seems to be a pattern emerging that's starting to annoy the hubby.

My argument was that the there was a patch high up in the hall that hadn't covered properly first time, plus I wasn't 100% happy with the colour and the carpet was awful so it made sense to repaint before that was changed. The living room was supposed to be the dining room which I wanted to darken and make cosy, we changed our minds and used the other room as the dining room, red and gold was fab over Christmas but come February I just thought it looked dingy so out came the paintbrush. The bathroom just needed a freshen up.

Our previous home we lived in for 2 years, it was all done as we moved but the kitchen and living room were done again in that time.

I just can't seem to leave it alone.

How often do most people redecorate?
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
If find the cost of getting a decent painter/decorator prevents the process being addictive. We had the house done before we moved in and then again a few years ago and the last time this summer whilst away on holiday.
 

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
I do a lot myself, I only tend to get someone in if it involves going up a ladder.

All me swapping and changing means I'm now getting to be pretty good at it.
 

Chillybean

Well-Known Forumite
Having moved and now living in a house with painted walls I don't mind putting on a fresh coat of paint every few years.The previous house was totally wall papered and the thought of stripping :bum:and then putting on a new wallpaper wasn't something I particularly liked the thought of doing. As a result it was often put off to the following year or longer, this was largely down to a bad experience having seen most of plaster work came off with the wall paper.
 

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
a bad experience having seen most of plaster work came off with the wall paper.

Wood chip by any chance?

Vile stuff - it ought to be banned.

I'm debating papering the kids rooms, I want something that will last them a few years. The beauty of papering is that you don't have the mess that comes with paint, it's almost instantly dry, no second or third coats and no spills on the carpets. admittedly though I'll be papering over painted walls so no stripping in those rooms
 

Chillybean

Well-Known Forumite
Heavy duty Anaglypta, not sure why the council just don't paper the roads in the stuff it's almost indestructible. Wood chip to be avoided at all costs, hope the stuff has been banned as you suggest.
Good luck with the kids bedrooms mine have left the nest so no more mucky paws, pencils and marker pens embellishing the walls.
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
I hate it. It's the mess and cleanup I hate most to be honest, the actual painting is easy enough. Purchased a Black & Decker Speedy Roller a while back when we needed to get the hall/landing finished before our wedding (we gave up on it when we moved in, as we'd already painted most of the rest of the house). Found that not having to dip for paint every 10 seconds really did make it easier.
 

Floss

Well-Known Forumite
I find those paint pads really easy to use, no mess, compared to rollers or brushes.
 
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Cue

Well-Known Forumite
I live in a old house, but had the all the walls replastered and only have paint, no wall paper stripping, I find those paint pads really easy to use, no mess, compared to rollers or brushes.

Unfortunately Paint Pods require that you use much more expensive pods that you can't actually buy any more, ignoring that you also cannot buy the unit itself.

Bosch do a similar thing that sucks straight from the tin, but apparently the tube is far too thin if you're using anything thicker that cheapo consumer paint. I'm more a trade white myself - goes on much thicker and with less coats.

Ryobi have a spray station that has a roller attachment, not cheap though.
 

Floss

Well-Known Forumite
Unfortunately Paint Pods require that you use much more expensive pods that you can't actually buy any more, ignoring that you also cannot buy the unit itself.

Bosch do a similar thing that sucks straight from the tin, but apparently the tube is far too thin if you're using anything thicker that cheapo consumer paint. I'm more a trade white myself - goes on much thicker and with less coats.

Ryobi have a spray station that has a roller attachment, not cheap though.

I bought one of those fence sprayers last year, it kept blocking up and was a pain to use if having to spray around things and the layer that did go on when it worked was quite thin, not as good as when you use the brush, although quite time consuming.
 

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
I’ve got a slight dilemma, we had the decorators in and I’m very disappointed.

They did one room, a few slight niggles but overall a decent enough job, we discussed the snagging I paid them and then they started on the next room, we’d discussed that the whole house wanted doing but not formed a plan other than it wasn’t going to all be at once, the next thing I know I’ve got most of the house upside down. Two rooms I was faffing with and they started 3 at the same time, presumably to secure the work.

In amongst this they did the snagging, but not very well, I pointed the issues out again, this time it was dealt with, of a fashion, I need to do some touching up still.

I bought some beautiful wallpaper, I’ve never spent serious money on wallpaper before but I splurged, and I’ve got a strip missing about half and inch up one side of the door, I don’t have enough to fix it, also a small piece missing from a corner.

Quote was to strip line and paint but they just painted unprepared walls, on areas that have been lined it’s wonky and there are strange, unnecessary and obvious cuts, I’ve got woodwork that was natural that been slopped with paint, I can’t get it back without major work and mess so I’m going to have to paint over things that I don’t want painting just to have a tidy finish. They glossed bare wood work with no primer or undercoat so it’s rough, they didn’t sand down filler just painted over in areas so it’s also rough, they painted and put lining paper up around nails that were in the wall.

Every time I turn around I’m seeing another thing I’m not happy with and I’m gutted.

A couple of the issues we discussed and they said they had done but it’s not done, I’ve been asking all along what the price was because the work was so far from what was quoted I can’t keep up.

The guys were nice, they tried their best, but I’m not happy with it. They haven’t been given the final invoice yet and I’m dreading it. I don’t want a big fall out but I don’t want to be ripped off.

Essentially what we’re looking at is 8 days work for a decorator and apprentice and 3 tins of paint they supplied. What would be considered reasonable payment given that I’ve now got at least 5 days (of time I don’t have) getting it finished so it looks ok.

They have already been paid in full for the first room that I’m now 95% happy with, I just need to give the windowsills a second coat and redo some areas of cutting in.
 

rudie111

Well-Known Forumite
I’ve got a slight dilemma, we had the decorators in and I’m very disappointed.

They did one room, a few slight niggles but overall a decent enough job, we discussed the snagging I paid them and then they started on the next room, we’d discussed that the whole house wanted doing but not formed a plan other than it wasn’t going to all be at once, the next thing I know I’ve got most of the house upside down. Two rooms I was faffing with and they started 3 at the same time, presumably to secure the work.

In amongst this they did the snagging, but not very well, I pointed the issues out again, this time it was dealt with, of a fashion, I need to do some touching up still.

I bought some beautiful wallpaper, I’ve never spent serious money on wallpaper before but I splurged, and I’ve got a strip missing about half and inch up one side of the door, I don’t have enough to fix it, also a small piece missing from a corner.

Quote was to strip line and paint but they just painted unprepared walls, on areas that have been lined it’s wonky and there are strange, unnecessary and obvious cuts, I’ve got woodwork that was natural that been slopped with paint, I can’t get it back without major work and mess so I’m going to have to paint over things that I don’t want painting just to have a tidy finish. They glossed bare wood work with no primer or undercoat so it’s rough, they didn’t sand down filler just painted over in areas so it’s also rough, they painted and put lining paper up around nails that were in the wall.

Every time I turn around I’m seeing another thing I’m not happy with and I’m gutted.

A couple of the issues we discussed and they said they had done but it’s not done, I’ve been asking all along what the price was because the work was so far from what was quoted I can’t keep up.

The guys were nice, they tried their best, but I’m not happy with it. They haven’t been given the final invoice yet and I’m dreading it. I don’t want a big fall out but I don’t want to be ripped off.

Essentially what we’re looking at is 8 days work for a decorator and apprentice and 3 tins of paint they supplied. What would be considered reasonable payment given that I’ve now got at least 5 days (of time I don’t have) getting it finished so it looks ok.

They have already been paid in full for the first room that I’m now 95% happy with, I just need to give the windowsills a second coat and redo some areas of cutting in.


Why are you touching areas up? Were they not paid for a complete job? I wouldn't be paying until I was happy with the finish. If you have been pointing out the issues as they go, they have had adequate time to rectify. Really sorry to hear about this. when you pay professionals, you expect a professional finish.
 

Carole

Well-Known Forumite
@Bob

I agree with @rudie111

If you need to spend another 5 days getting it finished then you shouldn’t really be paying them at all.
It really sounds like they are amateurs who don’t know what they are doing.
Why were they allowed to continue if they were painting unprepared walls?

I don’t understand why you don’t know what the final invoice is?
Did you get a quote for the job before they started?

I do feel for you, especially if you bought expensive paper and aren’t happy with the work.
I’d get another two more quotes from someone else to see how much it’s going to cost to put right and show that to your decorators.
 
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Bob

Well-Known Forumite
Yes I got a quote, the work changed so what they did was significantly (about half) less than what was on the quote.

I got the invoice this morning for £300 more than what was quoted.

I’m lost for words.

The first room was minor snagging so we paid, and let them start the second room, then they started the third at the same time, I didn’t realise until I walked into it and found them peeling paper. I assume they did this to try to make sure they secured the work.

They started much stronger than they finished. I can only assume they got bored. The real mess was the last days work. I’ve got another guy doing some wood work, he’s put filler in the door frame but not got back to it to sand it down and they just glossed over it. On the stair banister they sanded right back with a rough sand paper then glossed over it.
 
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Cue

Well-Known Forumite
Don’t pay them. In fact I’d be on the verge of billing them for the fixes you need to do to natural woodwork, etc too. I certainly wouldn’t pay the same people to try and fix the work when they did such an astonishingly bad job in the first place.

Not sure if he’s doing houses at the moment (what with the pandemic) but if you want a reputable painter to give a professional opinion and perhaps quote for doing it properly try D. Zannetti, we use him for any decorating jobs we need doing, he cuts-in by hand cleaner than we can manage even with taping up...
 

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
I’ve paid what I feel is reasonable, given that only half of the quoted work was completed and regardless of the damage and unacceptable finish I have sent a lengthy, pleasant but to the point email and a four figure bank transfer for almost 2/3 of the original quote price.

I’m hoping that we can draw a line under it, we can get it sorted ourselves, I’m not happy at all but I don’t really want them back nor do I want to bring a load of drama to my doorstep.
 

markpa12003

Well-Known Forumite
I use a chap called Kevin - a lovely chap. I tend to pay a day rate of about £110 a day. He painted my whole house within 5 or 6 days.
 

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
Could you please forward his contact details. I’ll give yours and @Cue recommendations a call.

We saw the van around locally and gave this guy a call, he does rate highly on check a trade though, we did do a little bit of homework.
 
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