Advice: Hired painter decorator, cracks in walls and ceilings

[milkyway]

I recently hired a painter decorator to paint a flat I just bought and do some small handyman jobs a few weeks ago.

- We discussed the paint and the small jobs and he started working on it. He was a very fast and hard worker and finished within 3 days (1 bed new build flat). We discussed filling in all holes left by previous owner, but to leave the curtain bracket ups (I'm now trying to replace these!).

- One of the reasons I wanted to bring a pro in was to repair some hairlines cracks I noticed in some of the walls and ceilings (see photos of a couple of examples). There are only about 5, they're all straight lines and quite subtle, I assume they're normal (hoping they are!). There is a very long one (about 4m) that spans most of length of the ceiling in the living room, the rest are about 0.5m.

- However, I stupidly forgot to mention these before he started. I think in part I was distracted with all other things I had to discuss and do. But also probably part of me felt like I was in the presence of a pro, so I kind of assumed they would take care of stuff like that as standard part of the prep process.

- Since the paint has dried/cured, I've noticed the cracks re-emerge. As far as I understand this is normal if they haven't been filled/fixed with mesh.

Question: Is it reasonable or unreasonable to assume that they should have repaired any significant cracks before painting as standard? At minimum I would have expected them to actively raise this before just painting over them? I just have no baseline as to whether or not I'm being reasonable.

I wanted to clarify this before I contact them, as I already found some other small issues with the repair jobs they are going to come and look at again. They also left the keys in a drawer and didn't lock the door and the place wasn't very tidy. It's frustrating as they are very nice and have 5 star reviews (verified) from 100+ people, so I expected first class work.

 

[Wayners]

I discussed how id treat cracks with customer which involved taping.
Many decorators just fill cracks.
You need to ask them about it

 

[opps]

Both @Wayners and I are professional decorators. I have seen loads of work by people with 5 star reviews on the likes of Checkatrade that I personally would rate at 3.5 stars. I think that part of the problem is that many customers could not tell the difference between a high quality finish and a barely acceptable one. Additionally, if they like the trades person, they don't want to be seen to leave a slightly negative review in public.

 

[milkyway]

Thanks for the advice, both! I mentioned it to him and he said it's to do with the joint and that they are happy to fix them... They said normally sand and paint and them, and there's not much they can do other than that aside from peeling and skimming which is apparently very involved.

The way I've seen it done on YouTube is using those mesh strips. I presume this is the tape you're referring to @Wayners ? Find it a bit strange he wouldn't have filled the cracks/taped them to start with...

Had a couple of questions before I go back to him:
1. Do you think there's a chance he could have filled them and they just cracked again?
2. One thing it would be great to understand before I go back to him, is whether it's possible for him to just fix the crack itself or if he'll need to do the whole wall/ceiling again?

 

[opps]

If he touches in the paint, you may, or may not see where it has been touched in. Depends on the paint, and isn't necessarily his fault.

With cracks, I tend to use Touret Flex and Fill. It is a caulk that is reinforced with micro fibres.

Ask two different decorators, and yeah, you may get two different answers...

 

[milkyway]

Makes sense. It's Dulux Trade Vinyl Matte British Standard White, in case that makes a difference

 

[Wayners]

I use a bacho tungsten scraper and fiber fuse tape cut to fit the the width or channel I scrape out. I use toupret powder filter and to date it's never failed once.
Set the tape below the original surface.

 

[milkyway]

Thanks for this @Wayners, I'll put this to him.

@opps Sadly doesn't surprise me. Million dollar question... where's the best place to find a knowledgeable and reliable painter/decorator handyman who I can trust?

 

[milkyway]

Additional context: I paid 800 for the work (1 bed 55sqm flat), 190 for materials, and 100 for a few handyman repairs.

Couple of other questions:

1. How long do you think it would it take to scrape, tape, and mesh the cracks described in the original post?

2. Would you include this in the price of the original job or would you charge extra for them, and if so, roughly how much?

Or if it's easier, how long would the 4m ceiling crack take and roughly how much would it cost if you would consider it to be extra?

Thanks

 

[milkyway]

Amy thoughts welcome!

 

[opps]

I would probably charge about £150 but that would be using my technique. That said, I would have included in the original price.

 

[milkyway]

Great, thanks Opps.

Would that just be for the one big ceiling cracks or all 5 cracks? (1 big ceiling, 2 small ceiling ones, and 2 small wall ones)

The painter has since said I should get in touch with the managing agents as it's due to the plasterboard expanding.

But I think this is part of the remit of the flat and would be my responsibility... Sounds like a bit of an excuse to me and that they would still be resolvable using your method?