Advice sought: quality of workmanship on painted sashes

[PoundofCarrots]

We had the external woodwork painted on our sashes just over a year ago but for several months now cracks have been appearing on the paintwork (all sashes) and it's starting to look quite poor.

The painter used Dulux Weathershield and did a neat job but I was expecting the work to last longer than this.

The woodwork was generally in good condition prior to the painting. Am I wrong to think that we should have had more mileage out of this work?

I've attached some photos for reference.

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• PoundofCarrots
• 6 Jan 2014
• 1

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• PoundofCarrots
• 6 Jan 2014
• 1

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• PoundofCarrots
• 6 Jan 2014
• 1

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• PoundofCarrots
• 6 Jan 2014
• 1

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• PoundofCarrots
• 6 Jan 2014
• 1

 

[Bosswhite]

I would guess the woodwork had soaked in moisture before it was painted and dried out during the summer months
Weathershield paints are good in ideal Lab conditions but like any other paint can still be subject to the elements.

 

[Robbie uk]

Was an acrylic undercoat used or was the Dulux Weathershield system used, ie, primer,filler,undercoat, and gloss from Dulux. Its usually pretty good.

 

[PoundofCarrots]

Thanks for your replies. I will have to look into which primer or undercoat was used and get back to you.

The windows were painted late September/early October 2012 but have been in this condition for several months now. I would have hoped that the wood would have been reasonably dry after the summer although, if I remember correctly, Summer 2012 wasn't great?

 

[jon92]

I had a similar experience with wooden sashes and casements at my house. Once I noticed the cracking I took some of the paint off (after several dry weather weeks) and found the bottom of the frames were sodden (literally, if I pressed hard on the wood water oozed out). Mine were also painted with Weathershield and I assumed it's as good at keeping moisture in as it is at keeping it out.
Another possibility is that they got damp in the past and the grain opened up which I'm sure would make any future paint covering ineffectual.
I got the painter back and he refunded some of my money, so you could try that as they should have spotted the problem.
I ended up stripping all paint off, drying out over a period of weeks then repairing with dry-flex, replacing putty with dry-seal and repainting from scratch.
I think with wood you can expect minor cracks to start reappearing after maybe 2 years, but what's happened to you is not reasonable.

 

[sparkwright]

Were the windows in a similar condition before they were re-painted?

And yes, there was a lot of rain during summer 2012, so there is a good chance the wood didn't have time to dry properly.

I've noticed paint can blister in the same places over and over, no matter how dry it is before painting.

Aluminium primer seems to make it last longer.