Dulux supermatt undiluted on plaster

[siouxchief]

Hi,

I recently got a bedroom plastered which looked really well done. We left it dry for a week and the painter has now put dulux supermatt straight on without diluting it at all. I trusted him on this as he said it was fine before he started but now after seeing the final finish and the poor lines and the white coming out through the colour im wondering has it gone wrong.

The other issue with wall paint on ceiling and skirting is another issue I must raise. It's like he didn't use masking tape.

I have just mailed him to come look tomorrow at the white coming through but should I have made sure he mixed the dulux supermatt with water on the first coat like I read online?

Thanks

 

[blightymam]

I would say that your painter is not a professional.. sorry. A mist coat is important and he most certainly have known about it and applied it.. Not to do this can mean the paint will peel off, leaving you with a headache to sort out.

Yes, I would raise the issue. If it helps, print this off - I had a look for the official guide on the paint he used to help you fight your corner.. it was probably printed on the tin he was using from anyway!

http://dulux.trade-decorating.co.uk/products/info/dulux_trade_supermatt.jsp

good luck!

 

[siouxchief]

Thanks very much for the info. I'm assuming now that it's too late and there is no going back? We have him back on Monday as the white underneath is coming through his two coats of b&q paint. I hope that isn't due to the lack of a mist coat

He is blaming the paint although we asked him to colour match to begin with and he said the b&q paint would be fine. Unfortunately the colour we liked was in the cheaper paint as would have preferred dulux.

 

[blightymam]

B&Q paint doesn't cover very well am afraid and no, I don't think it has anything to do with mist coat.

The mist coat is really important - it gives the normal, top coats something to adhere to. Without it, paint will peel and chip easily, sticking something to the wall, knocking furniture etc. I should imagine he didn't edge using masking tape because it would've peeled any new paint right off....

Sorry you ended up with a cowboy.

 

[siouxchief]

Thanks blightymam, this is invaluable info. Gutted that it seems my really good plaster job doesn't matter jack sh!t now if it could potentially chip and peal. Is this chipping and pealing a long term issue like it might happen in a few years and if so do you then replaster or somehow remove the paint?

What would your advice be now when we see him tomorrow if it's already too late in regards the mist coat?

Luckily this is a lightly used bedroom two so not massively visible day to day.

Thanks
David

PS We went to a highly rated guy on trustatrader purely to avoid cowboys! Seems like a rubbish site now!

 

[blightymam]

Well, I hope you left rotten feedback at least! Yes, those site's have not been good for us too - 4 different plasterers and all rubbish at their job. We've had crazy paving type finishes, large cracks, uneven walls & lines where the wall meets the ceiling.. I'll shut up now!

Regarding the paint, well, you can just take your chances, or insist (ha ha, like he'll do that) that he removes all the paint and starts again? If it does start peeling later on, you'll end up with a lot of work, scraping or sanding the paint off and starting again. If it comes off patchy, you may be able to just sand off the loose bits and mist/paint that again, but if you didn't do that then loose paint will lift off when you paint over it & you end up with a bubbly, lumpy mess.

Best of luck when you meet him later on.

 

[siouxchief]

Apologies, final question as I don't have a clue. The day he put the colour on he painted from 8am-12 midday and he said he did two coats but the b&q paint says leave 4 hours between coats! Does this mean he done this wrong as well and he couldn't possibly have done two proper coats in 4 hours with this paint?

Cheers

 

[blightymam]

Yeah, sounds like he did everything wrong.. Sorry to say. Normally what happens if the wall isn't dry enough when you apply the next coat is that it can lift off the first coat, or make sort of dragging marks - sometimes leaves streaks too of uneven colour. If you've no signs of that, then he probably got away with it.

:-/

 

[siouxchief]

Very disappointing. I really appreciate your help on here and won't pester you anymore.
Tomorrow's plan of action (where we are at least around when he does it this time) is to point out the issues again relatively nicely so he finishes the job and if afterwards we still have issues we will let loose. If it's okay but after 4 hours drying after he is gone if we don't think it's up to scratch we are contemplating cancelling his cheque we gave him (before seeing the finish) on Friday.

At least that puts us in control then. Let's hope he can make it somewhat nicer despite the lack of mist coat!

Thanks again

 

[blightymam]

You're not pestering, don't worry. Am just sorry that you had a rotten tradesman, it's so simple to do it right and no excuse really for what he's done.

 

[jcb208]

He must of had fun getting neat supermatt on new plaster as it is so thick anyway.Your know how well its bonded by just seeing if you can scrape it off,all paint can be scraped off to a degree,just make sure it will not come off in large areas.Its not always the case that neat paint will not bond to new plaster.The main reason you get failing paint bond is when the plaster is highly polished.im sure it will be OK . main reasons for watering down are better bond to plaster , much better finish ,less roller stipple ,no tram lines and a much flater roller finish