Paint Stripper on UPVC Widow sills

italiastar

As I'm vertically challenged when it comes to working up ladders, we took the opportunity when a "Painter and Decorator" who was working in the road knocked on the door and offered to paint the apper apex woodwork of our house. We asked for the paint to be stripped back to bare wood, but to my surprise he used chemical stripper. Heres where the problems start.

Drips and chemical laden sripped paint fell onto my 2 year old UPVC window sills - 2 splashes on the windows. It has "melted" the UPVC and stained it orange - the UPVC is slightly raised. We've tried car polish, t-cut, cream cleaner and professional UPVC solvent cleaner to no avail. I even cut a small sliver off one raised area with a craft knife, but the staining has penetrated below the surface.

Can someone please give me some advice. OK I can sue him, but in reality where will that get me - it's impractical and very expensive to remove the windows to replace the sills and would probably cause even worse structural damage. Also what's the chance of getting anything out of the painter, who appears to be someone trying to earn an honest penny - even if luck is against him. I could try and claim off his insurance - he's unlikely to have any and if he has will they pay as he was negligent by not covering the windows.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I should do, please. No need to suggest to ask him to leave the mess as it is as I've already decided that.

:xmassign:

---lee---

I had a similar problem on the plastic edges of the internal side of a patio door. A very effective solution was to actually paint it white with gloss paint.

You could not tell it had been painted and this hid the marks (which were a very dark brown wood stain). I’ve moved since then so I don’t know how the paint stood up in the long term. Obviously being external it could be a different kettle of fish and you would probably have to paint the entire window sill.

Worth considering if you don't get any other suggestions though.

uncle_buck_3

Sorry to hear of your misfortune…

If you do decide to paint your window sills you will probably get the best results with paint made for the job:

http://www.international-paints.co.uk/details.php?productid=86&search=1

http://www.international-paints.co.uk/details.php?productid=78&search=1

I guess you will just have to put this “accident” down to experience

HTH.

italiastar

Thanks to you both - you've confirmed my thoughts - I might just paint the splashes on the basis that white blobs are better than orange ones.

It's annoyin - particularly when you've employed a "professional", but such is life - probably why I hardly ever get anyone to do a job for me. Still there are much more important things to worry about in life.

---lee---

italiastar wrote:

Thanks to you both - you've confirmed my thoughts - I might just paint the splashes on the basis that white blobs are better than orange ones.

It's annoyin - particularly when you've employed a "professional", but such is life - probably why I hardly ever get anyone to do a job for me. Still there are much more important things to worry about in life.

Just had another thought. As you said, he probably does not have insurance (worth asking though) but you should be able to claim through your own buildings insurance. I'm sure this also covers damage caused by 'professionals'. It's worth digging out your policy and having a read through the T & C's.

Cheers,

Lee.

catzeyes79

hi,
be very carful using paint as any solvents espially oil based solvents could make the problem considerablly worse. Not all platics are the same.

adr0ck

i had scratches on upvc window sills

you couldnt really see them....just that dirt always got stuck in them and wouldnt come out.........(and then you could see them)

i tried jml magic eraser (woolworths 3.99) for a laugh....with a bit of hard graft it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rhino666

This is a really unfortunate situation - I sympathise with you. I suspect that the paint stripper would have reacted with the plastic and damaged it all the way through the section.

If a claim on insurance is possible I would have the windows removed and refitted with new sills. It may look like a daunting job but it would only take a good window fitter an hour for each window. Redoing the reveals outside may take longer if they exist and are damaged on removal. Even if there is no insurance, the cost of removing a couple of ordinary windows and refitting with new sills would not be great - may be worth sharing the cost with the painter to get the job done properly with nice windows that are only 2 years old.

Failing that I would either paint the spots as suggested above or use a sharp knife/chisel to indent the damaged parts of the sill and fill with some white coloured resin or plastic filler of some sort - I'm sure there has to be something suitable available.

Good Luck !

italiastar

Rhino666 wrote:

This is a really unfortunate situation - I sympathise with you. I suspect that the paint stripper would have reacted with the plastic and damaged it all the way through the section.

If a claim on insurance is possible I would have the windows removed and refitted with new sills. It may look like a daunting job but it would only take a good window fitter an hour for each window. Redoing the reveals outside may take longer if they exist and are damaged on removal. Even if there is no insurance, the cost of removing a couple of ordinary windows and refitting with new sills would not be great - may be worth sharing the cost with the painter to get the job done properly with nice windows that are only 2 years old.

Failing that I would either paint the spots as suggested above or use a sharp knife/chisel to indent the damaged parts of the sill and fill with some white coloured resin or plastic filler of some sort - I'm sure there has to be something suitable available.

Good Luck !

Thanks,

Unfortunately, were talking about two large bays with six sections each bay - this would be a serious amount of work - ah well c'est la vie!

---lee---

Hi italiastar,

Just wondering if there was any progress. Did you get in touch with your buildings insurance?

Cheers,

Lee.