Advice please: Do I pay the company?

quill_2

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misgrace

Sorry I cant offer you help on the fensa question, but speaking as a professional P&D you have every right to hold back money with regards to the sloppy painting.
Admittidly you supplied cheapo paint, which I have always refused to use, but saying that you did offer to buy the good stuff.
He should have realised after the first coat that it wasnt going to be a good finish, you can tell after a few mins if the paint is going to be rubbish or not.
Also, he got it over your PVC, whats wrong with having a dampl cloth handy?, I always have my damp cloth and wipe as I go along, (if need be)

As to your gloss work, did he sand it down and apply undercoat first?, if he has just painted over with gloss, then it will peel over the next 12 months, personally I would have used exterior undercoat and gloss just to be on the safe side, even though its the inside of the porch.

Let us know how you get on, as he has to put it right, or at least deduct some money of the bill.

like I said I dont know about fensa, but if the fensa certificate if for actually building the porch, then he has built it, and should give you the certificate, painting it inside is purely cosmetic I would have thought.

BTW, I clicked on the thanks button by mistake incase your wondering why I did that.lol

rockin_plumber

quill wrote: »

Plastered Tuesday, painted Thursday morning.

Blimey.........

If it was plastered Tuesday so wouldnt have been finished until midday at the earliest........
Most plasterers say 3-4 days at least before painting........
I suspect it may not have been dry :rolleyes:

ictmad

MY KITCHEN FITTER HAS TAKEN 3 MNOTHS TO DO MY KITCHEN(isnt finished yet) he estimated 3 weeks max,so he,s been payed 3/4 of money he can wiat 3 mnoths for other 1/4 after all he left me waiting long enough with no cooker,gas,water etc

McAzrael

FENSA: You won't be able to call FENSA out - you are not a member and it (like its rivals CERTASS and BSI) is a self-certification scheme. You could ask your local authority's building control department to inspect the construction to ensure compliance with building regs and they will issue their certificate. Remember that neither FENSA or building control are interested in the quality of the work, merely that the building complies with current regs.

It is rare that a porch has to comply with building regs so I am a little surprised that you need a FENSA or building control certificate. Porches (that is where they are outside of the house - in front of an external front door) almost never come under the scope of building regulations. Replacement doors with less than 50% glazed area do not come under the scope of building regs. Even a fully glazed UPVC door is touch and go. Time to get your tape measure out.

misgrace

Hi there Quill, yes it is possible to get the emulsion paint of the pvc without damaging it.
Get one of those green sponge scourer type, (green one side and sponge the other), dont use a new one, try and use the oldes bitty one you have.
Get some soapy water and really soak the emulsion on the pvc and wait a couple mins and gently scour off.
If your still worried about it scratching, then just keep soaking the paint, and get an ordinary wash cloth and keep rubbing, it will come off.
Best to leave it till big boss has been and seen it.

Now, as for your plaster, no way was it dry, if it had of been over 25c the last week or so, then it might have dried, but it would take like rockin plumber says at least 3-4 days.
There is emulsion that you can put on plaster that isnt completley dry, but you wouldnt have had that around, as you said you had some cheapo lying around.
I wouldnt use it any way, I would rather give the plaster at least a week before I painted it.

BTW, the paint you gave him to use, was it matt or silk paint?
And was the skirtings new wood?

Forgot too add, if by any chance you are having trouble getting the emulsion off, then go to a diy store, and buy a bottle of brush cleaner, its a blue liquid, and for cleaning brushes, but I have used it over the years to get old paint off pvc, windows, and it even gets paint of carpets, clothes etc.
Just dab some on the pvc a couple of times, leave it for a couple mins, then wash off, and rinse your pvc down afterwards.

Its great stuff.

Hopefully you will come back and post and keep us updated.:D
I really wish you well, and hope you get someone soon to put things right, as not all decorators are cowboys, and these cowboys give us good ones a bad name.

misgrace

Hi Quill, if you are 100% definate that all he did was gloss over the new wood, then for that alone you have every right to get him back to re-do it properly or at least get a good bit of money back.
To get the skirtings done properly from new should take at least 4 days from start to finish, I am working on that he would use oilbase paints as that is the best for brand new wood, and in theory you can only apply one coat of oilbase per day, you can just about do 2 undercoats, one very early in the morning, and one very late afternoon.

He should have knotted the knots first, then used an oilbase primer, which takes around 8-10 hours to dry, then go back the next day and undercoat, again oilbase, this takes approx 4 hours to dry, but need at least 8-10 hours before he applies another coat.
So, 1 x primer, at least 2-3 undercoats, then 1 x top coat.

if he hasnt done this, then your knots will start bleeding through the paintwork in approx 3 months, and the gloss might flake and peel.

Next cack up, was putting silk on new plastered walls, even they had of been dry for at least a week, its not advisable to put any vinyl silk on new walls, you could have got away with matt, as long as it was a skimmed plaster finish.

He should have noticed you had silk, as your not to know about silk and matt, he is supposed to be the professional.

Write these points down, and if and when the boss does come round to talk to you about the mess his painter made, then you have some ammunition.

I hope this has helped, if the boss gives you any spiel about what I have just told you,tell him I am a qualified decorator, have papers, and been in the game for over 25 years, and I am sure any other P/D who reads these posts will tell you the same.
So dont let him try it on with you.
Again good luck, and keep us informed.:D

McAzrael

quill wrote: »

The inner door ie originally a front door if there was no porch is half glazed but if I'm being pedantic the ratio of glass to plastic has to be less than 50-50 considering the plastic surrounding the glass so surely we're ok?

Yes. If you have a panel in the bottom then there is no way that it is anywhere near 50% glazed area.

never_enough

Do make sure you take photos &/or a video before you do any cleaning up. Use a coin or similar for close-ups of anything so that the scale is obvious.
Do this even if the boss man is coming to check.