Has "professional" decorator used the wrong type of paint?

Norman_Castle

Kitchen walls can get greasy. Cleaning them with sugar soap before painting may have prevented this.

As its recently been painted you could try painting individual areas which are framed by other walls or cupboards. If there are areas which regularly need wiping try using a more washable silk or eggshell paint on them in a contrasting colour.

Davesnave

For some reason the paint hasn't keyed onto whatever's under it.

I have a lot of matt emulsion around, most of it own brand from Brewers, and that includes the kitchen, which was mist coat and two top coats. Wipes-down a treat.

I'd not pay someone else to paint my kitchen and expect better results than I could achieve, albeit more slowly. Not exactly in my top 10 of 'difficult stuff to do!'

Furts

Let us go back to "the good old days"! Emulsion paint was simple then, and it worked. Obliterating emulsion for new plaster. problem was it marked easily, but everyone knew this. Matt emulsion for walls, but no good if you wanted to wipe it down. So vinyl silk where wiping was needed because this product had the most pva in it. It is all down to pva content.

Now it is complicated, and fashion has demanded everything be matt type finishes. The construction industry has gone with this because it deskills the work. Why? Because vinyl silk highlights bad preparation and plastering.

A lengthy reply which may sound cynical, but money will understand, no doubt!

Sorry money, but the bottom line is you have the wrong paint in your kitchen and you should have waited longer before wiping, or ensured the preparation under the paint was better - or both.

moneyistooshorttomention

It was a few months after the wall was painted - so I know that paint needs a few weeks after painting before one can guarantee it's sorta "baked on" to my way of thinking.

This different decorator is coming in very soon to redecorate another area of my house - in my usual colour of Dulux Jasmine White. I'm wondering whether I need to tell him:

- throw away leftover paint from kitchen job as there's "summat wrong" one way or another

and/or

- what he should be doing as prepping on these walls elsewhere in my home. Bearing in mind that those walls were also replastered by the duff plasterer, who then didnt do a mist coat of paint before going on to paint them.

I'm assuming new decorator can do those walls as per plan with standard preparation, then paint with my standard matt Dulux paint?

Furts

Doozergirl made a wise point, as usual, - it is all down to marketing. So it is with Matt Emulsion. The stuff contractors apply gets different labels, and prices. Plus it seems to be the same as obliterating/new plaster/covermatt products.

So ... I have applied buckets of matt emulsion straight onto new plaster and it has all worked. This has acted as a filler, a mist coat, and an obliterating coat. However there is a proviso. This is paint aimed at contractors and is not a retail product from Crown or Dulux with a fancy colour, fancy name and fancy description.

You need to establish what preparation was applied to your walls, and what exactly has gone on the top of this.

One thing is certain - if you have too much vinyl in new paint going onto plaster then you will have problems because the plaster will not breath, it will not dry, and your paint will lift off.

andygb

Doozergirl wrote: »

There's no particular reason to use washable or kitchen paint in a kitchen. It's all marketing spin.

Not true.
There are plenty of people who like to keep a kitchen clean, and this means having to wash marks of painted walls from time to time.
We used Valspar washable paint in our kitchen around seven years ago, and we can wash any spillages off, no problem.
There are good paints, and there are bad, cheap paints.
The good ones do what it "says on the tin".;)

moneyistooshorttomention

Well - I've now left a message for that new decorator that the paint he is to use on the other bit of my house that is about to be (re)done is Diamond Matt.

As the average customer-in-the-street - I just thought "There's matt and there's vinyl silk..and there are some paints that say 'kitchen and bathroom' on the can".

I am surprised (:cool:oh no I'm not by now..:cool:) that my so-called "professional" decorator that did the kitchen has mucked up one way or another. I would have thought those leftover cans of paint of his (that I am about to throw away) would say something on the can - like "washable", "kitchen and bathroom" or the like:cool::cool:

Doozergirl

andygb wrote: »

Not true.
There are plenty of people who like to keep a kitchen clean, and this means having to wash marks of painted walls from time to time.
We used Valspar washable paint in our kitchen around seven years ago, and we can wash any spillages off, no problem.
There are good paints, and there are bad, cheap paints.
The good ones do what it "says on the tin".;)

If you like washing your walls, then go for it. It's clearly marketed towards you and you understand why you're buying it.

My point was not that some people like washing walls, it was that there is no reason why you need to have 'kitchen paint' in kitchens; it doesn't automatically go that a decorator should be putting kitchen paint on the walls when regular emulsion is perfectly good. It clearly is marketing spin if people are making assumptions that their decorator is no good if they don't buy it.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well one way and another - be it his technique or the paint he chose - that so-called "professional" decorator has mucked up.

Right now - I'm just feeling rather upset that yet another blimmin' workman I've employed has turned out to be duff.:( Anyone would think I had money and patience to spare:cool: - if only....

rach_k

Where in the kitchen in the paint? If you don't have a splash back and it's behind the hob or sink, I'd perhaps expect a decorator to suggest something quite resilient for paint (but I do usually tell tradesmen I don't know what is best so they'll give me their opinion), but if you do have a splash back so the paint isn't in the normal splash zone, I wouldn't expect them to suggest anything and would expect them to use standard emulsion.