B&Q Paint Problems

bexman

I'm having a great battle with B&Q at present. Moved into our new home about 10months ago and it needed decorating from top to bottom.

Completed the kitchen and purchased Dulux emulsion, it went on well and looks great. We painted the dining room, lounge and hall, stairs and landing with B&Q Colours emulsion. Applied two coats on separate days, first noticed it at the bottom of the stairs, after a second coat drys, the paint cracks like a river in a drought, a mud cracking effect. Now this only appears to have happened where the walls take direct sunlight. At first I thought it must have been something ive done, or applied too thickly etc..

B&Q instantly agreed to refund the cost of the paint, not good enough as far as we were concerned. It had taken us weeks of hard work. I escalated the complaint to head office, they sent the paint away to Ostendorf who make the paint in Germany. It was tested and apparently met all standards.

I had a visit from a paint expert from our local B&Q store, he had been painting for 40 years and had never seen this problem as bad as this before. B&Q are still not budging and dont seem to want to help other than offer a refund. I have got two quotes from independant decorators to re-paint the walls after applying a base coat and I want B&Q to pay for the labour costs. Am I within my rights? I am also thinking of going to a consumer tv program as apparently 'this is not uncommon with B&Q paint'. Incidently we painted the downstairs cloakroom with B&Q emulsion and that seems fine.

One things for sure, nobody I know will never buy B&Q paint again!

markelock

I may be wrong, but I'd say it's unlikely you'll get anything. They've already agreed to refund you, tested the paint and not found anything (google it, see if anyone else has specifically had a problem), Buy another make, paint it, and move on. If it's only the wall by the stairs, can you not match the paint colour up, or even use a darker shade to create a tonal effect.

Add up all the time you're spending chasing this up, you'd be better off getting the brush out yourself and finishing the job.

Out of interest how much paint did you use all in, and how much did they refund you for?

bexman

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Well I havent accepted the refund. My issue is really the principal of it all, its taken ages to paint, we used about 15 litres of paint on the whole house. And at present they are prepared to refund all of it but it will all need re-painting, we've found the same problem in the dining room and on the landing its more or less everywhere.

The only way to resolve it is to apply a basecoat, like Polycell base coat and then paint over that when dry. Initially they were advising me to sand back the walls, can you imagine the dust and mess?!

Im not a professional painter but I know how to apply emulsion and ive been happily painting my previous properties for years with no issue at all. Infact this particular time I spent longer than ever preparing and ensuring I was doing a good job.

Its interesting when you speak to professional painters now they all seem to advise against 'own brand' paint.

stevemc1

am just saying was it maybe the wall downstairs wasnt primed or treated it sounds like the pain is trying to be absorbed into the surface rather than drying on to it

stevemc1

i just spoke to a plasterer friend of mine and he said the mix from the plaster sound like it wrong,and poss two or more plasterers working on the job thats why sum bits are ok ans some arnt

bexman

Steve, we've covered all issues. The walls were previously painted with a matt emulsion, and the paint we were applying was a matt emulsion. The paintwork before we started was perfect!

markelock

I agree with your point in principle absolutely. I just wonder whether it will be as easy to apply practically.

I wonder if it's worth ringing your house insurance (if you have legal cover) Do you have a "helpline" with your employment? They tend to offer advice for everything in life.

You're right to not start taking bits off too, envariably you'll end up with huge gaps of colour.

choccybikkie_2

We've had the exact same thing with some B&Q matt emulsion earlier in january.
Like your problem it only happened in some areas so we didn't think it was the paint especially as we've sanded and re-painted the wall several times now since and it still keeps coming back in the exact same places. Before we had painted it the paintwork was fine if not a little tired

bexman

markelock wrote: »

I agree with your point in principle absolutely. I just wonder whether it will be as easy to apply practically.

I wonder if it's worth ringing your house insurance (if you have legal cover) Do you have a "helpline" with your employment? They tend to offer advice for everything in life.

You're right to not start taking bits off too, envariably you'll end up with huge gaps of colour.

Good point, I will check my house insurance this evening. I actually work in IT but for a large Law firm so I'm getting (fortunately) free good advice from colleagues.

bexman

dandsknowles wrote: »

We've had the exact same thing with some B&Q matt emulsion earlier in january.
Like your problem it only happened in some areas so we didn't think it was the paint especially as we've sanded and re-painted the wall several times now since and it still keeps coming back in the exact same places. Before we had painted it the paintwork was fine if not a little tired

That is interesting, I was trying to find more people who had experienced the same problem.

Interestingly enough B&Q have just called me, they also took a sample of the paint and reckon they've tested it and found no issue with it.

From two professional decorators point of views they are both adamant its the paint and the fact that the dulux in the kitchen is perfect points to the quality of the B&Q paint.

Can I just ask, when you sanded the walls back and repainted it did you use B&Q paint again?

stugib

We had problems with Dulux paint in a couple of rooms - whatever colour we put on it would come out some horrible mustard colour. Dulux advised it was probably down to the plaster not being sealed properly and the moisture was therefore being 'sucked out' of the paint leaving just the dry pigments on the wall. Needed a couple of coats of watered down emulsion as a base coat.

So I'd agree with others that, logically, the most likely cause is your walls, not the paint, otherwise you'd have everyone returning that paint. There's a cat-in-hell's chance IMHO of getting B&Q to pay for your walls to be 'fixed' and professionally repainted. Even if their paint is inferior, they haven't caused any permanent damage, it's just 'incompatible' with the makeup of your wall and have put you back into the position before you started. Have you tried a tester from another brand?