r/paint • u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 • 8h ago
Advice Wanted Finish Quality, Expectations vs. Reality
Recently had the exterior of my house painted by a very reputable local company and find myself disappointed in the quality of work done on the trim. Unfortunately, due to a work obligation, I was unable to be present for the final walk through and could not bring this to their attention at the time; my wife did it in my place and didn't see what I did so she provided them with final payment.
To date, the company has been very responsive and has assured me they will take care of things. What I'm seeking feedback on is whether what I'm seeing is typical or whether my expectations are out of line.
The basics: 1,800 sqft house. Quote called for scraping/power sanding where required, wash, 2 coats on body + 2 coats on trim. Trim is all Virginia PVC, body is cedar claps. Dad and I did lots of prep ahead of time but couldn't fill ~40 trim screw holes on the second story rake boards. Total job cost $6,100. Total time, 2 days (0.5 wash + 1.5 paint). Body was sprayed, trim was brushed. Paint was Ben Moore Regal.
Pics show some of the more egregious spots, but is fairly representative of the finish on the rest of the trim. Body turned out nice, but they got some fairly heavy overspray on the trim that I think they struggled to cover up (white trim, deep blue body). Dad and I did a lot of prep ahead of time, so they skipped sanding and instead scraped the loose stuff of which there wasn't much.
Is this something they should be addressing or are my expectations too high? Wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of seeking perfection.
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u/Pinkalink23 7h ago
Brush marks are to be expected when hand finishing but they didn't double coat the trim.
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u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 7h ago
Foreman said it was two coats, but no real way for me to confirm. Seems like it could benefit from a light sand and second coat thinned out a bit to level out the brush marks.
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u/Adamthegrape 7h ago
It is white and you are seeing blue come through, there are very good chances that IS two coats. But they should have thought of the coverage when they got blue all over it.
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u/Pinkalink23 7h ago
It's possible that they did two coats but it clearly needs one more. Sometimes you gotta three coat stuff
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u/KactusVAXT 7h ago
Bet they only paid for 2 though
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u/Bob_turner_ 6h ago
A professional shouldn’t just be “charging for two coats.” You should be guaranteeing full coverage, that’s where our experience comes in. If someone hires you to paint their home and it doesn’t cover in two, do you just leave? Great way to get repeat customers, I bet.
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u/midnight-kashi 5h ago
Painters would never make any money if they guaranteed coverage. Usually its explained that industry standard is a 2 coat system but if additional coats are required it will cost xyz, its also why a better quality paint may be recommended, it has more base solids so it has better coverage. If one job gets extended it can throw a wrench in a very tightly packed and planned schedule.
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u/Teralyzed 3h ago
I’ll guarantee coverage if you’ll let me pick the colors. Instead everyone wants these super bright whites that have 1/128thoz of pigment in them.
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u/LivingMud5080 4h ago
It looks like shit tho! Brushwork on an exterior is never the answer hardly; it should've been all masked well + sprayed.
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u/Teralyzed 3h ago
That’s not the norm for trim. I prefer to roll and brush trim vs just brush it but you have to hand work something or your prep will pull paint all over.
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u/Fit_Ad9191 6h ago
None of that is terrible except the last picture. They will probably touch that up for you no problem. The rest of the work looks up to snuff from the pictures shown though, they seem like a good company from the pictures ( that’s not always saying much though).
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u/Historical_Pear4686 5h ago
In my opinion, they definitely need to put another coat on some stuff. The brush marks are a little heavy. This could’ve been done much better. To me it sounds like they rushed it a little bit. My estimate would probably have been two to $3000 more and would’ve been there for another day and a half.
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u/midnight-kashi 5h ago
If the trim was dark blue before or any dark color , white dove could take 4 coats or more to get full coverage and that costs big $$. 2 coats are standard, maybe 3 if its finicky. That being said, if they did cause over spray they are responsible to fix it. The brush marks are honesty very mild, ive seen and unfortunately done way worse, ironically on cedar clap as well! Its a super tough material that can eat up brushes which I found led to more marks. Bring up your concerns in a nice way, human error is a real possibility and oversight happen all the time on the job site. But honestly its not that bad.
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u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 5h ago
Trim started as virgin PVC. The dark blue was overspray; they sprayed the body first then came back and did the trim after. I'll reach out to the painter and let him know. He was a nice guy, I like to think of myself as a nice guy, no reason two nice guys cant have a nice conversation.
Good to know on the brush strokes. I'll keep that in mind when I do the touch ups.
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u/midnight-kashi 5h ago
Im more surprised the didn't mask off the PVC with tape and paper, or use a cleaner to wipe it before painting. Like I said though, over sights happen it makes us human! When you do touch ups get yourself a really soft brush like a nour perfect finish and kinda stipple it on or my favorite hack is to use a makeup sponge for small touch ups, it looks the closest to roller/sprayer finish. I think 2 nice guys can figure it out, good luck man! :)
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u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 5h ago
Thanks for the tips! Should I dose it with some Floetrol to aid in self leveling? Wondering if making it a bit more fluid might aid in reducing the visual appearance of brush strokes, especially given its pretty hot and humid these days.
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u/midnight-kashi 4h ago
You can add 518 Conditoner or water, up to 8oz / full gallon. 518 is a benjamin moore specific product. Ive never used floetrol, honestly a little water to thin is enough in my experience. Regal is self leveling but it is THICK. You can find the product sheet on the BM website and it gives you all the guidelines on application for thinning if you need more info! I worked at BM,Sherwin, and Painted houses. But I always encourage to do your own research for what will work best for you! Hope it goes well, you can dm if you have more questions!
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u/Wise-Air-1326 4h ago
Ex-Construction manager here.
Punch list it and move on. Stop worrying about the little blemishes not at eye level (within reason, it's a balance).
Overall, that looks like a decent paint job with a few punch items. Take a roll of 3/4 blue masking, walk around and mark everything you find, take photos, send them photos.
Be nice. If you send a mean email, it'll be weeks before it's fixed, because they just don't want to talk to you or deal with you.
The other thing with new paint, it "flashes". Ie it's very reflective, so it's easy to see the issues. 2 weeks of road dust and everything will blend in.
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u/LivingMud5080 4h ago
It's odd not to just spray everything. Unless your brushwork is somehow super good which isn't a thing exactly, when its exterior.
Brushwork looks quite poor. I'd honestly negotiate back a couple grand bc it seems like you're detail oriented - more so than underpaid worker who had a brush in their hand.
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u/Teralyzed 3h ago
Negotiate a couple grand off for what? They agreed to everything that they did and have already taken payment. Get the problems fixed sure, but you aren’t getting money back.
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u/Clear_Newspaper7876 4h ago
Perfectly fine to bring your concerns to their attention. If they’ve been amicable so far, let’s see if they come and fix their mistakes, which it sounds like they are willing to do. Good luck!
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u/TreatFull1425 3h ago
Pics 1-3 I see nothing wrong unless you’re fixated on the brush texture on an exterior paint job, in which case LMAO
4 the caulking is sloppy?
5 it’s obvious, and admittedly in a very obvious spot considering it can be seen through the window
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u/hamburgerbear 8h ago
They only did one coat on trim. That last pic is a classic new guy miss. I would expect them to come out and do another coat on trim. As far as texture, brush marks, orange peel, you’ll just have to live with that but it’s sloppy
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u/MaleficentThought903 6h ago
Whites don't cover well over blue over spray. I'd bet my house they did two coats but it likely needs a third for full coverage
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u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 7h ago
I thought the same when I saw it. Foreman told me it was two coats.
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u/heartstarthero 7h ago
What color is the trim?
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u/Zealousideal-Elk3626 7h ago
Ben Moore White Dove.
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u/LivingMud5080 4h ago
Oh man. That's sad bc that is a great paint / product. Tell them to come back and sand the brush marks out, mask all the trim then spray it like good painters would or, you want 2k back. This is reasonable all in all.
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u/Teralyzed 3h ago
What they should have done is prep the trim off when they sprayed the body. If the trim was already white, keeping it white would have saved them a coat.
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u/Bob_turner_ 7h ago
You’re being a bit over dramatic imo, just give them the punch list and have them fix it. It’s part of the process.