Just had my house painted and I hate it

[indecisivequeen]

I'm a complete novice at all stuff diy and painting as I've always rented before now. I bought my house about a month ago. Had someone in last week to paint and wallpaper my hallway. I chose a Johnstone's match of farrow and ball and what a nightmare that has been. The paint is absolutely shit. You can't touch up, you can't clean it. There's marks on the wall not sure if it was from me or the decorater but I've tried gently wiping them off there's now water marks on the wall. You can't touch up as it doesn't blend in.

I wish I had of known this before. I've touched up dulux paints absolutely no problem so stupidly assumed this would be the case with all paint. I've had the wallpaper done up my stairs which I like although I can see a gap quite obvious where it hadn't been matched properly. If anyone has any advice on fixing that please let me know.

So I've just wasted £300 on the hallway and the colour doesn't go and I don't like it and there's marks already. DP hasn't even seen it as he's been working away all week but has said he doesn't mind doing it himself with a mate possibly helping (I'm useless and it's really high) but 1. He hasn't stopped since moved in and he must be absolutely sick of me and 2. The most important thing, how do you paint the joining walls to the wallpaper without getting any paint on it, I'm scared! I've told him I'll pay myself to get someone in to do it again but he seems to think it'll be fine, although he doesn't have much experience painting either. Help! I know it seems so minor right now but it's got me really stressed out.

We painted out hallway blue once. Took 2 full days. Hated it.

Got new paint that week and repainted the whole lot the following weekend.

Paint it yourself , it isn't difficult !

@oohnicevase I'm worried about getting it on the wallpaper whilst painting the adjoining wall. It's not a straight up staircase it sort of goes round a little and I can see one is breaking our necks trying to paint the wall that is almost the height of the house. And the edges whilst up at that height. It if was the living room or any other place we could do it ourselves not an issue, but I think this is a job for someone with experience.

This is what my evening are looking like. I'm onto around 20 on samples currently. Think I'm losing the plot. I quite like this wilko grey whisper. Sample of the wallpaper in the pic. Does anyone think it would go? Or recommend one that would?

Pic

johnstone's is usually really good, sounds like your decorator isnt up the standard. did he spend a few days prepping the walls first, then undercoat and a couple of top coats?

Which Johnstone’s paint did you use? It’s normally brilliant paint!

We have a Johnstone's F&B dup on our sitting room walls and it's been wonderful, very hardwearing - I wonder if PP is onto something re: the prepping of the walls? Doesn't help if you've changed your mind about the colour though, sorry...

Suggest masking tape to protect the wall paper ...

Contact the decorator about the gaps in the paper, a professional shouldn't do that.

The paint may mark when wiped because it's a dark colour? I've never undercoated with emulsion and it hasn't made a difference to whether it marks or not. Matte finish will mark more than a silk finish for example and some colours do seem to show up marks more than others.

Regarding repainting, frog tape is probably the best bet for protecting the wallpaper but remove as soon as the paint is dry to avoid it sticking too much.

I also have Johnstone’s F&B dupe in a washable finish and it’s great. Have you gone for a very dark colour? I’ve found that tends to be much less forgiving when it comes to touching up.

Did you supply the paint or did the decorator? Because it sounds like the paint was watered down- especially as you can't wipe it clean. It happened to me once and I had to get the hall repaintedWallpaper not joining up sounds like shoddy workmanship and I wonder if it would be worthwhile getting the decorator back to fix the wallpaper?

You can get frog tape to protect the wallpaper, line it up with the edge of the paper and try not to get too much paint on it. Leave it to dry then gently peel it off.

how do you paint the joining walls to the wallpaper without getting any paint on it

Ideally you paint the wall first, going slightly over onto the wall-to-be-papered so the paint disappears under when you then paper the wall.

In your case, lots of patience in applying masking tape (test a small inconspicuous area first) and remove it as soon as the paint starts to try. (If you leave the masking tape too long, you risk it bonding firmly to the wallpaper and then damaging the wallpaper.)

For the gap in the wallpaper, id be calling the decorator back in!

What finish was the paint op? If the paint is a vinyl Matt or has a sheen such as silk or mid-sheen that will be why you can't touch it up.

Do you have a ladder and long board of wood? Or access to them?

If you do, you can make a mini bit of scaffold on your stairs. Prop the ladder up on about the middle step and lean against a wall. Put the board through the ladder step and butt to the other end of the stairs. Means you have a board to walk along to paint hard to reach walls.

Bit like the photo below (not the greatest, sorry!). May help?

To protect your wallpaper as you paint next to it, use packaging paper (the brown stuff) and use a bit of masking tape (get very gentle stuff) and tape the paper to the ceiling and floor, with a little bit in the middle.
Alternatively do you have any wallpaper left? Could you lift the piece next to the painted wall and either put fresh paper up?

He failed to do the wallpaper properly and the paintjob is poor quality, take some photographs and get in touch to request he either refunds you or redoes it entirely. You can then use the opportunity to select a different paint and ask to provide it yourself. Johnstone is usually good, but for peace of mind go back to Dulux if you want.

I bought the paint myself from a decorating centre local to me and I'm sure it was vinyl Matt, walls were originally a light cream. I just don't understand how you can't wipe it or touch up a little patch, feeling a bit miserable for wasting so much money when we've got so much else to pay for within the house. I'll post a pic of the gap I'm taking about, it's more like it's not stuck down properly than a gap, I don't know if I'm being too picky so your opinions would help. It's a family friend and I already mentioned a few other things I noticed that needed touched up so I'd rather not have to face him again.

That wallpapering is bad.

I'm no decorator but I've hung my fair share of wallpaper in my houses over time and it's never had visible joins.

Having seen your pictures, I agree with carpballs, that looks pretty poor. What’s the rest of the papering like?

Ah, just seen you don’t want him back.

I’ve always found Matt paint is less forgiving than other types. I tend go with silk, not as shiny as satin, but wipes better and easier to blend if you need to touch up.

You can try a little bit of border adhesive on those edges, should get them to stick down. Might make it look less obvious to you?

Paper is lovely BTW 😊