DP has messed up the painting and thinks I'm over reacting for being annoyed

[Wouldyoube]

I bought a tin of paint for the living room wall, a dark green (bottle green from dunelm to be precise) in a matt finish. My existing (magnolia) paint job is completely flat with no shine at all as was intended.

I opened the tub and took a tiny bit from the top of the lid onto a cutting in brush, in front of him, and did a little 2 x 2 patch just to make sure I was happy with the colour before he started. I was.

Long story short he didn't bother to mix the paint or even read the tin (even though I had already told him the type I wanted and the type I bought)

2 coats later the job is done and after drying every square inch of the wall has a shiny sheen, the opposite to matt.

Confused, I looked online and the verdict was that the paint can't have been mixed properly so I asked him if he'd mixed it and he said no, I asked why not and he finally said "I thought you did"

When was I supposed to have mixed the paint? I think he's just saying that to avoid owning the mistake anyway.

He got really defensive and said I'm over reacting by being annoyed, why would he need to read the tin before starting, there's nothing wrong with it, he has never heard of "shiny" paint being a problem and it's not as if the wall is crumbling down (?)

But am I being unreasonable to be annoyed? I have a hospital appointment on Thursday which I'm quite worried about so may be a bit more touchy than usual, I don't know.

I would have thought it was already mixed too.

Stirring yes.

That is the most likely cause for matt paint being shiny apparently, something to do with the mattifying solution not mixing properly with the paint. It's possible it's a bad batch I guess. We'll see where it's at after another coat and if no improvement I'll speak to customer services.

Has he painted before?

Maybe he didn’t know he had to mix it.

If you’d opened it, painted a bit and then left the lid off, how likely is it that he would put the lid back on to read the tin? I’d say very unlikely indeed, especially as he’d just seen you paint with it.

I think you’re not well and perhaps aren’t giving enough leeway for errors. The stirring got forgotten and it’s done now. And given you’re ill, presumably he’s the one who’ll be doing the extra work.

Hope your appointment goes well.

Paint it yourself if you’re that bothered.

I've done loads of painting and decorating, the stirring action prevents streaks and gives a more consistent look.

Not stirring is not going to make a matt paint look entirely satin/gloss/shiny. It simply makes sure the finish is consistent.

Have you noticed areas that are more shiny or more matt than others?

I've just apologised to him. I looked at the reviews past the first page and can see that somebody else has complained about the same thing, the finish having a sheen and not being matt. Another look at some other photos on reviews further down and I can see I'm not the only one with the problem. Its the paint.

Bloody hell. I feel terrible.

You can't fully judge a colour either before it's dry.

Pick your battles. I think YABU.

I have that paint in our downstairs loo and it is very Matt almost chalky so yes I’d need it painted again

A miscommunication. It happens. Please don't get divorced over it!!

My ex couldn’t hit the floor with his hat. Therefore I hired painters.
It was worth the extra.

One can usually see if a tin of paint has been mixed or not. But I don't know how you got an accurate sample if you did not mix it first. I think paints have instructions such as -''stir for 10 mins''.

That's interesting. Perhaps there's some kind of inconsistency with the batches. I've just seen one customers picture and their wall looks exactly like mine, and there's a woman complaining about the finish in another review.

Yes, it does sound odd to me that the finish would be shiny if it weren't mixed. Maybe take the tin and take photos of the finish (shine a light on the wall to show the wall is shiny) and show them at the store. You might get a refund or replacement.

That's a good idea, I'll do that thank you.

If you do want to give it another coat but aren't sure you have enough left, water it down. Adding 10% water to emulsion is pretty common for painters as it makes it easier to use without losing coverage.

You can't really tell the color until it's dry, either.

Here in the US it would be "matte." Is it "matt" in the UK?

Bottle green matt emulsion paint.

This.

Just wait for it to dry? Does the type of paint underneath make a difference? Did you undercoat? Wonder if it can affect if you don't?

It’s a mix up. A miscommunication. Not worth falling out of over. I’d put my energy into remedying the wall.

No undercoat, painted straight on top of a completely matt magnolia. It's completely dry now. DP will give it a good mix and do one final coat tomorrow If there's enough. Thank you PP for the tip about adding a small amount of water to make it stretch.

Buy another tin and redo it yourself.. I would. You’re much more invested than your DH so I’d be doing it myself! One coat will do it. Xx

I'm satisfied that it's the paint and nothing poor DP did or didn't do. I've read a ton of reviews now mentioning the finish having a sheen. The colour is nice atleast and he has done a tidy job of it. There's more important things going on in the world isn't there? Thank you for the reality check MN, I think stress got the better of me today .

Bet he was gutted when he’d finished and you had a go at him.
Buy a better quality, similar colour paint and get him to stick one more coat on.

Why would you think it was mixed when you saw her open it and test it to confirm she liked the color, not finish.

You were there when she opened it, cut it and tested and you didn't see her mix but somehow thought she had mixed it?