AIBU - Painter has painted onto glass of windows?

[Sunandsea13]

Hi all, we had the kitchen painted and the painter has painted the wooden windows too. They are 2 windows separated into 4 panes/8 in total. In all of them there is white paint onto the glass, not even straight just sloppy at the sides/uneven. It’s about 1-2 cm. The invoice is £480.

The wallpaper is also not a complete match in places, but I can live with that.

YAIBU - remove yourself with a glass scraper

YANBU - ask the painter to fix himself

Don't doubt yourself, this work is shoddy and unacceptable and no one, including him I assume, would disagree. I wouldn't want to pay a penny for that other than a small amount to cover his materials.

Sorry don’t mean to drip feed but found more problems. He said he would remove any screws etc and sand down, he’s just painted over them!

He sounds like a cowboy! He should be ashamed of that- and actually should come and fix in order that he preserves his reputation. That wallpapering is what I would expect to do, and I have never wallpapered a wall!

The level of work he's done has just reminded me why my one experience with a painter and decorator was my one and done with paying other people to do my decorating. I do a better job myself as an absolute amateur.

That is a shocking level of work @Sunandsea13. Where is his pride in a job well done?

This is such a poor job. I'm sorry. Know it's so stressful , plus I also hate conflict, so well done for sending the email.

I had a similar experience when I first bought my house. Had to redo the entire job myself.

I try to be philosophical. I paid a few hundred quid to learn a very valuable lesson, and (hopefully) I'll never get caught like this again.

These days I either do the work myself or only use people who come personally recommended and where I can see examples of their work (even if that means waiting 6 months for them or paying extra).

Edited to add: don't get the same guy back to fix this. From the looks of your pictures, I'm not sure he's capable of doing a good job. Even on a bad day or in a rush, a good quality decorator wouldn't have delivered work that poor.

Good God.
Does anyone have a five year old that the OP can borrow to do a better job?

So take pictures of all the issues.
Then contact him again and say that on closer inspection there are numerous issues, and you are not at all happy with the work he's done. See how he responds to that...
I would also make it clear that if he is going to g to put things right he does it at his own expense as you have already paid for wallpaper etc which will have to be replaced.

Don't feel guilty. This man has done an appalling job. Numerous people in the trade have confirmed that on here. He's taken your hard earned money. Find your anger.

My son'll come and do a bit of finger painting, and fling some colours around for ya.

Are they a handyman or a time served painter and decorator? Did you get him via recommendations?

That is awful shoddy workmanship and I would not be paying him

Yeah our neighbour recommended him! Although he painted their house outside ..

I really don’t want him back but legally from what you’ve all said, he has a right to fix it. But is he even capable? Doubt it! Just annoying as have new floor going down today as it’s all meant to have been done.

I do agree that tiling is more skilled and time-consuming than wallpapering. But the tiling is about 5 - 10% of what he’s doing in my kitchen, it’s mostly painting. A proper professional decorator will be more expensive because they will factor in prep time, which is essential to do a decent job. My decorator did 8 hours yesterday with just a 30 min lunch break, filling in cracks, holes in plaster, sanding, etc and all the prep that cowboys will never bother with. Theres a reason the OP’s gobshite was so cheap. Presumably a rush job that he completely botched.

That looks like a one coat job, slapdash and I would never accept it.

Don't pay him until he repairs it, preferably done whilst sober.

No he’s not capable. You’re under no obligation to let him fix it with that standard of work. I’ve fired crap contractors in the past and I most certainly have not let them botch it further with a “fix”.

Pay him £100 to fuck off and get someone good.

Doesn’t matter - tiling is very expensive. A limited tiled area could easily cost more than it costs to paint a whole room.

Erm, my 16yo - goodness even my 85yo FiL with parkinsons - could have done a better job on the painting and the wallpaper. On the basis of the job they’ve done, I’d say you’ve been scammed and would speak to citizen’s advice over whether you can actually just refuse to pay the outstanding invoice completely with a legal letter stating that the work done is so below standard as to be laughable?

In your shoes, I’d be hopping mad because we couldn’t live with the wallpaper like that - it will peel and snag and look dreadful within a year and you’ll have to redecorate. It needs redoing, which means writing off what you’ve already spent, stripping it off and buying more wallpaper to be put up by someone who knows what they are doing.

Thanks all, I’m now regretting giving him the option to fix it. If he responds saying he will fix, do you think I can try and say on reflection I’m not comfortable with that due to the poor quality of work completed and can’t see it being improved. Should I just say I’ll pay for the paint, it was just trade paint so £100 would more then cover it I think.

Yeah there’s no way I would pay £1200 for my tiny kitchen to be painted. There is barely any surface area to paint. It’s a square room with a U shape kitchen so it’s just the wallpapered wall that’s got nothing on it.

There is a local forum on Facebook near me that recommends tradespeople - I don't think he would work again if you posted the photos somewhere like that. It's not libellous as it's true.

I'd allow him one go at fixing it then get someone else and charge him back for the cost and any additional cost of repairing defects/redoing if he doesn't do it/doesn't do it properly or keeps putting it off.

Oh OP what a mess they’ve made!

My husband runs a professional painting and decorating business and therefore I showed him and his team your photos, they were very shocked, and fed back the following: Wallpapering is a fairly difficult skill to fully master, and proper prep work and painting (freehand) of woodwork also takes lots of practice to get right, based on the results of the work and the amount the job cost (depending on the size of the kitchen, a quote from our team would be around 40% more than this) it looks like it’s been done by someone unqualified and with very little experience.

That wallpaper needs stripping and completely redoing, the windows however may be salvageable. I would recommend asking a more reputable firm to quote for putting it right and then contact the original ‘decorator’ to let them know you’ll be deducting in from their bill.

It may also be worth putting a review along with these photos on their business page, so that others can avoid and instead research and find a more reputable decorator.

Awful awful, I couldn't live with the wallpaper or the painting like that. Especially as you now have a bill to pay (or have paid it). No one should have a decorator leave it like that. Don't pay him/her or ask them to pay a proper professional to tidy up their work in your house. Or try and get your money back. I would be so upset and cross to think I was cheated.

Thanks all! Really appreciate all of the feedback! I just want to know if he will accept a reduced fee as I don’t want him back and would like to book someone else in. But it’s a waiting game. Hopefully he responds this evening, dreading it though!

The more pictures you post the worse it is. Even where he’s also painted he hasn’t polyfillered the cracks, sanded them back smooth and painted. Those screws just being painted over as well. Sorry but it’s all dreadful I would not want him back as his work is shocking.

If he thinks that standard all round is acceptable he’s just not up to the job.

DO NOT PAY until you are 100% satisfied.

This cowboy has preyed on you and exploited your female-indoctrination to "be nice". He's done a shoddy job and is relying on you being nice or being scared.

Don't apologise to him, it is HIM who should be apologetic and ashamed of masquerading as a professional.