Neighbour insisting on something

[Niceeyes]

i recently renovated a flat and there was a small leak from my kitchen to the kitchen below. The owner if the flat requested his ceiling to be painted (really only a patch was needed but my builders painted his entire ceiling) he then complained that the builders had left some splash marks on one wall and marks on another wall too. He now wants the splashes touched up AND his other entire wall painted…. I feel like he’s taking the piss… I’ve seen the wall and it looks fine. Yes there are splash marks on the other wall.
He is the landlord and has a tenant living in the flat.
Im an interior designer and have done my fair share of painting. (He doesn’t know this)
He said he wants proper painters to avoid a bigger issue…
I just feel like he’s taking absolute liberties … one because im a single lady renovating my flat and two he wants his kitchen painted for free.
he said he’ll get someone in if I don’t… and I know he’ll try to charge me some stupid price.
what shall I do?
I feel like he is bullying me.

Your neighbour isn’t wrong. If the ceiling was painted a long time ago, you can’t just patch it up—those spots will stand out as noticeably whiter than the rest.... And if your builders were careless enough to leave paint splashes on the walls, they absolutely should fix that. You can’t just paint over random patches—it’ll be obvious.

You caused the damage on his ceiling so you should fix it, properly.

because im a single lady renovating my flat

Pathetic

Probably because your renovation has damaged his property. It's between you and your decorators to sort this

You damage your neighbour’s property and then accuse him of bullying you? You sound like an utter nightmare.

You should ensure everything is done to a high standard
you caused the issue and your decorators sounds sloppy

“Yes there are splash marks on the other wall.”

Well, if there are splash marks, surely there’s no question about it: it’s your liability to put right. The problem you have is with your builders - it’s not for your neighbour’s flat to be left in a worse state because they were careless.

You damage your neighbour’s property and then accuse him of bullying you? You sound like an utter nightmare.

Agree. You're the one taking the piss with your I'm a single lady shtick. That's neither here nor there in this situation.

I would approach the decorators that did a poor job and tell them they have to put it right if they left splash marks.

Can’t leave downstairs worse off because of an issue during your renovations though!

HA he wants his entire wall repainted for free when there is nothing wrong with it

Tell him to make an insurance claim.

If there are splash marks then yes, you ought to paint it. Tell them to be more careful when painting.

Why should he claim on his insurance, which will possibly incur an excess payment and a higher insurance premium next year, when it was the OP's renovations that caused the damage?

OP, you caused the damage and your builders messed up when they repainted the ceiling so just suck it up and deal with it. This is on you.

Interesting that you say it was your builders who painted the ceiling, rather than an actual decorator. Builders aren't necessarily skilled decorators.

Your damaged his apartment and your painters did a crap job. It is not him that's taking the piss. You even admit that there are splash marks!

As an interior designer, I find it very odd you thought just painting over a small area on the ceiling would be sufficient!

There is. It has splash marks on it.

When my washing machine leaked causing water down to the neighbours underneath I arranged an electrician to come because it went into their light.

I then got them torches for the 3 days they had Mo kitchen light when it dried. I paid for the new light fitting and electrician to fix it and paid for their ceiling to be re painted.

I also have them a voucher for take out for the inconvenience and so they don’t need to cook one of the 2 evenings without light.

Im a single parent. They did say I didn’t need to do it but it was my fault - even if an accident - so why should they have been out of pocket?

you may think the landlord is being arsed but that flat is his business and income. You made the problems so it’s your responsibility to remake good.

I’ve seen the wall and it looks fine. Yes there are splash marks on the other wall.

So he's not taking the piss. His flat needs to be put back to how it was before your work caused a leak.

That was really lovely of you.

Have you seen some of the car crash interior design makeovers on television? 😂

Either there are paint splashes on it because the builders did a sloppy job or there aren't - which is it?
I would've thought as an interior designer who's done your fair share of painting you would be understanding that having paint splashed down your wall isn't acceptable and a bit embarrassed that your builders have done this

You admitted yourself there are splash marks!

get a better painter next time

You’re missing the point, the slash marks I’m prepared to fix, painting an entire wall that just had old cooking marks on it .. No … (not anything my guys did) jeeez read the post

The poor tenant. Fix your error, OP.

You need to use better contractors; if he’d gone through your insurance it would cost you more and they’d have done a proper job.

I think your mistake @Niceeyes was getting your builders to paint your neighbours ceiling. Builders are best sticking to building in my experience of several home renovations. As a landlord does your neighbour not have decorators he uses for his properties? I would have sucked up the cost of the ceiling painting by his choice of decorator. This would have avoided the issues that have now arisen from letting your builder do what sounds like a bit of a slap dash job.