Not paying painter due to carpet stains?

[Reasonswhy]

Starting off with - I’m the most under confident person in the world so any form of potential confrontation feels so hard for me, appreciate I may be making a mountain out of a molehill.
Had a painter out this week to paint 2 rooms. He said on Monday he woolr
get it done that day, but has taken 3 days as said he had other jobs chasing him and his apprentice off sick - fine, no big deal. He finished today while I was out, and I’ve come home to an ok job but it’s patchy still in places and the carpet in one room has a lot of paint on the carpet 😢I’ve attached pics of the smaller areas - for some reason the larger patches pics have been flagged as sensitive😂The areas are damp and slightly white so he’s clearly already put something on it to soak it up which isn’t worked.
I summoned up the courage to call him and he sounded defensive from the off, said he was coming back to finish the darker blue room which had been a “nightmare” as such a dark colour. I told him about the carpet and he said oh is just a dribble? And I said no, there are lots of areas and given they are damp I’m guessing you knew about it and put something down- I just need to know how to get the paint off. He said he’ll sort it over the coming days and rang off.
What do I do? He left an invoice for £680 including materials asking politely for it to be paid within 48 hours. I don’t want to pay it in case he doesn’t come back to fix it, and I don’t think the paint will come easily unless he has a magic solution. WWYD? Do I deduct something from the amount to cover carpet cleaning? If so what would be reasonable? Or will this cause a confrontation?

ugh. TIA

Is he asking you to remove the tape in a couple of days? No. No. No. What happens if you remove it and it lifts the paint?

This!
Does he really mean he's expecting you to take the tape off?
No. That's his job. DO NOT TOUCH THE TAPE!

I had a room and the stairs and hallway painted two months ago - walls were dark green , skirting etc white . Not a spot of paint anywhere. That is why you pay a professional. Do not pay him in fact he may need to pay you to replace such new carpet.

I’ve shampood and scrubbed the carpets best I can too hopefully they come up as they were

Hopefully? There is no "hopefully"! Either they are returned to the condition they were before he started or he owes you money.

my fault with colours like that you need to be more careful

I know he means general "you" here (not you personally, OP!) but he's basically just admitted that he was not careful

I would feel awkward too OP, I find conflict hard, but stick to your guns!

Be careful about legal side of accepting £100 off. That may be seen as the end of the issue and you would not be able to get him to pay to rectify the damage.

Hoping someone with legal knowledge will be able to give advice.

Tbh I think he should be taking a couple of hundred off for all this titting about plus rectifying.

He's seems to be dangling the £200 with the intention o you accepting & him walking away.

It will be no where near enough if you end up replacing carpet.

Especially if you want a match & it's discontinued!

Just so you have your facts together why do t you call the carpet company and see how much they would charge to replace the carpet. You could probably get rid of the old carpet for free on Facebook so could save the ‘removal’ cost.

He's a total cowboy.
As others have said, stay strong.

The fact that he told you to wait until the paint is dry to pull the tape shows he has no idea what he is doing. I perform a great deal of DIY painting and it's axiomatic to remove the tape ASAP when paint is wet.

Do not ask him "what do you normally do?" or "what does your insurance cover?" Those are NOT your problems.

You say "I paid for a professional paint job that does not involve permanent damage to my home. I expect the carpet to be replaced with the same quality as was installed last year." How he pays for it is not your problem.

Don't forget to leave an honest review when this is all over!

So he just replied with this, has completely ignored my questions about replacing carpets. What do I do now?😔

I’d just wait and see how the carpets look when fully dry and go from there. He is probably ignoring your question about replacing them as he’s hoping it won’t come to that!
It might all be ok when dry and if not there’s a professional cleaning as next step for him to organise.

He's admitted fault in his messages so just hold off for now and see how they look when dry. (Eta: how wet are they? Get the windows open and heating on to dry them quickly).

He either hasn't got insurance or doesn't want to claim off it.

I wouldn't press him about replacing the carpets until you have had them cleaned. There is no point in him replying to your question until he knows that the carpets have to be replaced.

My take from that is that he knows the paint wont come out and it’ll need replacing and he’s saying keep the money instead of paying him.

I think his text is fine. It’s ok to suggest letting the carpets dry out and seeing how they look. I think his previous text offering £200 off and apologising was ok too. He was chancing his luck with a low offer but he wasn’t rude and he was properly apologising.
OP, what do you want from this? I think I might be ok with keeping all the money for the painting and then I’d probably not change the carpets, DEPENDING what they look like when they have dried out.

I be careful about sending some of the Mumsnet suggested texts. Some are very pompous and unnecessary rude. I prefer to deal with situations like this more practically. I wouldn’t back down but I’d avoid getting into battle with someone. I think you are more likely to get a satisfactory result if you stay level headed.

Make sure you are taking lots of photos and videos.

No. Not from a professional - and he clearly isn't! You do NOT wait for the paint to dry before removing the tape because it will lift paint with it. That's going to be a disaster.

Also: "The absolute joke that is a (apparently) professional painter saying the colour of the paint makes a job "a nightmare"
Does he normally only paint white or something? A painter who struggles with colours 😁
If anything a dark colour is easier because you don't need as many coats to cover up the previous colour. Painting a dark blue wall white would be much harder." This is incorrect. Dark colours are harder because they show every mark and imperfection whereas a bright white has a blurring effect that's more forgiving. Painting over dark colours can be difficult but not if you use a primer first. A professional would know how difficult it can be working with different colours. He once again is showing that he isn't.

Definitely do not pay anything yet. Get advice and written quotations from professional carpet cleaners. I would also get legal advice (from CAB if necessary) on where you stand with paying the shortfall if you have to replace the carpet. He's clearly not a professional so the likelihood of him having public liability insurance is slim.

I would not pay him a penny for now, wait until the tape has been removed and the carpet dried and THEN assess the situation.

As the carpet is likely still stained, I would be contacting a professional carpet cleaner NOW and asking for a quote to have the stain removed and IF it can be removed.

If the cleaning company say they wouldn't be able to get it out then you need to go down the replacement route. You could contact your insurance who can then claim the costs from his insurance. Or there is the small claims court option.

If you let the paint dry it will NEVER come out.
Ideally it should have detergent massaged into the areas to make sure it cant dry and then it should be extraction cleaned repeatedly.
However as soon as your touch it it becomes a you problem..unless you have legal cover on your insurance in which case, if you contact them you might be able to get it professionally cleaned immediately and your insurance company will claim against your painter.

Also...it looks like he has tried to bleach one of the areas he has "cleaned"..that is just flat out ruined.
And he washed his brushes in your bathroom sink. ?
What a cowboy.

If you let the paint dry it will NEVER come out
☝🏻 This, OP.
Let him know you are contacting a professional cleaning company for their advice and quotes for cleaning, then do it. ASAP.
Don't pay him. Also tell him you expect him to remove the masking tape. I bet he forgot to do it or didn't want to stay over time so left it. Useless git.
Stay friendly but unbudging, an air of polite regret should do it.

I meant accept the £100 off once everything is put back as it should be. Clean carpets or replaced, paintwork done, tape removed etc.

The whole thing is just shocking. Total cowboy, left you to sort the tape in hopes you'll accept his 'offer' of a bigger discount, not wanting to face you knowing he's fucked up your carpets.

Whatever you do, you don't want to follow his advice of letting the carpet dry before getting professional cleaners in, if you can already see that there are still blue paint stains!!

The paint is still SO badly visible and now has an odd white tinge on top that must be some product he’s used that is just sitting on it. 😡😡😡