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Not paying painter due to carpet stains?

181 replies

Reasonswhy · 22/10/2025 16:13

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

Not paying painter due to carpet stains?
Not paying painter due to carpet stains?
Not paying painter due to carpet stains?
OP posts:
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GAJLY · 24/10/2025 07:40

I'd book professional cleaners ASAP. If it's successful then knock off the cost off the bill. If it's unsucessful, get a new carpet fitted and knock that plus the cleaning fee off the bill. Do not pay the bill, until the carpet's sorted.

PsychoHotSauce · 24/10/2025 09:38

Reasonswhy · 23/10/2025 23:05

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. 😡😡😡

There's a good chance that if you bring in a carpet cleaning company for a quote it'll very much be, 'We can try, but that might not come out.' Depending on what on earth he's used on the carpet, it could have had a bleaching effect, and/or taken off the protective coating. As he clearly doesn't know wtf he's doing with painting, it's likely he doesn't have a clue how to clean it without ruining the carpet even more.

GenerateNewUsername · 24/10/2025 09:48

PsychoHotSauce · 24/10/2025 09:38

There's a good chance that if you bring in a carpet cleaning company for a quote it'll very much be, 'We can try, but that might not come out.' Depending on what on earth he's used on the carpet, it could have had a bleaching effect, and/or taken off the protective coating. As he clearly doesn't know wtf he's doing with painting, it's likely he doesn't have a clue how to clean it without ruining the carpet even more.

I agree with this. I’ve had bad stains from baby weaning and got quotes for cleaning companies. All of them said they’d try but…. some stains came out, some are still there

You may be in a position where you pay for cleaning and still need to get them replaced. The cleaning company will also want to know what he’s used to try and get the paint out as they may say this has made it set in/bleached it.

I would get some quotes from cleaning companies and carpet replacements. I’d also say some very good carpet companies can cut and stitch patches back in which have mixed success. Especially if the can get the original carpet still

Id Also check your contents insurance as you may be covered for replacement carpet through them and the you’ll just have to pay the excess (as I’d imagine the quote to replace carpets will be more than his invoice so you’ll be out of pocket if paying for it yourself)

Sorry OP, really unprofessional job but I think he realises this

ldnmusic87 · 24/10/2025 10:06

Do you have a photo OP?

Phoenixfire1988 · 24/10/2025 15:37

I'd be livid tbh our decorator never gets a drop of paint on carpets i on the other hand manage to get it everywhere 😅 ( hence why I now use a decorator ) get a professional to clean the carpet and deduct the cost if it comes out if not get a price for a new carpet and charge him

catlover123456789 · 24/10/2025 17:12

Just read the whole of OP's updates and this is shocking. OP, did you manage to get the paint off your bathroom suite? The carpets look wrecked, he's tried to clean them with some sort of product and it looks like its bleached the carpet. Leaving them wet is also awful, it needs a carpet cleaner to get the water out, they can't just be left wet especially when it's cold out. Get lots of photos as evidence and put together a claim against him. If you can't get that paint off the basin it's a much larger fix.

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