Help me with painting please!

[NFLBingo]

Hi all!

So about a year ago we hired a decorator to paint our hall, stairs and landing, and the bathroom, he came highly recommended and has his own business.
We chose the colours and asked his opinion on what paint to buy, then he got cracking.
The long and short of it is that he was bloody awful at his job, couldn’t paint a straight line, and got the very dark green colour in the bathroom all over the skirting boards, door frame and newly fitted ceiling, plus he didn’t take off the towel rail or any wall fittings and left it very patchy.
My lovely but daft DH paid him his £2000 as he’s bonkers, and the guy waltzed away into the sunset never to be seen again.

So I’ve been living with that mess for a year and no amount of trying to sort the issue myself with the remaining paint has helped, as the whole place is just terrible.
It came to a head this weekend when I couldn’t bare to look at it anymore and went to buy new paint. I asked 3 different employees at 3 different stores how to paint over the stupid colour, including the people who worked on the valspar counter, and they all said the same thing.
Wash down, sand off flakes, white emulsion over it then once solid white add the colour.
I’ve now finished coat 3 of white with 6-12 (it dries in 2) hours between coats and it looks horrendous.
It’s patchy everywhere and where I needed to cut in around the edges the paint has just been pulled so you can see the green still.
I actually feel like it’ll take 10+ coats just to cover the green totally, and that can’t be right surely?!
Somebody please tell me what I’m doing wrong! I know bathroom paint has a certain sheen and is harder to paint over but surely it shouldn’t be this hard?

That's very disappointing for you after all that hard work! What emulsion are you using? Some have more pigment than others so would give better coverage. Have you got a decorating store/trade place you could ask advice, rather than a big DIY store? I think I would have used a good quality primer rather than emulsion to cover up the dark green - have a Google. Good luck!

Gosh don't bother with the white!! Just buy a decent paint in the colour you like and two coats should cover it. I've repainted our walls several times and I've never done any of the faffing around that we are 'supposed' to do. I stick with dulux usually but I've recently done our hallway with b&q paint (I think it says Good Home on the label) and it's been brill. It's the tough and durable one I used. I usually go for a soft sheen or satin because it tends to be more wipeable and I think matt is really hard to get right.
£2000 is crazy!!

Hi thanks for replying!
I’m using crown brilliant white emulsion, it’s what they all recommended bar the guy at Homebase who said the bog standard would be fine.
I did ask about a primer as I looked online but they all advised it wasn’t needed as the wall was in good condition and the paint had cured well enough.
I read not to start within 24 hours of the room being used for a bath/shower and to try and keep the room at room temp (21ish degrees) which I’m trying to do but I’ve taken off the towel radiator this time to get behind it so it is likely a bit cooler.
I’ve gone in just now after the third coat and it’s infinitely better than it was before, but the edges are still rubbish.
Can I use a white primer over the emulsion now to see if it works better? Would a small natural hair brush be best to paint the edges with? So many questions! Haha.

@TheVolturi - Ah really? erred on the side of caution because it is such a drastic change and because of the paint type. I’ll try and show you what it’s going from and to in a sec.
I’m coving it with dulux and it looked lovely and fresh on the walls when I sampled it, it’s just sat there redundant at the moment though and I just want to smash the walls to bits haha!
And don’t get me started in the cost… he did a tiny bit of plastering too after the plastered has already been and sorted the walls and tried to charge us more, but I refused as that was his own fault as he bashed the wall with his ladder.
He made sure I wasn’t in when he asked for payment and got DH to do it there and then as I kept saying he was painting wonky and he told me it was my eyes?! Then he said decided it wasn’t and instead he couldn’t paint straight as the ceiling wasn’t straight?! Insanity.

What sort of colour are you going for?

So it’s going from this -

www.valsparpaint.co.uk/colours/pre-selected-colours/teals/copenhagen-harbour/

To this -

www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details/misty-mirror

😬😬

I don't think the pics have uploaded?

They’re just the links to the colours, I’ll see if I have a picture of it on the walls.

So that is what it was like before, as you can see super patchy and he’d not bothered to take the towel rail off despite us asking. Instead he got paint all over it. 🙄

And the walls currently.
Mainly it’s the edges that are the issue!

TBF you say it's patchy but it looks more like the wall is uneven, especially the edges - they don't look like a clean line if that makes sense so you may generally struggle.

I would try was one coat emulsion now - it's thicker than a normal paint and it covered a really vibrant yellow in one go in my mum's house when she moved in.

@QforCucumber - Well the walls were freshly plastered and there aren’t any dips in the plaster, and ceiling and door frames are straight as an arrow on a spirit level. I imagine it’s just my awful photography skills and the masking tape you may be seeing?
Unless you mean the painting in which case yes, it doesn’t seem to ‘stick’ there and I don’t know why.

Thanks @WitchDancer I’ll have a look online and see what the verdict is with that one!

Fingers crossed you get it covered!

What a mess and how disappointing!

Did you apply primer before the white emulsion? Normally you don't need to prime first unless the wall you are painting is flaking or patchy. I'm surprised you weren't recommended to prime first then the white emulsion x2 coats.

For the edges, how many times have you cut in? May need 3 to 4.

@NFLBingo ah it may be the tape then, photo is tiny on my phone! it looked like jagged kind of cornering - sorry!

@YellowMonday - Yes the who thing has been a pain, in the grand scheme it’s not a big thing but I have hated going in there for ages now!
I didn’t apply a primer before the white no, all the people I asked in stores said not to bother as the paint was in good condition and cured. I’m guessing I can’t prime now if I should have done it beforehand?
We’ve cut in about twice now, so one less than the surrounding walls at present, it’s good to know it’s likely because it’s just such a dark colour as opposed to me doing something daft. DH did one wall and I did the other and he used a bloody massive brush so it’s not as neat on the larger wall but has covered a bit better. 😂
All this before the colour, maybe I’ll just leave it white haha! (Kidding, mostly…)

[quote QforCucumber]@NFLBingo ah it may be the tape then, photo is tiny on my phone! it looked like jagged kind of cornering - sorry![/quote]
Oh no I get it! I think it’s likely a mixture of the tape all over the frames and ceiling and where he’s just painted green over the metal sides, ceilings and doorframe. I get a very deep rage when I think about it! 😂

I recommend keep going with the cutting in, once looking good do once final top coat to smooth it out.

Primer is the best - I always use now even when painting in the whites. Just smooths everything out and even makes my painting look somewhat professional haha.

I appreciate trying colour - my entrance is a rich emerald green (which I love) but really hope I sell before deciding to change the colour.

@WitchDancer

Fingers crossed you get it covered!

Thank you! I hope I do!

@YellowMonday

I recommend keep going with the cutting in, once looking good do once final top coat to smooth it out.

Primer is the best - I always use now even when painting in the whites. Just smooths everything out and even makes my painting look somewhat professional haha.

I appreciate trying colour - my entrance is a rich emerald green (which I love) but really hope I sell before deciding to change the colour.

@YellowMonday So do you think stopping the coats until the cutting in is finished and no longer patchy is the way to go? I’ll be lining papering the living room thankfully as the plaster is a little less even, so I will just have to worry about the paper making the colour lighter! 😂

Ohh I don’t blame you! When I next decorate the children’s room it’ll include a nice emerald green (as they’re having a jungle theme) I saw the other day in B&Q, but I’ll be leaving it until we sell as I’m not even attempting this again!

I find crown very watery. I know it's expensive but farrow and ball is the best paint and gives a great finish, goes on smoothly.
I had dark green in my hallway and only had to do two coats of white to cover it.
Dulux is much better at covering colours than crown.
Then if I want a colour again I use farrow and ball. X

Agree that Crown white emulsion is awful - thin and watery. I bought a 10l tub to paint most of my old flat and one wall later went back to b&q and bought the same thing in Dulux. I mostly use F&B now too but still use Dulux white for ceilings. Also, if primer would have been okay over old green paint, I don’t see why you can’t use it over newer white paint so long as it’s dry. You could get a small tin and try it.

Thanks everyone for your advice! i persevered for another day with the crown emulsion and after 6 coats of white I finally got somewhere! I’m putting up the colour over the weekend and I’m hoping I like it as if I don’t it’s my own fault and I’m not changing it
In the meantime I decided to strip the living room and I am slightly regretting it! Haha.