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Original poster

HELP! FARROW & BALL DECORATING DISASTER!

15 replies

nicecomfymat · 04/10/2017 21:42

Having saved up for 3 years to get my house painted (it's very old and desperately in need of painting inside), I bought a load of Farrow and Ball and got a reasonably priced decorator to do it. Long story short, he has eggshelled the walls and ceiling instead of using the estate emulsion wall paint. (To be fair the farrow and ball tin labelling is very poor and the eggshell for interior woodwork is called estate eggshell and the emulsion is called estate emulsion and the tins are otherwise identical). This has wasted a lot of very expensive paint but I also hate the shiny walls and ceiling and google is suggesting it's a nightmare to paint over eggshell with emulsion.

They are due back in the morning and I need to have a plan to ask them to sort it out. Has this happened to anyone else or are there any decorators out there who can advise?? I could cry.

While I know this is a massive first world problem, we've worked hard and saved for ages to get this done and I don't know how to fix it.

OP posts:
SnowBallsAreHere · 04/10/2017 21:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ocelot41 · 04/10/2017 21:46

Agreed - their screw up, they fix!

CabbageSoupy · 04/10/2017 21:47

I'm not a decorator but I work in a decorating shop.

If he has used the estate eggshell as listed on the website it will be fine to emulsion over it as they are both water based. You just need to get them to pay for the replacement paint- although if you do end up footing the bill go to a local johnstones shop and get the farrow and ball colour matched in their cheaper paint which is better quality anyway.

Don't panic. It's their fault. This would be way worse if it was oil based eggshell.

CabbageSoupy · 04/10/2017 21:48

I should add, google is probably being unhelpful as most standard eggshell is oil based but luckily the estate farrow and ball is not.

Batteriesallgone · 04/10/2017 21:50

They should fix it it's not up to you to come up with the plan. Ideally they'd sand and repaint, though they might just buy new paint and paint over it if it is water based.

If they leave you high and dry with shiny walls I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing you could pursue through the small claims courts - though you'd have to double check that of course (I'm not a lawyer).

Janus · 04/10/2017 21:52

Great advice Cabbage. I would also, if needs be, colour match, we have a farrow and ball colour match and you really can’t tell the difference. The decorator I spoke to also said their paint is actual poor quality and they colour match whenever possible as the paint’s better.

meltingmarshmallows · 04/10/2017 21:52

Make sure as other PP have said you are firm and get them to sort it. I had my house renovated last year and in one room had a similar ish issue I didn’t push at the time and 12 months later it still drives me nuts!

CabbageSoupy · 04/10/2017 21:56

@Janus we always say their marketing is better than their paint.

9/10 decorators prefer trade brands such as dulux or johnstones

Caulkheadupnorf · 04/10/2017 21:57

Adding also to using F&B colour match for repainting.

This happened to a friend recently and her decorators fixed immediately when they knew what had happened.

Original poster
nicecomfymat · 04/10/2017 22:19

thank you all for your replies! That is a very good point about google mainly talking about oil based eggshell. one site said to score it and peel it off but it is definitely water based eggshell so hopefully it won't come to that?

I totally see that it's their mess up but I wanted to be better informed in case they fob me off with a rubbish plan to fix it. (If they didn't realise they were supposed to use the emulsion on the walls and the eggshell on the woodwork, I don't feel like I can totally trust them to know how to fix it IYSWIM? Shock

I have to go to work early in the morning but my other half will be here to talk to them about it. With any luck it will all be on the road to being fixed by the time I come home.

Thanks for all the tips about colour matching. I was tempted by that but (ironically) went with the F&B as I love the extremely chalky finish of the estate emulsion. And now I have a completely shiny room! It's almost funny. Well it might be in years to come Hmm

OP posts:
CabbageSoupy · 04/10/2017 22:36

@nicecomfymat if it's water based you won't have any problems with two or three coats of the chalky emulsion on top Smile

Explain to them what's happened. You're within your rights to ask for cost of paint and hire new decorators, by the way.

Humptynumpty02 · 04/10/2017 23:02

Have to say, from experience, I disagree on the colour matching of Johnstone. Good quality paint yes, but the colour matching I had on 3 separate colours was appalling. Nothing like the original at all. Price wasnt that far off F&B also.

PickAChew · 04/10/2017 23:03

They're fucking idiots and need to fix it.

Original poster
nicecomfymat · 05/10/2017 09:14

Quick update. They're sanding and repainting and have offered to cover the cost of paint. They were very sorry and very nice about it.

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 05/10/2017 11:36

That sounds good that they're at least handling their mess up professionally :)

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