Newly decorated exterior woodwork. Paint flaking and cracking. What has gone wrong?

[Flyingsouthwiththeswallows]

Had my house exterior painted late July / early August.

On the advice of the painter we used Johnstones Stormshield Flexible Satin, with the appropriate undercoat.

The weather was warm and dry for the whole three weeks and the finished result looked good.

Now, not even two months later the paint is cracking in all the corners, splitting on some of the window edges and flaking on the window ledges. Following the rain of the last two days large blisters are appearing on some of the other surfaces.

Can anyone please help me understand what could be wrong.

The painter doesn't believe he has done anything wrong and Johnstones are saying it is not their paint. Both are anxious to distance themselves from the problem and the painter is fully booked till next Spring with no capacity to redo the work.

In the meantime I am panicking at the idea of the windows going through the coming winter exposed to the elements. They are all non standard windows (large arched sashes) and it will cost me a fortune to replace them if they start to rot.

Has anyone had a similar problem with this paint? Or a similar experience? If so, how did you resolve it?

Bump. Can anyone help me please !!

I would say the decorator is responsible - he did the work and it was with his recommended paint. He either needs to come out and sort it or pay for someone else to sort it.

As to what's actually caused it, I don't know.

Are the problems on all sides of the house and is it worse facing a particular direction?

Was really weather very hot when you had it done? I believe extremes of temperature when the paint is going on can cause this.

THE weather, not really weather

wowfudge the problem is the same on every side of the house and after the rain last night (the first since it was done) more bubbles have appeared.

ShovingLeopard yes it was very hot when it was originally painted. I did ask him about that at the time, but he assured me it would just ensure it dried well.

I suspect it is the decorators responsibility, but there is no way he will resolve it, because he is adament it is not his fault.

My biggest worry now is getting the house through the winter without all of the windows starting to rot.

The bigger worry on the horizon is finding a new painter who will still have space in his diary for next Summer. Painters are like hens teeth around here !!

We have had the paint on exterior window sills blister with the heat. Is the paint a dark colour as that absorbs more heat and seems to exacerbate the problem? I think painting in very high temperatures is likely to be the issue.

I'd agree the problems are probably caused by painting when it was so hot.

Also worth considering how well prepped was the wood before painting started. I had my house exterior painted a few years ago and the decorator was careful to point out that whilst he could promise a good finish on the recently renovated timber windows, the age of the front door (about 120 years) meant that I shouldn't expect a perfect finish on that. It's pretty good, but there is some cracking in the corners and around the glazed panels.

Yep, it wasn't the v hot weather, and I would agree with lll77 that a lack of prep has also probably played a part. Our painters used car body filler on our wooden sash frames, believe it or not. It works really well. Then I think there was proper primer over the top.

I don't think your guy did a good job. It will be difficult to prove, but is his business reliant on having a good local reputation? You could point out that it doesn't reflect very well on him, though if there is more work in the area than people to do it, he may not be too bothered. I feel for you. Exterior painting doesn't come cheap.

Sorry, it WAS the very hot weather. I don't know what is wrong with me today! Prob more caffeine required.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Retrospectively I think you are both right ShovingLeopard and lll77, the heat must have been a factor. I feel so irritated that I didn't go with my instincts on that issue and that I let my painter persuade me that it would cause no issues.

His prep was also very poor. I did try to intervene on that one but was told he knew what he was doing.

All in all I feel stitched up. He doesn't need my business and is unlikely to care about negative feedback. He has so much work that I had to wait 18 months to get him to come inthe first place.

I guess I need to start saving to do it all again next year. I just have to hope that the windows survive the Winter without rotting.

I don't think you need to roll over on this one. Check the consumer rights act to see your next step. The decorator should have insurance...maybe your insurance will cover it and recoup the costs from decorator. If it were me I would definitely be pursuing this, especially since the consequences of a winter with badly painted windows could be severe.