Acceptable paint finish
Discussion
Decorator has just finished in our new Kitchen. For reference this is in a Victorian semi and walls were given a fresh skim of plaster. I'm not particularly happy with the work. In general light things look ok but when you look closely there is a lot more visible brush-work than I'd expect (i.e. he hasn't layed off) and the finish around the sockets is poor. Some photos attached but interested in opinions before I raise the issue. I don't expect perfection but I think I would do a better job.
Nope. Not anywhere near good enough. I had a work experience 15 year old Yoof decorating with me a few years ago who manged a better finish than that on his first couple of days.
The plastering is very poor in places too which is contributing to the rough finish, especially round the socket plates and on the wall in pic 2 but the paint looks like it's been slathered on way too thick with a coarse masonry brush rather than rolled on.
You'll never cure the uneven plastering without re skimming but at the least that needs sanding down to a smooth flat finish to get all the brush marks out and then a couple more coats. I do hope the new plaster was misted properly before painting otherwise there's a chance it'll tear when sanding making the finish even worse.
You haven't paid him have you?
The plastering is very poor in places too which is contributing to the rough finish, especially round the socket plates and on the wall in pic 2 but the paint looks like it's been slathered on way too thick with a coarse masonry brush rather than rolled on.
You'll never cure the uneven plastering without re skimming but at the least that needs sanding down to a smooth flat finish to get all the brush marks out and then a couple more coats. I do hope the new plaster was misted properly before painting otherwise there's a chance it'll tear when sanding making the finish even worse.
You haven't paid him have you?
To be fair , the plastering is as bad as the painting , it doesn't look like either guy unscrewed the sockets to be honest .
Although I'm a roofer by trade I've always renovated houses and as such I learnt to plaster to a very good standard , but I was taught by an old hand that had been a plasterer all his life , I ended up in the bizarre situation of paying him to basically tell me off and shout at me whilst I was learning from him ! Back to topic , I skimmed an entire house out for a mate and the painter who followed me said his job was much easier because of the plaster work , and when he finished it did look pretty much perfect with only 2 coats . It looks to me the paint has been slapped on straight out of the tub without any thinning .
Although I'm a roofer by trade I've always renovated houses and as such I learnt to plaster to a very good standard , but I was taught by an old hand that had been a plasterer all his life , I ended up in the bizarre situation of paying him to basically tell me off and shout at me whilst I was learning from him ! Back to topic , I skimmed an entire house out for a mate and the painter who followed me said his job was much easier because of the plaster work , and when he finished it did look pretty much perfect with only 2 coats . It looks to me the paint has been slapped on straight out of the tub without any thinning .
Poor painting. I'm not a decorator by trade but I'm very much into DIY painting myself having watched a lot of videos to learn proper technique and reading online. I'm currently painting a whole 2 bed terraced house. Sanded all the walls down with 80grit sandpaper, sanded all skirting, caulked, unscrewed sockets and filled any gaps etc, sanded again and painted. Used a short pile roller which is essential for getting a nice finish then layering off each wall with the roller. Back stroking into the paint when brushing around sockets and edges etc. Overall your job looks crap and he's obviously tried to do it as quickly as possible.
You can see in the pictures that he hasn't even bothered to sand the nibs off the wall!
You can see in the pictures that he hasn't even bothered to sand the nibs off the wall!
In my experience The before pictures aren't indicative of good or bad plastering, the colour variation and the manner in which is is applied makes it hard to see how good a job is before being painted.
That being said the decorator doesn't appear to have done any remedial work. My current house was plastered by a very fussy plasterer and even then the decorator spent I'd guess 5-6 hours filling imperfections and lumps that I would never have noticed!
That being said the decorator doesn't appear to have done any remedial work. My current house was plastered by a very fussy plasterer and even then the decorator spent I'd guess 5-6 hours filling imperfections and lumps that I would never have noticed!
thebraketester said:
New plaster should be as smooth as glass of its done right. You could get around the crap plaster by using heavy lining paper but it's more work.
This is the truth , it should be pretty much flawless . If I was in your shoes I would tile between the units to cover it up .
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