eepete
Platinum Member
We had a similar painting experience, and one of the painters was my neighbor. I ended up doing most of the downstairs trim paint.
My painters would put the wood-putty stuff in the nail holes with their finger, leaving a little dimple. I put in it and then when it dried sanded it with a block and piece of sand paper, and on some had to do a 2nd pass. They genuinely thought that leaving a dimple was the right way to do it because it made it easier to remove the trim if you had to.
They also used huge amounts of caulk at the border of the trim wood and drywall. Looks good but all caulk cracks with time. Finally, they pushed their rollers for too long on the walls and there were lots of places with fuzzy roller bits. They were overly frugal with their new rollers.
I talked with some folks who had used them before and they said they were happy. Yet at the open house we had for the place just before we moved in, many commented on the difference between the upstairs and the downstairs paint.
It's difficult when someone doesn't understand that their work is not up to the quality you want. I get along fine with the neighbors because it's all down to how you tell someone that you're terminating the agreement. They haven't changed how they paint, they just think I'm particularly fussy (and they are probably right).
Sand away at the bad stuff and use that as a "primer coat" for the next guy. You could also just prime some areas since time is scarce and then paint after the CO, depends on the room.
I suspect you've figured out by now than when any trade has to do even a little bit of work from another trade, it rarely goes well. So painters fixing trim problems or mudding up a drywall area is bad. Plumbers can't nail a blocking 2x4 worth a hoot. I'd get your nail holes wood puttied and sanded and not leave it to the painters. This has come up before in your journey, the problem of areas that fall between the cracks end up in the GC and home owners lap.
One last paint comment: Other than the baseboards, we used no caulk on the trim. Yes, you can see a small crack or gap on windows and doors if you look for it. But I've seen caulked houses and after some time the caulk cracks and it's very hard to remove without pulling up drywall paper or dinging the trim. So I took the devil I know vs. the devil I don't. There were a few places where the gap was soooo bad and it was (for some reason) very apparent where I did caulk, but it was flush with the wood and square-up against the drywall.
If a crack bothers you down the road, you can always put a little caulk on and paint it. It's not so easy if existing caulk cracks and you have to remove it to fix it.
The baseboards we have are simple 1x6 pieces with a 1/4" rounding. We used those because we didn't want to have to find a specific moulding style if we had to repair some, and it fits in with the simple scheme of the home. Because of the angle when you look down at them, any gaps are very apparent. So a very small amount of caulk was used, and it was worked into the gap so the intersection of the wall and trim was a sharp 90 degrees. It will crack someday, but the crack will be smaller than what was there to begin with. I used the plastic plates used for auto work with bonder to get a clean seal between the wall and the baseboard.
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, caulk is the most insane building material there is.
Pete
My painters would put the wood-putty stuff in the nail holes with their finger, leaving a little dimple. I put in it and then when it dried sanded it with a block and piece of sand paper, and on some had to do a 2nd pass. They genuinely thought that leaving a dimple was the right way to do it because it made it easier to remove the trim if you had to.
They also used huge amounts of caulk at the border of the trim wood and drywall. Looks good but all caulk cracks with time. Finally, they pushed their rollers for too long on the walls and there were lots of places with fuzzy roller bits. They were overly frugal with their new rollers.
I talked with some folks who had used them before and they said they were happy. Yet at the open house we had for the place just before we moved in, many commented on the difference between the upstairs and the downstairs paint.
It's difficult when someone doesn't understand that their work is not up to the quality you want. I get along fine with the neighbors because it's all down to how you tell someone that you're terminating the agreement. They haven't changed how they paint, they just think I'm particularly fussy (and they are probably right).
Sand away at the bad stuff and use that as a "primer coat" for the next guy. You could also just prime some areas since time is scarce and then paint after the CO, depends on the room.
I suspect you've figured out by now than when any trade has to do even a little bit of work from another trade, it rarely goes well. So painters fixing trim problems or mudding up a drywall area is bad. Plumbers can't nail a blocking 2x4 worth a hoot. I'd get your nail holes wood puttied and sanded and not leave it to the painters. This has come up before in your journey, the problem of areas that fall between the cracks end up in the GC and home owners lap.
One last paint comment: Other than the baseboards, we used no caulk on the trim. Yes, you can see a small crack or gap on windows and doors if you look for it. But I've seen caulked houses and after some time the caulk cracks and it's very hard to remove without pulling up drywall paper or dinging the trim. So I took the devil I know vs. the devil I don't. There were a few places where the gap was soooo bad and it was (for some reason) very apparent where I did caulk, but it was flush with the wood and square-up against the drywall.
If a crack bothers you down the road, you can always put a little caulk on and paint it. It's not so easy if existing caulk cracks and you have to remove it to fix it.
The baseboards we have are simple 1x6 pieces with a 1/4" rounding. We used those because we didn't want to have to find a specific moulding style if we had to repair some, and it fits in with the simple scheme of the home. Because of the angle when you look down at them, any gaps are very apparent. So a very small amount of caulk was used, and it was worked into the gap so the intersection of the wall and trim was a sharp 90 degrees. It will crack someday, but the crack will be smaller than what was there to begin with. I used the plastic plates used for auto work with bonder to get a clean seal between the wall and the baseboard.
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, caulk is the most insane building material there is.
Pete
