[sfsolar]

Hello all,
We hired a GC for our major remodel and one of the projects is complete repainting of interior and exterior of the home (with paint colors of our choice). We left for a week over Christmas and came back to find that the entire interior of our home was painted a pale yellow.

LOL.. wait no. We never told the GC what color to paint the home and didn't even know that he was going to do it. Never received a phone call...

In any case, when I have him repaint the interior (I hate yellow, btw, but I hate it even more now that I was given NO SAY in the color that my home was painted...) do I need to have him clean the walls and reprime?

Does he need to allow 1 day for each coat to dry? So, he can take a day to clean and prime the walls, 1 day for the first coat of paint and then another day for the 2nd coat? This seems like a 3-day job. If so, is it reasonable to ask them to wait a day between each coat so I can come and check that it was actually done?

There's a concern that the GC is taking shortcuts on the job. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that the yellow coat of paint was a single coat sprayed over bare sheetrock.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Windows]

If the drywall was not sealed, then now would be the time to do it. That seems like a strange step to skip because it should be obvious if it has been done or not. You do not have to clean the walls before repainting, and you do not (typically) need to wait a day between coats.

 

[nap]

are you sure this isn't a primer? He may have applied a tinted primer. While you obviously has not picked out a color, have you had any discussion of colors where he might have simply guessed at a color? He might have simply gambled a bit and tinted the primer with the idea of what color you might use or spoke of.

You should ask the guy about it before jumping off the bridge.

 

[sfsolar]

Yes, before I jumped off the bridge I confirmed that he did in fact paint the house yellow. When we first walked into the house we joked that this was a new kind of primer that was yellow.

It turns out he had leftover paint from another job and decided to use it to paint the interior of our home. I have no idea what the reasoning behind this move was - other than perhaps the slight chance we might like it since someone else liked it.

As for drywall being sealed, I'm not sure what step that is. There was new drywall put it, the seams were spackled and sealed. Not sure what else is involved since we are not in the construction business.

 

[Windows]

Yes, before I jumped off the bridge I confirmed that he did in fact paint the house yellow. When we first walked into the house we joked that this was a new kind of primer that was yellow.

It turns out he had leftover paint from another job and decided to use it to paint the interior of our home. I have no idea what the reasoning behind this move was - other than perhaps the slight chance we might like it since someone else liked it.

As for drywall being sealed, I'm not sure what step that is. There was new drywall put it, the seams were spackled and sealed. Not sure what else is involved since we are not in the construction business.

When people talk about priming drywall, they really mean sealing it - basically creating a uniform surface so different parts of the wall don't absorb the paints at different rates and give the sheen a blotchy look. It is actually in the painter's best interest to seal the walls, otherwise they can potentially eat up a lot of the (more expensive) finish paint. If you look down the length of the wall from a corner, and the color and sheen are pretty uniform, then either they walls were primed/sealed or he used sufficient finish paint to uniformly saturate the substrate, and it's all good.

Your builder sounds unlike any builder I have ever heard of.

 

[housepaintingny]

If the walls are already painted you can paint right over them with your new color and you only have to wait a couple of hours before applying a second coat. Paint colors, the number of coats, brand of paint, and sheen of paint should have been outlined in your contract?

 

[sfsolar]

No, the paint was a couple of lines in the project contract. We knew we would be allowed to pick the colors and that there would be one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint over the primer. However, I have a feeling that he did not prime, rather, just sprayed yellow paint. I could be wrong but its moot now since he has to repaint with our chosen colors. I check the sheen of the paint from the side and if its ok, I won't push the point about primer then.

Thanks.

 

[Matthewt1970]

Primed does more than seal the surface. It also binds to the surface giving you a much more durable finish so whn you go to scrub a stain off the wall or spray cleaner on the walls your paint doesn't lift right off.