Paint Streaks - Coat too thin or Old color bleeding through

[Rykc70]

I am having the interior of my house painted professionally.   I have had a couple issues where there have been streaks in the new coat of paint. The streaks show the bristle marks from the paint brush and the previous color is showing through.   The contractor is telling me that because of the old color, it needs a third coat of paint to cover it properly. And wants to charge me extra.   However, it looks to me like the contractor is trying to save money on paint by using less paint, then charge me extra for more work.

Is there a way I can tell whether it truly needs the third coat or if it was just applied too thin to start with?

Thanks!!!

Richard

[Gord]

I'm not a "pro" by any stretch of the imagination here but your situation is similar to mine at the moment. First off what type of paint is being used and what kind of base? Clear White Medium or Accent? If it's a deep base colour as someone just told me here yesterday.. deep base paints don't hide very well and are unforgiving.

A suggestion was made to me to try Benjamin Moore Aura paint.. I did some research on it.. looks like it's a good quality paint. Based on what you said I don't think a primer was used by the contractor.

[Rykc70]

Not sure what the base was.  i believe the contractor isusing an acrylic. He was not using a primer.   my issue is that most of the wall looks good with the exception of a couple spots.  my thought is if it looks good over 95% of the wall, why it doesn't in spots.  and again, it looks like the paint was applied very thin.

[chrisn]

Why was it not primed first? Was it over previously painted work or new drywall?

[Rykc70]

It is over previously painted walls.  Most of the new colors were darker than the old.   The coverage over 95% of the walls were good.   It was only a few small areas that did not cover well.  It appeared (to me) that the paint was applied thin and the brush strokes uncovered the paint below.

In my opinion, and please correct me if I am wrong.  If the color underneath was coming through, you would still have a smooth even coat if the wall is painted properly.  If the color underneath is coming through streaks left behind in brush strokes, that would tell me the wall was not painted properly.

PLEASE,  tell me if I am off base in my thought process.

[rmichael]

It is a sad fact that today's paints do not hide very well. You are probably looking at the "cut in" , those are areas ( edges/corners) that are brushed before the walls are rolled. It is impossible to apply as much paint with a brush as with a roller so the paint is, in fact, thinner in those areas. A required third coat can also depend on the color and sheen of the paint, for example flat paint hides better than an eggshell sheen paint and dark colors often have less hide than a lighter color.

I don't think the contractor is cutting corners or trying to be dishonest, it seems that the walls just require a third coat... not unusual with today's paints.

Best luck
rmichael

[Rykc70]

Thank you for the feedback.

I don't think he is trying to be dishonest with me either.  However, he has made comments throughout the project to the effect that they would try to make the paint go as far as possible to avoid buying more. Or another one is, you'd be surprised how far we can get a gallon of paint to go.  Then there is still the fact that 95% of the wall covered perfectly with small areas being left with these streaks.  Most of these areas were on trim or along edges and corners.  But there were also a number of spots that were in the middle of a wall..


On another topic,  how much overlap is acceptable?  (wall color onto ceiling or trim or the opposite)

I know when I paint a room, I take the time and tape off everything to achieve a (near) perfect painted edge.  What I am seeing throughout the house is almost a wavy effect along the ceiling. (might be a little bit of an exaggeration)

[ProWallGuy]

How much overlap is acceptable?

None.

[madochio]

How much overlap is acceptable?

None.

agreed.

also how dark of a color is being used? and what brand of paint are they using?
It not not uncommon for this to happen

[chrisn]

How much overlap is acceptable?

None.

Thats it

[Rykc70]

There are these cans in my basement.

1) Dulux Diamond
2) Glidden Ultra
3) Glidden Ultra Hide
4) Dulux Accent

The kitchen was going from a blue tinted white to a yellow tinted white.
One bathroom was going from a dark blue to a light blue.
The living room was going from a burgundy to a light brown and an olive green to a dark brown.
One bedroom was going from 4 bright colors to a dark purple.
My office went from a light beige to a dark blue.
The main bath went from a faux finish light blue to a plain light blue.
And the master went from a light pink to a darker purple.

[Hangman]

. You are probably looking at the "cut in" , those are areas ( edges/corners) that are brushed before the walls are rolled. It is impossible to apply as much paint with a brush as with a roller so the paint is, in fact, thinner in those areas.
Best luck
rmichael
[/quote]

This is a good point and here's a suggestion for the DIYers. I usually cut in 3 times and roll twice to get an even look.

[JSheridan]

It is usually the cut-in that will give you away, because as stated, the brush doesn't apply as heavily as the roller. I will sometimes do three cuts and two rolls to compensate.

[chrisn]

3 cuts?  damn man, what kind of paint are you using?

[TomTom]

I think rmichaels response answered the original question sufficiently.

As for the "overlaps" you say that there are wavy lines along the ceiling line. You don't mention anything about overlaps on the trim work so I'm going to assume that it is fine so the painter can obviously cut in properly. You also don't say that there is wall paint on the ceiling either so he isn't being sloppy. So the problem, I imagine, is that there is no perfectly straight line where your walls & ceilings meet (unlike a door frame to a wall) which makes it very tough to create a straight line, and you even say yourself that you might be exaggerating. Here on the west coast where almost all walls and ceilings are textured it can be very difficult sometimes getting those lines to look decent compared to untextured walls. Also, old houses shift making those wall to ceiling lines less than straight.

If you are exaggerating then give the guy a break.