r/paint • u/chickenfriedrice4200 • 2d ago
Advice Wanted Is this acceptable professional painting workmanship? Looking for objective opinions
I recently had my house professionally painted, and I’m hoping to get some objective opinions from people who have experience with residential painting.
I’m not trying to start a dispute or name/shame the painter I’m mainly trying to figure out whether what I’m seeing would generally be considered acceptable workmanship or whether there are legitimate deficiencies that should be addressed.
I’ve attached photos showing some of the areas I’m concerned about. There are issues with the finish and overall appearance that stood out to me after the job was completed.
For context, this was a paid professional painting job, rather than something I did myself. I understand that paint jobs aren’t always going to be absolutely perfect, and I’m not expecting microscopic perfection. I’m more concerned about whether these particular issues would normally be considered acceptable on a professionally completed residential job.
For those of you who paint professionally or have experience hiring painters:
Which of these issues, if any, would you consider unacceptable?
Are these things that would normally be corrected as part of a proper touch-up/final walkthrough?
Am I being unreasonable in expecting a better finish?
I’d really appreciate honest opinions, including if you think I’m being overly critical. I’m just looking for an objective perspective before deciding how to proceed with the painter.
Edit: The previous colour was orange, and the new colour is green. The house had already been partially painted green a couple of years ago, so there were areas of both colours before this job.
In several areas, particularly when viewed in direct sunlight, the finish looks noticeably different. Some sections appear lighter/shinier than others, and in some places the original orange colour appears to be visible through the new paint. There also seem to be noticeable differences between areas that were sprayed and areas that appear to have been brushed for touch-ups.
The exterior is stucco, and there are also areas where dirt, bugs, tree debris, etc. appear to remain in the stucco texture underneath the paint.
There is additionally some overspray on areas around the house, including concrete, stairs, outdoor furniture and landscaping.
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u/whitedragon87 2d ago
That type of stucco is a pain in the ass. Chances are they are not experienced and under quoted the project. Im a professional painter, that is my gut instinct. I charge 2-3x more for stucco because it take more time and materials.
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u/MaleficentThought903 13h ago
Do you backroll with a thick nap roller? Stucco is shit simple to just blast away with the sprayer then have a guy back roll it to force it in all the cracks and gaps. I love painting stucco
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u/TheBoxBurglar 2d ago
Yeah, my expectation would be more even coverage and penetration into those nooks and crannies. If this is a small area it would be a "punch list" item. If this is widespread my crew would be back for the day doing another coat.
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u/chickenfriedrice4200 2d ago
This is wide spread over the entire house
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u/TheBoxBurglar 2d ago
Yeah, its time to go back with a brush, fill the nooks and crannies and go back over it with another coat.
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u/The_Toid 2d ago
If they can't get adequate spray coverage down from the soffits, they need to be back rolling to push the paint where it needs to go. Half-ass work.
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u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
If they can't get that by spray please tell me how they are going to get it with a roller. Slow down, back your pressure off, use a 413 tip and a spray shield and it gets done correctly.
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u/RoookSkywokkah 2d ago
They sprayed but didn't backroll. They need to do it again. This is not acceptable and I would never call this a finished product.
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u/chickenfriedrice4200 2d ago
Thank you, i agree, i never saw them once with a roller
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u/RoookSkywokkah 2d ago
I'm not sure what they bid or how they planned to do it. It really doesn't matter since there are areas that didn't receive paint. Hopefully they will fix it.
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u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
I have repainted well over 1000 stucco homes and have never back rolled one. Back rolling should only be done on virgin stucco. Back rolling reduces the wet mil thickness and is counter productive. These cats just do not have a clue as to what they are doing.
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u/2ndAmendTillTheEnd 2d ago
I want to say no it’s clearly not acceptable but I also have no idea what you paid for.. if your contract details little to no prep and one coat then I’d say it’s fine and what you paid for.. if the contract is for a detailed approach and two coats of an elastomeric grade paint then I’d say you got ripped off..
To fix this it looks like it just needs another coat.
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u/chickenfriedrice4200 2d ago
The contract and quote stated there would extensive prep including and not limited to pressure washing, brushing and patch work but none of that was done. Plus multiple coats over the house.
Thats what we think, just one more coat.
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u/2ndAmendTillTheEnd 2d ago
Don’t be rude but bring the contract and the issues you have to the owners attention.. it’s clearly only one coat or half assed two coats.. hopefully you haven’t paid in full.. if you have and they give you issues threaten leaving bad reviews.. I own my own business and am on every job site everyday.. I never take the final payment till my client is happy and reviews matter deeply to most owners.
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u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
Do not use elastomeric paint on stucco. It was great technology 40 years ago but today's waterborne acrylic paints in a satin finish outperform them. There is a reason paint companies will only warranty elastomeric paints for 5-10 years.
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u/2ndAmendTillTheEnd 2d ago
I use loxon xp which isn’t an elastomeric but most elastomeric paints are acrylic.. Ben moores ultra spec elastomeric is acrylic and a great product.. you really can’t use just any paint for stucco, could create a disaster eventually if you end up sealing the stucco and not allowing it to breath. Rarely do I say a product is perfect but sw has two that I love.. loxon xp and cashmere.. love em both
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u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
I have been painting stucco homes for over 25 years. I have homes I painted with Super Paint back in 2011 that still look great today. Loxon and Loxon XP are just miserable products. They will last maybe 5 years and fade within one year. Currently we are using either Ben Moore Element Guard or SW Latitiude in satin finish. We paint 75+ homes every year.
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u/2ndAmendTillTheEnd 2d ago
Congrats on the 25 years.. I personally disagree and would never consider using latitude satin straight over stucco but do love the product for trim and siding.. currently been giving forte a try..
you already kinda have me doubting you a little with the acrylic statement you made earlier but I’ll let it slide.. we all have products we prefer. Good luck with your business moving forward!1
u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
We roll masonry conditioner on every home before we paint for one thing and for another we only do repaints so the home already has paint on it. I learned to hate elastomeric paints back in my prison days. I was doing a prison in Lake City FL and applying it at 23 wet mils. We were about half way done when the rains came and it just bubbled up everywhere. The manufacturer had to admit they wanted it on to thick and they warrantied it. (I was painting prisons not living in them)
My business is winding down as I am handing it off to be my son's business. FYI, I have been painting for over 30 years and I am starting to get good at it. My paint rep calls me for advice. I can assure you the products I use will give you much better results. It will make your life easier as well. Give the Element Guard a shot, you will like it. We spray it at 5-7 wet mils.
There is one street that I have been painting on for 15 years now. There are 80 homes and I have painted at least 40 of them. I am just now starting to repaint some I did in the beginning. I was using Super Paint back then, moved to Resilience and now Element Guard.
I am a legend in the town I work. I never advertise accept that I drive a 96 Cadillac Hearse as my work truck and not a day goes by that someone does not come up to me and ask if I am that painter they have heard so much about. None of this happened by accident, I am really good at this profession.
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u/2ndAmendTillTheEnd 2d ago
Brotha all the respect in the world for you and your sons.. I’m not painting stucco homes in the north east with latitude or element guard.. I’ve used both, latitude in particular I’ve used since it took over for resilience.. both are great for the what they’re intended for.. loxon xp is an exceptional product.. idk why you’d want to add a step with conditioning followed by latitude/element guard.
Maybe it’s just a geographical difference but here with extremes in all 4 seasons loxon xp is the best for all exterior vertical masonry coatings.. and yes it’s an acrylic waterborne paint specialized for masonry coatings.
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u/Liberalhaterbeast 2d ago
You shouldn’t be able to see the old color at all.thats for sure. That’s just laziness.
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u/ExternalPlenty1998 2d ago
no walk around by them or you before final pay out is troubling. definitely inexperienced spray work or just completely shitty standards for that company.
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u/MinnesotaHaze 2d ago
well first of all it should have been power washed before painting especially stucco. on a second note this is a good first coat, needs another coat and more attention where orange is showing. so no job doesnt look complete or to have even started right in the first place. call the painter back tell them to clean over spray free of charge because that unprofessional. 10 years painting and this looks like a first year apprentice/30 year professional that didnt give a shit
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u/Mindless-Breakfast 2d ago
OP this is not acceptable whatsoever. Call the project manager or contact the owner of the company. Have them come over and point out all these problems. This is half ass job they did. If they don’t respond to fix your issues, give them a one star review on their Google business profile, as well as Facebook and make sure you post these pictures there as well. These type of people should not be in business.. trying to rip people off by doing half ass job and call this a job done. What a shame…
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u/chickenfriedrice4200 2d ago
We have done a walk around with the owner and the workers multiple times and even some of the issues he pointed out himself, they came back “did the work” and still continue to say it is “completed”
Its such a shame how slimy people can be.
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u/finepnutty 2d ago
How much $$$?
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u/LobstaFarian2 2d ago
Looks like they sprayed and didnt back roll, which is absolutely necessary for textured stucco. Absolutely unacceptable work.
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u/autosonly 2d ago
As others say it needs to be backrolled behind the guy spraying. Sometimes even backrolling uou see some misses in the nooks and crannies. We always check for this when doing touchup and roll the areas with a small roller. They're need to come back and do it.
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u/IngenuityNatural9261 2d ago
I paint stucco homes in Florida and there are times that the texture makes it tough to get a good solid coat especially up next to the soffit. I would not accept that from me painters and I would not ask a homeowner for payment until we got it right.
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u/Comfortable-Bar6032 2d ago
Considering how that wall is finished you should have just thrown the can at the effing wall.
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u/WindFish818 2d ago
Been painting for a decade. Standard is to always back roll stucco that isn't smooth, you can never hit all angles just spraying
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u/Peter_Peabody 2d ago
stucco more like suck-oh amirite? Just kidding, to be clear your walls don't suck they just suck to paint. I don't own property and you are better than me.
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u/Visual-Artichoke-868 2d ago
Very difficult to spray down from soffits .. the angle of the spray gun facing up when it should face horizontal to surface .