aAsk a Tradesman

I have a staircase and landing which was finished in a dark varnish. I hired a painter and decorator to paint it white. In his quote he said he would "rub down all woodwork, apply one coat of Dulux trade wood primer, then undercoat, then gloss to the woodwork".

Halfway through the job, I questioned him as they hadn't rubbed down the varnish to remove it all. He assured me that it would be absolutely fine and they had rubbed it down lightly. Effectively the varnish colour and glossy sheen appeared to remain in the parts they hadn't done at that point. When asking the chap, he told me that they would paint the white, then rub that down which made it easier.

They finished a week ago, and yesterday my four year old son threw a toy car which hit the woodwork and some paint has chipped off and the wood slightly dented (I would obviously expect some damage to the paintwork). However, the old varnish is showing through and it reignited my original fears

Am I expecting too much, or should he have rubbed it right down to the bare wood?

Fortunately, he's only just given me the invoice, so I haven't paid him yet giving me some leverage if he hasn't done it properly. However, I don't want to be unfair if he has done it properly and I'm expecting too much.

Many thanks.

I'm recruiting for a client and he is wanting Painters & Decorators for Coke & Taping, but unfortunately I don't know what he means. Can anyone help please?

If so, how?

I'm thinking of having a go at doing the internal painting in a new property we just bought. Are there any common mistakes that people make when doing DIY painting that I can try to avoid? I'm quite keen to learn as much as possible before I get started. I'd rather not make a mess of it, but am keen to try

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Willow

HELP ME GUYS - ok so I tried to paint my floor tiles in my bathroom yesterday. All was well until I had a shower this morning. It's started to chip and flake off! DISASTER!

What should I use to remove the paint from the tiles? I'm just going to leave them in their natural state (if I can)

I look forward to your expert help :)

Hi everyone,

I want to completely redecorate my house on the inside, I have around 14 rooms in my house (it's an old place, but very dear to me); I've asked my neighbour how much he'll charge me to do everything (yes, there are a few decorating things involved) and he said around 5000. I know him for 15 years, this is why I wanted him to do the house.

Is that a fair price or he's too expensive?

Thank you!
Albert

The property we are buying had flood damage and all the walls throughout went mouldy (3 months+ before anything done). The walls were originally papered and have been stripped and painted over with 'thin' paint. On visiting the property you can see brown patches coming through which look like water marks or patterns from the mould. Paint on some of the walls is crackled like a broken egg shell. Is it due to poor preparation as do not believe the walls have been treated?

hi, i need to do up my parents' house to sell it- everything needs redoing, it's in a right state! Only one room is ok, apart from one wall- lining paper has been put over dodgy plastering and it looks bumpy and rubbish, could i just get some thick paper and cover it up, or would it be better to have it replastered? It would be nice to not have to replaster one room at least!

It has been there over 15 years, and is in good order and is painted over with emulsion. How can I flatten it down before I redecorate. I had thought of attempting to lift it and putting some PVA type of glue underneath. This would require a very fine blade (I thought something like a car feeler guage could probably work). Any suggestions please. Many thanks