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Painting & Decorating
Can stains bleed through stain blocker/how long before nicotine bleeds through
Anonymous user 12 November 2015 - 7.47 PM
I've been charged £2000 for painting a small 2 bed house in west side of Edinburgh which has been done pretty badly (I have not paid yet). Very little prep, lots of uneven walls, unfilled/unsanded woodwork, cheap contract emulsion on walls, base coat in wrong colour on woodwork (no top coat) and satinwood on stair treads rather than floor paint. However whilst I can see all these issues the most worrying concern is the walls /ceilings were heavily stained with nicotine/grease (the house was a fixer upper). The walls do look nice and white now but stains have started to bleed though on kitchen ceiling. The kitchen ceiling was very heavily stained with grease originally. I asked decorator what he did to prep for nicotine /other stains and he is maintaining he used stain block on entire house. Given standard of job I find this hard to believe (although I want to!) and I also have no recollection of a strong oil based paint smell in house during painting of walls/ceilings (not something you can normally miss). So my question is, can a stain bleed through after 4 weeks if stain block has been applied? Also if nicotine is going to bleed through, how long will it take to start seeing it? If I don't see anything within this period can I trust that he has done this as he says. (The main contractor on job has admitted to the rest of poor workmanship issues after an independent decorator did a report with photos on standard of work.) I don't want to let them remediate all the other issues if the stains/nicotine are just going to bleed through shortly and when in fact the entire job just needs redone from scratch. Thank you for your help
4 answers from MyBuilder tradespeople
Unfortunately the nicotine stains will show very quickly. The nicotine stained walls should have been washed fully with sugar soap then a stain block such as zinsser B.I.N primer should have been applied over the top oil based undercoat would do the same job as long as the walls had been properly washed and prepared. It sounds like you have had one of the many 'cowboy' decorators carrying out this work which is sadly more common due to the rise in the handymen types posing as professionals. I would not pay for any labour but only for materials used on the job if the standard of work is well below what was expected. I hope you can have this problem rectified quickly. Kind Regards Barry
Answered
17 November 2015
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Hi. Probably never washed it down properly, and used oil-based undercoat instead of a proper stain-block.
Answered
26 November 2015
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All nicotine stains should be washed down with sugar soap stubborn stains should be treated with a shellac based stain block sometimes this needs to be done more than once,and should cure the problem.judging by wrote you've posted it sounds like he's used an oil based paint to cover the nicotine and it will bleed through over time
Answered
16 November 2015
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Oh Dear. I have come across this problem on numerous occasions over my career. It pains me to read these types of posts and i genuinely feel for you. First and foremost you need to SACK this chancer who calls himself / themselves TRADESMEN. It offends and appalls me how these types can and do, damage the confidence of people like yourself and your confidence in hiring and PAYING again for the services of a genuine tradesman. That said, it's not the end of the world. You need to weigh up the options. In really drastic situations i have, in the past, opted for re plastering!. Obviously this is expensive but how much are you prepared to pay for a blank canvass?. other options include lining the walls to be re painted, but all the previously mentioned prep work would still be involved prior to getting to the blank canvass stage. You are now at the point where, not only do you have to contend with getting rid of the nicotine staining but you have to get past whatever has been used to try to cover it first !..my advice, check the guys have liability insurance. I doubt it. But if so, CLAIM!. get the place re plastered. start afresh. WITH A REPUTABLE CONTRACTOR. check references..not just mybuilder feedback. ask for photos of previous work. talk to previous customers if possible. ABOVE ALL, Don't let it spoil your life. put it down to experience and move forward. I wish you well.
Answered
27 September 2022
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