Advice re exterior house painting Post Reply

[northside_mum]

Hi,
Some 18 months ago, we had the exterior of our Victorian mid-terrace house redecorated (bricks + masonry painting). We used a reputable local company as we wanted to support a local business. They were not the cheapest by quite a long way but we felt they had the best experience as they assured us that the paint would last for a minimum of 7 years. A few months ago, lots of "bubbles" have started to reappear all over on the bricks and the masonry, and it is only a matter of time before bits start falling off. We contacted the company which performed the work and they said that some of it was due to workmanship, which would take only a day or two to resolve, but that the rest was due to rising damp as a result of the weather and that this problem is common to all houses in the area. I am no expert but I would agree that all houses in the area suffer from the same issues with the wet weather, yet not all houses have "bubbles" all over their front elevations. In particular, one neighbour had theirs redone at exactly the same time and their front elevation is still impeccable. I am trying to understand whether this is normal or whether they actually did a sub-standard job. It all looks a bit rubbish now and am quite disappointed that it cost so much and lasted so little time.
I would be grateful for your advice.
Thanks very much!

[BalhamMumWorkingFT]

Rubbish! If they said it would stay nice for 7 years, then it should. Did they take all the old paint off first?

[Mrs Contractor Mum]

It sounds like they washed the outside using a soap solution and then didn't wash the soap solution off properly. That can cause bubbles under the paintwork - I had my exterior paintwork completed this summer and my decorator was telling me that its a common problem with external painting. If they are willing, I would get them to do it again - properly this time otherwise get the details of the painter that completed the work on your neighbour's property and send the bill to the original company.

[northside_mum]

Thanks very much for these helpful responses. I don't think they removed all the old paint prior to putting on the new one; I think they just scraped the bits that were damaged. So far they are only offering to repair some bits of masonry around some of the windows, as they are saying that the bubbles on the bricks are normal and not a result of their workmanship. Sounds like we need another discussion. I genuinely thought they were going to do a good job as they do come recommended (I probably found them on a NVN forum).

[Clare Lupton]

You say that the bubbles are re-appearing, which suggests that it was like that before. So it might be your bricks - you might be best having all the paint removed & left with no paint so that any wet can come out without affecting the look.