Needed to do some stucco repair after a hail storm and we decided to paint the entire house while we were at it as it needed it. Called a local painter and he came by and I drive him by 4 or 5 houses we liked and we made a plan for colors. When they showed up the first time the color was nowhere near what we wanted so I would t let the stucco guy apply it

I couldn't figure out a color because Sherwin Williams paint chips look nothing like when that color is applied to a wall so I pointed to a house down the street and told my painter to "color match that". Well, it's not even close and I'm pissed. I absolutely hate it and I'm $4500 in to it

Find out after the fact that the color of the stucco wasn't the same color as what he used to color match the house down the street, it was just close. The trim color he used it a joke and I brought up my concerns throughout the painting but the painter told his guys to keep going

What recourse do we have? Any good course of action here? Guy has been paid but it's nowhere near what he was asked to do and our house does not look good

I'll post pics tomorrow

Well that sucks.

We're getting quotes for inside now.

I hope you end up with a good color.

Frankly, not much at all you do.

Maybe you have a bad eye and the house is actually gorgeous. Post up a pic.

I painted my small place last summer, the mixed paint just didnt look like what I picked out! the guy said it would , when it dried tho it looked great!

you never really know the color until it's on the house. Good luck getting it fixed.

I had a new roof put on last year. After weathering awhile it looks just like I'd wanted. Not so much at first.

Who knows, maybe it willl "weather" into more your liking.

My wife always wanted a barn red house. We live in one of these neighborhoods where all the sheep walk in a nice straight little line. So now we're the only house in the hood that isn't that ugly "off tan" color everyone seems to feel obligated to paint their house these days. Our next door neighbor actually had to balls to tell us they didn't like it and didn't believe it was ever going to "grow" on them. It's not like we painted it Barney Purple, or chartreuse or something like that-we painted it red! Thinking titty pink next time around to really get their blood pressure up!

My wife and I spent quite a bit of time reviewing colors and painting swatches on our house to determine the exact colors we wanted. It paid off as our painters were directed to buy the exact paint brand and color we wanted.

I wouldn't dream of telling the painter to try and match the house down the street. Sorry it didn't go well for you, but that was a risky move in my opinion. Good luck with resolving it.

HS, I've always found it very difficult to imagine broad expanses of paint from those little chip samples..

Having built many custom homes and multitudes of renovated commercial properties over the years I subbed all my finish painting to two contractors.Both knew their craft well and always ran sample panels for me and customer approval first.Saved alot of headaches for all parties concerned..also had the customer sign off on the contract that they approved the color/colors on the sample and any changes were subject to additional charges.

I have been a GC for 25 years. You failed to follow the Golden Rule. The one with the gold makes the rules. He is paid so you are likely screwed unless this is a large reputable company with something to lose.

Good luck.

twofish

right after getting married we bought a little cape cod that was an ugly peach color. wife wanted yellow with white trim. i wanted a concord blue with yellow trim. she agreed and i painted it. it looked ok as it was going on but when it was all said and done, we hated it. i made it worse by putting dark gray shingles on a couple years later. lived there 7 or 8 years and never got used to it. whats the moral of this story? i don't know, listen to the wife maybe?

I'd have told the neighbor that when he paid the mortgage, the utilities, and the taxes, then he could determine the color of the paint. Until then, GFY.

I'd have an affair with his wife.



Travis

huntsonora,

Did you hire a Colorado democrat?




I hate to say this but once the job is done ... it's done and the act of paying them seals the deal. If you didn't stop them before they finished there's little to nothing you can do. If you took them to court a judge might look at it as "buyer's remorse."

The best way to salvage the deal might be to get the trim repainted with a color that's right and that compliments the house color. Another option might be to add an accent color that ties everything together.

It's hard to say without seeing it though.

Was the house down the street stucco? If not, it would be impossible to have the same color appear the same on two different style surfaces.

We did the same to pick a color except we drove around with the painter and he showed us houses HE painted. We got exactly what we wanted.

I painted my kitchen and dining area with a paint that looked good...during the daytime. At night it turned to a light green color. I hate it when I have to redo things but it happens more often than I'd like.

Now I always paint a wall and look at it for a week before I commit. I've found you have to tell contractors in writing exactly what you want them to do.

Stucco sucks.

That's smart! I took my guy to 4 houses and showed him what I liked and he said "no problem"

He didn't tell us until after the fact that he didn't use the same color for the stucco than he did for the house. He said it would have cost us 25% more which would have been worth it to have my house match. I told him I didn't like the trim color within 10 feet of my trim being painted and when I got back home he didn't stop, he just continued painting the house trim with it and it's this horrible baby poop color

Pics coming now....

Not horrible from far away


But them you get closer and see it doesn't match.....


I can't stand that he didn't color match the stucco to the rest of the house and I absolutely hate that trim color

I could live with it if my house were the color of the stucco but the siding that is the majority of my house now has a bronze/caramel tint that I hate. The trim is just hideous

When it comes to color, my answer is "whatever you want dear."

I just live in the place and couldn't care less.

Sort of reminds me of a past and most excellent secretary I worked with. She and hubby were building a high end home, and she was constantly calling him for opinions on color, lighting, switch placement, and appliances. After about 6 weeks or so she finally noted one morning that "he really does not care."

Call him back offer to pay the difference to fix the siding color. If he refuses get another painter and get it done right. Personally I know a lot of painters and this guy sounds like an idiot, Unfortunately since you already paid him you have little recourse.

The parts I see that look "off" are the garage door and the back door. The rest of the house looks good and the mis-match doesn't hurt the color scheme. It's not bad at all.

You have a very nice looking home.

That's just my opinion but when it comes to colors everyone has a different opinion.

I think it looks pretty good, actually.

I am colorblind though.

The house is attractive but not a [bleep] thing matches on the exterior. You have 2 colors when dealing with most homes, trim and exterior. If a painter can't figure that out he should find other work.

Differences of opinions.


I like homes that have an accent color(s). Two colors is blah.

Thanks for the compliment on the house fish!

Oldelk, I agree! This is my problem! I am going to get him over here tomorrow and record out conversation as I am sure he will tell me everything again about how he didn't use the colors we picked out and didn't stop when I told him I didn't like it and how it doesn't match the house down the street that I told him to color match and then I'll have an attorney friend of mine send him a nasty letter if he says he won't do anything to fix it.

I'll start out nice but I am PISSED

always let the lady of the house pick the color......

The red truck looks like chitt, that's all I see that's wrong with it,

Not worth getting pissed off over, you have a very attractive home, You will get it figured out, it is fixable.

Looks better in these pics....

I actually like it, but it ain't me that has to be happy

Id have no problem with the colors at all, and I have good taste....;)

I think it looks okay, myself. Does your wife like it? Yes the trim is a bit orange-y but I've seen worse. Stonework/stucco is not a bad combination, IMO.

Maybe a light tan color, lighter than the stucco, to reflect a bit more heat in summer?

I decided a while back that our office lobby needed repainting, as the old blah gray looked really stale. I wanted something warmer & brighter, so picked a color that Behr calls "warm muffin". I like it and my boss likes it. The women in the office absolutely hate it

I'm glad I got to pick all the colors for my new house

I just looked at the picture on the computer screen and it doesn't really show the difference like it does in person. I think if I redo the trim it will help because that color is horrible. I absolutely hate the trim color

I just wanted it to match from stucco to the siding and I really wanted the trim to five it some good contrast and it doesn't match and the contrast sucks. Now I am just rambling and bitching about the same stuff. My wife has been at a meeting all week and she gets home this evening so we'll see what she thinks. My guess is she is going to absolutely hate it but she's a woman so theres no telling

I'm in the middle of choosing colors for a house, and man it's tough. The worst part is you won't know what the colors will look like until its too late. Sherwin Williams does have an app where you can take a picture of the paint on a house and it is supposed to match it, not sure how well that works but it would be worth asking the owner of the house which color you like if you can take some pics of the colors to get a color match, then run it through the SW app and see if they paint your painter used is the same or close to the match.

We've looked at a lot of houses lately to see what colors we like, and I doubt we've liked 10% of the color schemes we've seen. Personally I think the colors on your house look good, but it doesn't matter what someone else thinks of the color scheme if you're not happy with it.

If you're the type of person who will never be able to enjoy the house until it's the color you want, then try and work out a deal with the painter for him to repaint it the color you want, or find a painter who will paint it the color you want.

Personally I figure life is to short to get bent out of shape about things like that which is where I'm at with choosing the colors for our house. Ultimately if I don't like them I'll just repaint it in a few years. In fact if it was my house I'd simply repaint it myself, that way I would have full control over the colors, and I'd be able to do it for a fraction of what a painter charges.

Nice looking home.

If there is something wrong with the color, I don't see it.

If I were in your driveway, I'd put my tongue in that Boyota's tailpipe.

These are just my opinions. I am not a gunwriter.


Travis

can't say I'm crazy about the trim color either, the rest I could live with, I'd just get the trim redone

Never pick a house color directly from color charts alone.
Get a color pack, then drive until you find a home the color you like, then compare that next to the chart. Not from the street. Place the chart (color chip) against the home.

Suffice it to say I've painted a fair number of houses in my lifetime. I can tell you from my own experience that I would never have entered into a job like that, speaking from the painter's side, without everything in writing, and getting the homeowner's final approval on the color(s). A lot of stores, Sherwin Williams included, will sell you a small sample of the colors you are interested in to test. It's a little more time and money, but a drop in the bucket compared to whole house costs, and the frustration you are now going through as an unhappy homeowner. It can be extremely frustrating as a painter, (and many other trades as well), to try to work with customers that can't make up their minds, or change ideas mid-job, that's why I found it was best for all involved to have every aspect of the job in writing prior to starting. Part of the agreement, in writing, is that if the homeowner does change their mind at some point after the job had started, we would be glad to try to work with them as long as they understood there would be extra costs involved. That seemed to work pretty well, and even tho' there is no way to keep everyone 100% happy, we had a successful business for many years. Unfortunately for you, it sounds like good groundwork was never laid, and now the inevitable remorse. I surely hope this works out for you and you get a color you can be happy with, without emptying your wallet. Good luck to you, keep us posted.

Sherwin Williams is part of the problem. We chose the colors based on one of their color palates in their Southwest Home pamphlet and the colors on the house don't even match the paint chip. Its not that it looks different when its on the house, the pain chip doesn't match the color so be aware of that when you go in to ask them to color match something

I think at this point it is cheaper to adjust the stucco to match the house and then just change the trim color to make it better. I am not thrilled but we'll figure it out and make it acceptable

Edit to add that he didn't tell me that the stucco he used had a different tint than the Sherwin Williams color we had picked until after the job was completed. This is bull*hit

Maggie, I agree with everything you said and I was assured that the paint would "dry darker" and match the color of the stucco and I stopped them within minutes of them starting the trim and and told them it wasn't good and to stop and once I left the house the guy that owns the painting company told them to keep going as it would "dry darker". It didn't and it looks horrible.

His communication was horrible and he wasn't around when the colors were going on. I am going to hold his feet to the fire on this deal and make sure he makes this right. He took liberties that he should not have taken and admitted as much on Tuesday evening. If he admits it again tomorrow when I meet with him to get the receipt it will be on tape and he will get a nasty letter from my buddy. I can't sleep because I am pissed so I might as well cause him a few nights of no sleep as well if he decides not to make this right

Does anybody know if you can paint stucco?

I always try to keep decorating & painting as simple as possible myself...

Sure you can

Not trying to be a smart ass but wouldnt' you have known the color was not what you wanted as soon as he started applying it?

I was assured it would "dry darker" and match the stucco. It didn't

I also told him to stop with the trim color. He didn't

You should have told him to stop.






Snork..ROTFL

Okay, take a deep breath here, and lets go over a few things, best to approach this kind of situation without the steam rolling out of your ears!

First of all, yes, you can paint stucco.

Secondly, if the clapboard on the house was supposed to match the stucco, a painter with any eye, would have/should have have known that it was not going to "dry down" to match, it's not even in the ballpark.

Third issue..
"(Sherwin Williams is part of the problem. We chose the colors based on one of their color palates in their Southwest Home pamphlet and the colors on the house don't even match the paint chip. Its not that it looks different when its on the house, the pain chip doesn't match the color)"

This is something I would discuss directly with the people at SW, assuming you know the store the paint was bought from. I've bought from SW for many years, and they have always done right by me. If you can show them that the paint they mixed for you does not match their color chip, I'd have a hard time believing they wont make it right. No paint company I know of will stand the labor costs, but on the occasions I've had an actual paint problem, the company will often stand the cost of replacing the paint. Again, my advice is free, so you get what you pay for :), but talk to them with a level head. Let them know that you are unhappy with the end product and why, without blowing a fuse in the store, and see what recourse they might be willing to take. Most companies like SW want good word of mouth advertising, and will work to obtain that, but not so much if someone comes in just complaining without having facts and specifics. (And as a side note to this, are you sure it was actually SW paint? I've seen some contractors buy a can of name brand paint then go get dept. store paint and dump it in the name brand can, it happens.)

Fourth and last for now, sorry to be long winded, talk again to your painter calmly as well, with a specific idea of what you want done, including any monies involved, and get it in writing. One can rant and rave, but it's not the way to start things off and rarely brings the desired results in this type of situation. You can always resort to that later if need be!

Best of luck.

Yep, Sometimes if the peeps were real Manhattanite wacko's,I'd charge time for consulting on color,then I'd get signatures. If the owner did not like it after all that,we called it " cha - ching" Colors are a funny thing. Reflective light can make you swear it is not what you picked.
At the paint store,upon purchase of custom colors,we would make them sample the stuff by putting a dab on the color swatch sample.

^^^ That's really good advice.

Great buck.

Maggie you seem to know your stuff. But take into consideration,not all painters do. Half of them painted a bed room in the sober house & now they're a painting contractor. You know what I'm saying,not trying to be a wise guy.

He probably bought all his paint material & at that point,that's what you were getting hs. Some jobs I've done,when I could not get product samples in quarts,I'd wind up with 2 to 3 cases of gallons in similar colors that were not approved. My buddies benefitted from quality samples.

If I got a quart,of a product that came in quarts,but was not the actual material,the owner could say , "Well it was a different paint" I would never chance that. Color selection is completely at the expense of the owner / buyer. Your guy was not really that experienced,at all.

First of all, i am glad I aint you. Especially tonite when the wife comes home. I think it is safe to say, you arent getting any tonite!

On a serious note, to me, the siding color is the problem. That yellow/gold just does not go. Anybody can see that.

Are you going to let him know you are recording the conversation? If state law allows, I wouldnt. That is a great idea. Stay calm and let him hang himself.

I hope the best for you and keep us informed. This is like watching a train wreck....I cant look away!

I agree with this. And if you micro scrutinize his job,the color is really an opinion. You can easily work yourself up to really being un manageable.

Too close a match is gonna look like crap. That is not bad at all,what you have there

It's kind of hard to do something different after the fact.

The painter works for you...you are the employer. If you want him to stop work, you tell him to stop. If an employee doesn't follow orders, it's your responsibility to take control.

The normal course of business is to withhold payment until the job is completed to your satisfaction. Your final payment then represents your final approval and acceptance of the results of the project. The end result is mostly on you.

But regardless of how you got here, I'd recommend to have it repainted the way you want it and do it right away before the new paint weathers. It seems unreasonable at this point to expect the contractor to redo the work for free after you signed off on it and paid in full unless he just feels like doing so as a customer satisfaction policy.

The siding is not a "bad" color, but everyone sees color differently. I may not like the siding color either, and whoever mixed the paint may not have been awake that day, so I might suggest applying an accent color to the siding and the fascia. It shouldn't cost much to repaint the siding and trim.

If a painting project is done right, 90% of the work is in preparation of the surface and only the last 10% is actually applying the paint. It takes me 2 weeks to prep a house and only a day to spray and brush.

I'd recommend to tell your contractor your issues with the finished project and see if he offers you some concessions. It should only take a day's labor to repaint the siding and the trim plus the cost of the paint.

Considering that this issue is mostly your responsibility, if he's willing to split that with you he still might be a decent fellow.

even the cat is black and white

I havent read the whole thread so maybe i am missing something but one thing i never do is pay it all up front and if that is what the contractor wants i find somebody else to do it............it just leaves a little negotiating power at the end just in case.

VinceM: Can tell you have been there and done it too, no wise guy stuff taken. Believe me, I know all about the dime a dozen painters, after all, "anybody can paint", and "heck, you could teach a [bleep] to paint", sure you've heard it all too. When times get tough, a couple of paint brushes are cheaper than going to plumbers school, enuf said. The SW store I do business with always puts a dab of what I asked them to mix for me right on the swatch I take in so I can see the comparison, they are almost always spot on. This whole deal just sounds like an "in and out" painter to me, hope it works out for the OP.

Travis, she's so butt ugly I don't think YOU'D even do her at closing time on Saturday night!

I like it. If I had a picture of the color my kitchen used to be you would love the color of your trim. If a butthole was blue it would have been the color of my kitchen.

Geeze man, tell us about that hog mulie. Helluva rack. What's the story?

Jordan

I painted houses in high school and college. I can't tell you how many times a woman (always a woman) picks out a color, and I paint a whole room or side of a house and she says "I don't like it." If they want me to re paint it, they are going to pay me to do it... and if they want a light color over a dark one, they are going to pay me twice because I'm going to prime it until it stops showing through. I painted a woman's bedroom eggplant purple and she turned around and asked for white. Her husband didn't want to pay me to do it. I walked. Over and over it happens though. You can tell a contractor to stop and beat it if you don't like their work. If they finish, and you let them, you are going to pay them. There isn't a lot of recourse once he's got your money.

As to your color. I'm sorry. I agree with you. It's very hard to do a brown house. I painted a couple, and one had red trim and one had a light yellow. Neither would suit me. I'd add some light colors. Trim, shudders, doors... I never painted gutters, electrical meters... That's not cool. Or, I hate to say it, re do. I wish you luck.