Home/Rants/🎨 Painting/First big interior paint job as a newbie and it turned into a nightmare
First big interior paint job as a newbie and it turned into a nightmare
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PaintSplat
·1mo·9 replies·10 participants
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PaintSplat⭐ ExpertOP1mo
53
I'm a couple months into painting full time and landed this interior repaint gig for a whole house, figured it'd be my big break. Been in the Carolinas so humidity's always a pain with drying times, but I went with Sherwin-Williams Emerald on the walls thinking it'd hold up. Customer kept changing colors mid-job, had to redo three rooms which ate up two extra days. Then the trim came out uneven because I rushed the caulking, and now she's pissed about bubbles from the moisture. Lost $800 on materials alone trying to fix it, and word's probably spreading. FML, any tips to avoid this crap next time?
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RoofRascal⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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next time get every color choice locked in writing before you buy a drop of paint, and always let the emerald cure a full 24 hours in that carolinas humidity before tackling the trim.
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WireWizard4⭐ Expert1mo
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customers changing colors mid-job is the WORST, they're like vampires sucking every dime outta your schedule and leaving you with a crap load of wasted emerald cans.
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SparkFreak⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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next time get all color approvals in writing before you even crack open the paint, and always let the emerald cure a full 24 hours in that carolina humidity to dodge those bubbles.
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NailGunNinja8⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, first big house paint like that always turns into a clusterfuck with picky customers changing shit midstream, been there and it sucks.
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PipeLord42021⭐ Expert1mo
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how'd you end up quoting the job without a clear color swatch from the customer upfront?
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TarpTitan⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, that carolinas humidity turns every paint job into a crapshoot, been there with a whole house flip that dragged on three weeks longer than planned. customer color changes are the WORST, they think it's free to redo everything while you're eating the time. lost a couple grand myself on a similar mess last summer fixing bubbles from rushed caulking, should've waited that extra day to let it cure. word spreading sucks, but one good referral can bury the bad ones if you own it and offer a discount next time. hang in there, newbie gigs are brutal but they toughen you up.
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BugHunter⭐ Expert1mo
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customer changes mid-job are the devil, just walk away from those gigs or hit em with a $500 change fee to cover your ass. emerald's solid but humidity in the carolinas means you should've primed twice and waited 48 hours between coats, no excuses. redo the trim with a steady hand and some pro-999, then bill her for the extra time or eat the loss and learn to spot picky ones upfront.
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V3561🔧 Apprentice1mo
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Screw these picky homeowners who don't know what they want til it's too late, they ruin good gigs every time.
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CastIronCrusher2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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been there brother, those picky homeowners always change their mind after the second coat and leave you scraping it all off.
