A: We can certainly try. Firstly, if the painting contractor is in fact a member of the MPA, the Association will get involved via mediation and an inspection of the work, if necessary. We will then work with you and the painter until a resolution is achieved. However if you’ve used a member, we would expect that you will be happy with the work carried out.
If the painter is not a member of the MPA, we will be happy to assist by carrying out an inspection of the work and provide a detailed report of our findings.
Be warned: that there are thousands of painters throughout NSW, and anyone picking up a paint brush can call themselves a ‘painter’.
A: A common problem in our industry is the matter of paint bubbling or blistering from the surface or substrate underneath. It is often quite difficult to determine the exact cause, and each case must be looked at individually to ascertain how the problem may have occurred. However the following information may apply to weatherboards…
A common scenario is when paint is applied to a dull but usually sound surface. The surface has been sanded and 2 coats of an external gloss applied. Within days large blisters have begun to appear on the new paintwork - rising with the sun and diminishing at night. From a consumer’s point of view, it’s easy to see why the blame is placed on the new coating. The surface was properly prepared, the paint can label instructions were followed, but now you have unsightly blisters all over the timber.
At some stage the house was more than likely painted with enamel. Over the years this has become very hard and brittle and its lack of flexibility does two things:
1. Boards expand and contract, the paint doesn’t. This movement literally shears the paint away from the wood.
2. Enamel develops millions of tiny cracks (usually not visible to the naked eye) -these allow excessive moisture to enter the board. When the board is painted and sealed with two fresh coats of paint, this moisture is trapped in the wood as soon as the sun and heat play on the surface. The trapped moisture expands (like a boiling kettle) and escapes to the surface of the wood wherever the paint has lost adhesion, caused by being sheared off due to movement in the timber (as explained in point one). The expanding water vapors force the paint out into a blister when the heat is removed from the surface. (ie, at night the gas returns to moisture and dissipates into the wood). Two questions now remain:
1. How do I fix it?
2. How do I avoid it?
The answer to this problem is that all blistered areas need to be stripped back to bare wood and treated as a new, fresh wooden surface, ie primed etc. In general, if the surface has been painted with enamel and is more than 15 years old, chances are you’ll get blistering. The only way to totally avoid these problems is to strip off all enamel and start again. In 90% of cases, the stripping of old exterior paint is highly recommended.