to re-prime or not to re-prime after drywall spotting and who should be responsible - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

davemich · 05-03-2006, 06:27 PM

I was instructed by newly hired drywall contractor that his sequence method for wall spotting is that after he has finished sanding...to then have the painting contractor prime the walls...then drywall contractor spots the walls. I did as instructed....and the long story short is that after the drywall contractor finally corrected his imperfections (4 times he was called back) there are now hundreds and hundreds of areas that were addressed and now need to be re-primed in a new 2300sf home. The drywall contractor takes no responsibility for such. And the painting contractor has issued me a change order request for $1100 bucks. I have $1800 bucks retainage on the drywall contractor. Could someone enlighten me as to what the industry standard is in such a situation
(1) I the builder eat the cost
(2) Backcahrge the drywall contractor
(3) Or hire a new painter because maybe he is trying to take me to the bank?

**ProWallGuy** · 05-03-2006, 06:35 PM

I'm not a GC, but I personally would hit the drywall guy for the charge. Since when do the subs create the job sequence? And I think his drywall should have been good to go when the painter got there. Sounds like if there are hundreds of mud spots, he didn't do a good enough job in the first place. And no, the painter isn't trying to scam you. If I painted that job, should I have to come back in and reprime (for free???) someone else's mistakes? Not this kid.

**Cole** · 05-03-2006, 06:41 PM

I agree, it is the Drywall guys fault.

davemich · 05-03-2006, 06:48 PM

Cole, are you by chance a drywall contractor?

Exroadog · 05-03-2006, 06:52 PM

A "good" drywaller should be able to "see" what needs tweeked without primer! As a painter, after a "good" drywall has gone through, i'll prime and expect to see some issues, not 100s though. You had your painter prime the building. You cant expect him to do it again for free cause the drywall co. did bad work. I say find another drywall co. and go for answer #2!!

**Cole** · 05-03-2006, 07:02 PM

No, I am not a drywall contractor.

Please No More Double Posting.

phinsher · 05-03-2006, 07:04 PM

Without a doubt this is the resposibility of the Drywall Contractor. When all this works the way it should, there might be 10-15 spots to touch-up and most painters are ok with that "freebie" (even though they should get paid for it). Ask your drywall guy why he can't do it right the first time. Usually what happens in this situation is the GC will just go find some dummy painter who is willing to eat that cost to get your business. Thats not really fair to the professional painters out there who just want to get paid for the work they do.

What would your drywall guy say if the framers said "Our sequence is to have the drywall hung and then we come in to see if we need to fix anything." do you think your drywall guy would be happy to eat the cost if he had to re-hang 15-20 sheets?

Your painter is doing what he should, maybe you can find some compromise to make everyone happy this time, but next time make it clear to your drywall guy that he pays for his own mistakes. Another route, is just to add some money into the budget to deal with this objectively.

Woz the Painter · 05-03-2006, 07:11 PM

Its the drywallers [tapers] lack of quality that caused him to come back 4 times, and remud hundreds of spots, so he should pay. You should look into finding a better contractor on your next project!

davemich · 05-03-2006, 07:12 PM

Sorry for the double post...I am new to the site and thought it would be best to get an opinion from both a drywall contractor and painting contractor....thanks for the reply

phinsher · 05-03-2006, 07:12 PM

P.S. If this drywall guy is as good as he sounds like he might be- pay the painter to go through and make sure the patches and touched up areas have been sanded properly. It would suck to go through all this to find all the drywall guys touch-ups weren't sanded properly. And a painter in a really bad mood might just prime over them to prove a point (i have).

davemich · 05-03-2006, 07:19 PM

I agree with all of the post as it being the drywall contractors fault....the twist on the situation is that I am a new residential builder (2nd spec home) (previous construction background is in heavy industrial construction management). And due to my lck of residential experience with finishes is that the drywall cobntractor informed me that I am quote "looking for perfection with an imperfect product." And his stand is that all the 100's of repairs were unnecessry to correct because if I had more experience and knowlede like himself them I would put a flat paint on the walls and not have woried about the imperfections....and therfore it all on me. I think his comments of what paint to use is absurd. Anyne else?

davemich · 05-03-2006, 07:22 PM

Yes I have already had the drywall contractor come back and sand his repairs again...he did try to pass it off to the painter

phinsher · 05-03-2006, 07:30 PM

Technically your drywall guy should have been made aware of higher sheen paints before he ever started. The reason is paints with a higher sheen need a level 5 drywall finish. That being said, we use higher sheen paints all the time without a level 5 finish. Haven't even seen a level 5 finish in over 5 years.

If the defect is visible after a "flat" coat of primer, than it would still be visible after a flat coat of paint. Either way your painter has no responsibility to re-prime for free.

You might want to check the PDCA standards, and also check USG's handbook. Good info in there that you need to know.

davemich · 05-03-2006, 07:53 PM

On the flip side..I think the drywall contractor should disclose such info w/ his proposal. I certainly do not think the paint contractor should reprime for free...my only thought is that maybe he is going to far by re-priming the entire house as opposed to addressing each area individually. However, the labor cost of such might exceed the material cost of the other.

davemich · 05-03-2006, 07:56 PM

thanks for the PDCA and USG advice..Im going to check it out

Woz the Painter · 05-03-2006, 08:00 PM

Again, find yourself a good taper, who would'nt bat an eye if you told him you were painting the walls high-gloss. Don't blame the painter for your lack of due dilegence in hiring a rocker [taper].

phinsher · 05-03-2006, 08:13 PM

Dave, I agree about your drywall guy disclosing the scope of his work in his proposal.

Sorry if I seem a little passionate about this, but I imagine most of us guys have either lost good GC's. eaten work, or given up altogether on new construction because of situation like you're in right now. I personally have had 6 builders drop me when I put my foot down about the drywall repair and the repairing of damage caused by others.

Thats what's next for you, the flooring guys, plumbers, electricians, hvac guys, carpenters will be damaging and dinging the walls til the day the house is done. Many GC's expect the painter to come in and repair that stuff for free.

davemich · 05-03-2006, 08:20 PM

Phinsher,
I am checking out the PDCA webpage. Are you a member of the PDCA?

**slickshift** · 05-03-2006, 09:16 PM

Drywall dude's fault
Re: sequencing:

Quote:

Originally Posted by phinsher

What would your drywall guy say if the framers said "Our sequence is to have the drywall hung and then we come in to see if we need to fix anything." do you think your drywall guy would be happy to eat the cost if he had to re-hang 15-20 sheets?

Well put
My thoughts also upon reading the post

camaroman2125 · 05-03-2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Many GC's expect the painter to come in and repair that stuff for free.

Thats why I always add alittle extra to the bid. So when My dad's idiot carpet layers come in and bang the crap out of my walls and stuff I don't have to eat the time it takes me to fix all of them..