What a coat of paint cannot fix

Painting a room is the cheapest change you can make to it, which is why it gets asked to do jobs it cannot do. Some of what people want fixed will be fixed by paint. Some of it will look fixed for a few weeks and then come back.

What paint does fix

Colour, obviously. Also scuffing, hand marks around switches, patchy sheen from previous touch-ups, and the general flatness a wall gets after years of cleaning. A room that is structurally fine and looks tired is exactly what a repaint is for.

What comes back

• Moving cracks. A crack that opens and closes with the building will open again through filler and paint. It needs the movement addressed, not covered.
• Active moisture. A stain that keeps returning is a leak with a stain attached to it. Sealing over it hides the evidence and keeps the cause.
• Failed drywall tape. Once a joint has let go, filling the line is a cosmetic patch on a joint that is still failing.
• Sheen difference on a badly prepared wall. If the surface underneath is inconsistent, the new coat will read inconsistent in raking light no matter how good the paint is.

What we do about it

If we look at a wall and the problem is not a painting problem, you get told that at the estimate. Sometimes that means bringing somebody else in first. Sometimes it means a repair stage in our own scope before any finish coat goes on, which will be itemised so you can see it.

It is a shorter conversation than the one where the stain comes back through in November.