After doing a final coat on about 800 sq/ft on a new home about 8 months ago, the builder called to let me know that there was paint under the poly that hadn't been removed prior to the final coat. I have done this builders work for over 5 years and always treat him well. I went and recoated the floor today and there was even more paint on the floor from where the painter had returned to do some final touch-up work. I fixed the floor and got the paint out, but I did charge the builder a very, very small fee to cover the material and my helper. Who do you feel is at fault. I feel it is the painters responsibility to do a better job because there were spots of colors that were not even in painted on the walls in the particular room.

Sorry, just a rant more than anything.

Tough call establishing "fault" with this sort of issue. Obviously the painter didn't take sufficient care protecting the floor from his carelessness. However, you applied finish on top of this offending paint. Had you noticed it prior to applying the finish, notifying the builder that there would be a small upcharge for removal, he could then backcharge the painting contractor.
End of the day, I think to maintain good relations with a repeat customer, I would have absorbed the additional cost. Tough pill to swallow as a working man but there you have it.

Pretty simple if you approach the builder with the right attitude. Explain to him the painter or he needs to cover the floor when they are painting or he gets the bill for paint removal. Works best when said painter the builder and yourself have a three way pow wow. You think if said painter got paint on the cabinets or other woodwork that he wouldnt be responsible? Ive done a ton of painting myself and its real easy to put a dropcloth or a square of cardboard under where you work. If you slap poly all over the walls does the painterfix it for nothing? just ranting but I cant stand a careless crew of 8 painters slaping 25 gallons of paint on in thirty seconds.

This has been a sore spot for my entire career. I watched one painter roll a ceiling over a finished floor with NO DROPS. I asked what the hell he was thinking. He said, "well, I thought you had to sand it for another coat." Meaning, you can sand off my paint. I nearly went crazy. This happens time and time again. Painters are generally the most stupid and inconsiderate trades on new construction. I tell all clients, in writing. I am not responsible for repairing any damage to their floors after the flooring is installed; not just completed. Another story. A "painter" was painting the wall on a stair case. So he cobbled together a scaffold using a plank and a 5 gallon bucket of paint. The pail of paint was nearly full and had been opened, so the lid was not very secure. Of course, he falls and knocks the bucket of paint over, where it proceeds to get all over the new floor, which had not been sanded yet. Well, if you know oak, the paint gets in all the grain and between the boards. Not salvageable. Had to be torn out and re-done!
I have dozens and dozens of other stories. How about the painters cleaning the newly finished wood floors using Goof Off. Well, that's a fine acrylic paint remover. It works good at removing floor finishes as well, which is what they did. I'll work with a general who's painters screwed up my floors ( which are mine until I'm paid in full ) agreeing to repair them, but not for FREE. Exception, a few splatters here and there, ok, that's not a big deal. Removing overspray, tons of splatter, big drops everywhere; that I'm not doing for nothing. So here's a tip. Removing paint from floors is usually much more difficult ( and expensive ) than removing the small amount of dust created during installation and finishing of wood floors. So get all the painting done first! And make sure the touch-up guys know the floors are done. I watched one "painter" wandering around with a can of paint and a brush, doing touch ups. He was oblivious to the fact that his brush and paint can were dripping paint all over the wood floors and carpet. Ah, what a pro!

Yea, a spot of paint or two is no problem. The painter said "he can sand it off again" and that was it. I charged the builder $100 to screen/recoat 800 sq/ft. I made no money just paid for materials and my helper.

Well since you brought it up... I second and third it ! I'm positive the fumes have wiped out all existing brain cells. My father always said "If all else fails be a painter"!
I do strictly pre-finished now, but have had some special experiences with painters coming in over distressed floors.

Absolutely, Gary. We try to avoid going in until all other trades are done. Of course most of our installs are pre-finished now so being last man in isnt too hard to arrange. When we did a lot of on-site finishing, quite often the contractor, or home-owner, or whoever we happened to be working for, would ask us to hold off the last coat until the other trades were complete.
Naturally, this led to damage due to carelessness since everyone thought our top coat would conceal/correct their abuse.
We learned early on that when requested to do this, we required final payment at second coat time. This made it easier for us to collect any extra costs involved in repairing trade damage when we returned to put the final coat on.
But ya, painters.....I have nothing further to say, lol.

That's just a bad situation. But really it's hard to say too much to the general contractor in those situations because they're the ones getting you steady work. It pays to stay on their good side. If it was a frequent problem I'd probably say something.. but if it's only once in a while, you could maybe chalk it up to the cost of doing business.

Keep up the good work!
Gavin

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