General Patching and Why

What is general patching and why is that what I am getting?

1      After years in the painting business with Amato Painting on residential projects, the number one issue or complaint and confusion is the appearance of the walls as far as prep.

Sometimes the client is expecting a perfectly smooth new wall on a wall that is plaster or gypsum board and has been painted ten times over with runs, sags, drips and different levels in it.

To get it back to the perfectly smooth level is not impossible but not part of a typical repaint job for any painting contractor unless otherwise specified during a walkthrough and in your scope of work (contract)

So after all of these years, we do a general patching on all of our surfaces, it is the best way to offer an affordable paint job and give an acceptable prep to your walls for 95% of customers.

It is also a PDCA (Painters and decorators contractors of America standard) 4.8

4.8. PROPERLY PAINTED SURFACE: A properly painted

surface is uniform in appearance, color, texture,

hiding and sheen. It is also free of foreign material,

lumps, skins, runs, sags, holidays, misses, or

insufficient coverage. It is a surface free of drips,

splatters, spills or overspray which were caused by

the painting and decorating contractor’s workforce.

In order to determine whether a surface has been

“properly painted” it shall be examined without

magnification at a distance of thirty-nine (39) inches

or one (1) meter or more, under finished lighting

conditions and from a normal viewing position.

[PDCA Standard P1]

These are the standards we go by every day, without a standard for the painting company it would be up to the client and painter to decide what is acceptable.

General patching of walls which consists of minor dings and dents, then walls will be sanded and any spackle spots primed

General patching will not fix rough surfaces from existing paint and or coatings unless specified in the scope of work

General patching will not correct existing flaws such as old plaster, hairline cracks in plaster or GWB walls, old paint texture, bulges and uneven surfaces

New patches may show through as smoother than surrounding areas

What does this mean to you? If you stay up at night looking at the wall under a flashlight or halogen light that is not a good thing, any surface if you magnify it will show imperfections from the floor, your face, and especially the wall. You cannot expect on a simple repaint to address every little imperfection on a wall or ceiling.

What I worse is when walking through an estimate and you agree to this but when the job starts having expectations that will never be met and the customer and painters will be miserable until the job is complete.

So know your expectations before the estimate, express them to the estimator and you will have a successful happy project