Is there any way of telling if it was primed and not painted?

12 years ago

Hi, I had my old oak cabinets painted. The inside frames of the cabinets weren't sanded, they were suppose to be primed and the given 2 coats of paint. On the day the cabinets were painted my Dad had an emergency and he was left alone in the house, when I returned several hours later was told painting was finished. He said with Aura only 2 hours was needed between coats. Immediately I noticed a difference with the texture of the paint on parts of the inside frames, it wasn't shinny, it was flat and felt different in many areas, the wood color was showing thru. He said (angrily) it wasn't wood showing thru but grain, because it wasn't sanded. I asked him to do a two cabinets lower frams over, which he did. I immediately noticed the difference in color with the two cabinets edges he did over, he said it was because a "thick layer of paint was applied", when I said I thought all frames should look like that he said he wasn't going to redu my kitchen, and if I wanted a "perfect kitchen I should have put in a new kitchen", he said he had already primed and added 2 coats to all. When I put my kitchen back together, I cleaned and lined my cabinets. At times I used my Mr Clean Eraser on an edge to take off what I thought was dirt, only to find the paint chipping away as I wiped. I brought this to his attention today, and was told " I had scratched it" I didn't scratch it. But I would like to know if there is any way I can prove to myself if these frames were painted, even one coat let alone 2 coats? Should that eraser take off paint that was applied 3-5 days before? I'm being bullied by this contractor, he talks nastily and shuts me up, he even intimidated my husband with his belligerent attitude. We both want him to finish what is in the contract and get out of our house. But I want him to do what was in the contract. Having frames that the paint peels when I wipe them isn't acceptable. DH said he will paint the frames, he will not be able to take off all the doors, and paint the frames where there is black showing thru. Please give me advise on what to do! What to say! And how to handle this. Thanks in advance for any and all help you can give me.

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Comments (4)

paintguy22
12 years ago
You already asked this question here...did you forget? LOL
Ilene Perl
Original Author
12 years ago
I was told.... paint needs to fully cure before trapping and needs two coats. I understand.

My question is how do I know for sure if poly was put there? I am being told by the painter that seeing wood bleeding thru is not a way to tell if it was painted or not. Thanks
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paintguy22
12 years ago
Sorry, but I'm a bit lost. You said the cabinets were new and that the contractor was painting them. How does poly come into play here? It's true that paint needs a full cure (3-4 weeks) before you can really tell how durable the paint is. Sometimes paint can come off fairly easily a few days after painting but will be much better bonded after full cure. If your old cabinets were stained black and they are being painted, it could be that two coats were applied, but black is a difficult color to cover with only two coats. This depends on how well the new color covers the old. Every color has different coverage ability depending on what colorants are used and the quality of the paint. There is probably no way to tell for sure how many coats were applied based on this. If the contract states two coats and there is still some of the old color bleeding through, a third coat may be required. Of course he could be lying and probably is but this is hard to prove.
Jumpilotmdm
12 years ago
Cure time is important, but more for durability than adhesion.
The change in sheen on places that might not have been primed is called holdout and usually flatness is an indicator of a lack thereof.
I hate the thought that you hired someone who needed to be supervised.
Try asking the dealer he bought the paint from or read the label to check his statements.