Paint issue resolved

Here's the paint scoop...and surprisingly I didn't get all mad...or upset...or get my blood pressure up.  I have, however, lost a lot of faith in people actually doing their job. I don't even expect people to do a 'good' job, I just want them to do their job! Customer service is a thing of the past.

I went to the paint store first, with the peeling bases and caps.

I thought maybe it was a paint issue. 

While talking to the paint store manager, he actually peeled a cap almost clean.  He listened and he was the one that helped me in the first place, with the manufacturer's instructions in hand.  So, he called Menard's, where we bought the bases and caps, and got the name of someone to call at the manufacturing plant. 

After a week I went back to the paint store. 
The paint store manager (PSM) was told to call "Kent", at the manufacturing plant.  He did.  Three times in one week, and never received a return phone call. Ever.   Left three messages.  THEN, he called Menard's back to get another number.  He got a number for Kim, who transferred his call to Kent's voice mail, who never returns phone calls.

So the PSM advised me to go to Menards with the caps and bases and tell them that we cannot get a response from the manufacturer and ask them to exchange them.  I did.  They exchanged them. But they only had two pair in stock, so I had to drive to Carmel (about an hour) to get the other two pair.  I didn't want to put it off lest they change their minds.

In the meantime, the PSM gave me a gallon of paint, because now I have to re-prime and paint them.

I told Menard's to get in touch with the manufacturer and let them know about this problem...which I doubt they do. 

I'm ok with the way it turned out.  It's more work for me.  But I didn't have to re-buy the product at $50.00 a pair. 

Cindy

Painting issue

 After painting these porch columns and bases and caps in place, we decided the best thing to do was to paint all of the columns on the unfinished porch we have left.  And put all of the bases and caps on a table and paint them, then touch up any scratches.  It's just too hard painting them in place, and covering everything, to make sure we don't get paint on cement or wood. 

 So Dave braces them to the porch so they won't fall over,

 and roughs them up with a palm sander.

 Then I clean them with a vinegar and water solution,

 and paint them with Latex paint.

   Deeeeep......cleansing.....breaths....because we are so tired of  these things.

 And remember the oil based paint I returned?  Because I didn't like the way the paint looked on the bases and caps...Well here you go.



What do you think...would you be happy with this?  They all turned out this way, and that's not the worst of it.  Dave had a couple of the posts set, and he called me to the porch.
 
 Yup, it's already peeling off.  SO...AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION...because I didn't want to leave it that way and as you can imagine, he's tired of re-doing everything....
 
 he took the oil painted bases and caps off of the porch. 

 

 

 I've been peeling the paint off of all of these so I can re-clean, prime, and paint them. 

 But I am visiting the paint store this afternoon.  This is ridiculous.  I e-mailed them and their response was to call or come in.  I'll be nice, but I want some sort of compensation.
 
What do you think would be fair?

  My first inclination was to have them replace the bases and caps which would be $350.00.  These things cost $50 a pair and I painted 7 pair with their paint.  I already removed the paint from some of them, so my second thought was to have them remove the paint from the rest of them and re-clean, prime and paint them.  But the truth is, they probably won't do either.  What are your thoughts.

 I used this primer that is recommended in the manufacturer's instructions and is expensive.  $20 bills for that little can.  And all of the latex painted bases turned out perfect.

 So he is working on the upper balcony as much as he can, and trying to work around the painting issue

 and I'm trying to get stuff painted so he can get these porches finished. 

 
Someone asked me what our time deadline was to get moved in.  We are moved in!
Our time deadline....to get these porches finished before snow hits!

Cindy