ᐅ Dissatisfied with plastering and painting work. How to proceed with defect correction?
Created on: 25 Oct 2025 09:02
R
Robo987
Hello everyone,
Since we are currently still abroad and our house is empty, we have been fully renovating it since the beginning of the year. Because I trained as an electrician, I am doing some of the work myself.
The house was completed in eastern Germany in 1980. The walls are covered with a very sandy plaster, which was applied rather unevenly, resulting in visible waves and irregularities at first glance.
In January, I contacted a well-known painter/plasterer master and convinced him to take on the project. He is a master craftsman and currently a one-person company; he has completed several jobs for us in the past when he still had two employees. We did not sign any contract with him. It was agreed that he would smooth out the wavy walls, then wallpaper them with glass fleece and paint them white. Installation of drywall (GKD) was also agreed upon. The planned move-in date is early November 2025. Pricing was based on time and materials.
He started the work in January and covered the wooden floors, which we want to keep. In May, he plastered over the open electrical channels and finished plastering where radiators were to be installed later, as well as the door and window reveals. Nothing happened in June and July. In August, he installed, filled, and sanded the drywall. He also began filling the remaining walls and made good progress.
At the beginning of September, we spoke on the phone. I expressed my concerns about the slow pace and worries that we might not be able to move in on time in early November, since additional work (floor sanding and lacquer) also needs to be done. I asked if I should hire someone else. He said no, he could complete everything, so I let him continue. He then worked hard for three days and finished one room where I could finally sleep when I was on site.
By September, the other trades as well as I had completed our respective work.
By the end of September, the painter had managed to do quite a bit of filling and wallpapering and came to the site whenever it suited him—usually only one day per week up to now.
The rooms are mostly finished. The hallway is still missing; I don’t know if he will manage it by November, but it’s possible.
Another well-known painter/master was on site two days ago. From his point of view, the work was not done professionally. These are the defects he noticed:
My idea is to do an inspection with the contractor when he says he is finished or sends me the invoice and point out the defects. I would give him four weeks to fix them, and if he cannot manage it, I would hire the other company to complete the remaining work and send the invoice to the first painter.
Is this approach okay, or how would you proceed?
Best regards,
Robo
Since we are currently still abroad and our house is empty, we have been fully renovating it since the beginning of the year. Because I trained as an electrician, I am doing some of the work myself.
The house was completed in eastern Germany in 1980. The walls are covered with a very sandy plaster, which was applied rather unevenly, resulting in visible waves and irregularities at first glance.
In January, I contacted a well-known painter/plasterer master and convinced him to take on the project. He is a master craftsman and currently a one-person company; he has completed several jobs for us in the past when he still had two employees. We did not sign any contract with him. It was agreed that he would smooth out the wavy walls, then wallpaper them with glass fleece and paint them white. Installation of drywall (GKD) was also agreed upon. The planned move-in date is early November 2025. Pricing was based on time and materials.
He started the work in January and covered the wooden floors, which we want to keep. In May, he plastered over the open electrical channels and finished plastering where radiators were to be installed later, as well as the door and window reveals. Nothing happened in June and July. In August, he installed, filled, and sanded the drywall. He also began filling the remaining walls and made good progress.
At the beginning of September, we spoke on the phone. I expressed my concerns about the slow pace and worries that we might not be able to move in on time in early November, since additional work (floor sanding and lacquer) also needs to be done. I asked if I should hire someone else. He said no, he could complete everything, so I let him continue. He then worked hard for three days and finished one room where I could finally sleep when I was on site.
By September, the other trades as well as I had completed our respective work.
By the end of September, the painter had managed to do quite a bit of filling and wallpapering and came to the site whenever it suited him—usually only one day per week up to now.
The rooms are mostly finished. The hallway is still missing; I don’t know if he will manage it by November, but it’s possible.
Another well-known painter/master was on site two days ago. From his point of view, the work was not done professionally. These are the defects he noticed:
- Walls are still partially wavy (visible at first glance)
- Plaster is partly hollow
- Walls inadequately prepared/sanded (imperfections show through the glass fleece)
- Wallpaper poorly glued in some places (peeling at corners and in small sections on the surface – according to him, wallpaper strips are missing)
- Switch panels cut poorly
- Unpainted areas/poorly painted spots
My idea is to do an inspection with the contractor when he says he is finished or sends me the invoice and point out the defects. I would give him four weeks to fix them, and if he cannot manage it, I would hire the other company to complete the remaining work and send the invoice to the first painter.
Is this approach okay, or how would you proceed?
Best regards,
Robo
H
HilfeHilfe26 Oct 2025 06:56I don’t think you’ll get away with that. I also don’t think it’s fair for a second craftsman to come in and have every little detail laid out on the table. At the very least, the uneven parts should have been addressed sooner.
wiltshire schrieb:
That could be part of the problem. As the client, you hold overall responsibility. If something goes wrong for months despite being pointed out, then there is an issue with managing the workers or service providers. Of course, you are not responsible for the actual work itself. The fact that the contractor you hired delivered poor work is another matter. Now, with experience, he pretends he was previously able to do whatever he wanted.
I don’t mean this negatively when I point out this mistake. On the contrary, I have personally learned from such errors, not just once, only once I understood them. Making mistakes is not terrible, even though it can be frustrating and costly at first.
It’s unfair if you have to have the work redone, but it looks like that is what will happen. You can reduce the invoice from the original contractor. The contractor who fixes the issue has nothing to do with it and must be paid. Based on what I’ve read, I think it will be difficult for you to successfully claim recourse against the current contractor.
Really a tough situation.
I wish you good luck. It’s quite simple: a specialist company was hired, and they performed substandard work.
How exactly am I, as a layperson and client, supposed to manage and recognize that it was done incorrectly? What could I have done better?
Even if I had “managed” the gentlemen better, who says they would have done better work? I did give them a warning and received the respective response.
So first of all, I assume I have the right to improvement, meaning the contractor has two chances to fix the visible defects. Also, there is the option to have another company do the repairs in advance and charge the original contractor for it.
Why don’t you mention that topic?
By the way, what expertise do you have on this subject?
HilfeHilfe schrieb:
I don’t think you’ll get away with that. I also don’t think it’s fair that a second tradesperson comes in and every tiny detail is put on the table. At least the more obvious issues should have been addressed sooner. It’s not about scrutinizing every little detail. Mistakes were made during the construction phase that were already pointed out and are now clearly visible to any layperson at first glance. The tradesperson is expected to correct these. Legally, they have at least 10 days and 2 attempts to do so.
I had to listen to a second opinion. Surely, this colleague also exaggerated, and I will definitely not implement all their criticisms. If I were involved in a legal dispute, I would probably proceed similarly with an expert assessment.
W
wiltshire26 Oct 2025 08:01Robo987 schrieb:
As a layperson and client, how exactly was I supposed to control and recognize that something was wrong? What could I have done better? Manage the project like a contractor, not just hire it as a client.
Robo987 schrieb:
Why don’t you bring up that issue? Because it’s probably a lost cause. The energy you’re putting in now isn’t worth it if you focus on the outcome. The guy won’t fix it or pay for the repairs. “Dead horse.”
Robo987 schrieb:
What expertise do you actually have on this topic? I have built two houses for ourselves, seven years of professional experience working with construction tradespeople—from owners of small businesses to managers of larger companies—and have managed restructuring in two different industries where I was new to the field, plus my own entrepreneurial experience.
ypg schrieb:
Yes, he probably already read that today and wasn’t pleased. He also described the problem in another forum. Oh, did he? Really?
Yes, foolish me as the customer—I should have known everything, supervised the contractors, and involved experts, etc.
By the way, all the other trades did an excellent job without any of that being necessary.
It’s a shame that there’s no clear discussion here about the existing options, including those arising from an oral contract. And those options do exist.
wiltshire schrieb:
Manage the project like a contractor, not just as a client. Still basically nothing concrete. What exactly could I have done here, and how would that have improved the painter’s work?
wiltshire schrieb:
Because it’s probably already decided. The energy you put in now isn’t worth it if you focus on the outcome. The guy will neither fix it nor pay for the fix. Probably? I see. What exactly is your expertise on this?