ᐅ Painter’s fleece – How to identify it on a concrete ceiling?

After spending almost every day in the garden over the past few months to finish it, I finally had some time this weekend to focus on the interior of the house. During this, I noticed something that’s been bothering me...

On the upper floor, you can clearly see the painter’s fleece around the ventilation outlet of the controlled residential ventilation system (on a drywall ceiling). However, on the ground floor (concrete ceiling), it’s not visible at all—neither around the ventilation holes nor near the perforations for lighting.

This issue has occupied my mind so much that I scraped off some paint under a lamp and reached the concrete ceiling, and it doesn’t appear that anything has been applied or embedded there. At the same time, I don’t want to, as a layperson, accuse the painter (who claims to have worked in painter’s fleece) of having forgotten to apply it.

I always assumed that you would at least see the fleece if you removed the paint layer. Is it really the case that the painter’s fleece bonds so closely with the concrete ceiling that it becomes indistinguishable? Or could it be that the painter’s fleece was forgotten?

Strahleman schrieb:

Is it really the case that the painter’s fleece basically forms one unit with the concrete ceiling and bonds so strongly that you can no longer see it? Or could it be that the painter’s fleece was forgotten?

Painter’s fleece is a type of wallpaper. It does not bond with another surface. If you scratch it, you’ll quickly notice whether you are scraping off paint or wallpaper—painter’s fleece. Then you’ll know if it was forgotten.

Thank you, @Benutzer200. That’s exactly what I thought as well—that it’s wallpaper, even if it’s incorporated into the paint layer. I will speak with the painter again and point this out.

Strahleman schrieb:

In our upper floor, you can clearly see the painter’s fleece around the ventilation outlets of the mechanical ventilation system (on a drywall ceiling). However, on the ground floor (concrete ceiling), you can’t see it at all—neither around the ventilation holes nor around drill holes for lights.
This issue has been on my mind so much that I scraped off some paint under a lamp and found the bare concrete ceiling, and it doesn’t seem like anything was applied there. At the same time, I don’t want to question the painter (who says he applied painter’s fleece) as a layperson and assume he forgot something.

Do I understand correctly: your painter gave you a top-quality finish on the ceiling at painter’s fleece prices, so well done that even up close, you can’t tell exactly what material was used, not even at joints or edges… and now you’re wondering if you should feel deceived for getting skilled labor instead of more expensive materials???

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11ant schrieb:

Do I understand correctly: Your painter finished the ceiling so perfectly, at the price of painter’s fleece, that you can’t tell what it’s actually made of, even at the joints or edges... and now you’re wondering if you should feel deceived for getting labor instead of more expensive material?

Well, I don’t quite trust the painter—putting it mildly—to have that kind of skill to execute it so perfectly :X The whole trade was a bit back and forth, and in some small areas we ended up doing touch-ups ourselves because even after the third repair, the result was unsatisfactory.

On the upstairs ceiling (drywall), the joints of the fleece are clearly visible; I’m quite sure painter’s fleece was applied there (especially noticeable around the ventilation vents). Also, in the bathroom, he left a few little “souvenirs” under the fleece (so much for the perfect finish 🙂, see picture).

Today I inspected the ground floor ceiling with a flashlight and am quite certain that no fleece was used there. Hairline cracks have formed along almost all joints of the precast concrete ceiling. This wouldn’t have happened if fleece had been applied.