This paint stinks!!!! General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[Rodgydodge]

My letter I received from citizens advice yesterday, I think if your having the same issue then contact them so it's recorded with trade and standards.

We understand from your e-mail that you are awaiting advice regarding paint you bought that isn’t up to the standard expected.


Your rights and obligation.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, any goods provided should be of satisfactory quality, which means they should be free from fault, last a reasonable amount of time, do what they’re designed to do, and be safe.

If you can demonstrate that your goods are not of satisfactory quality, you may be able to seek redress from the trader. You could look to request a repair or replacement in the first instance; any repair or replacement should be provided free of charge, within reasonable time, and not cause a significant inconvenience.

If a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, cannot be done free of charge, within reasonable time or would cause significant inconvenience, you could then request to exercise your right to a price reduction on what you’ve paid, or to reject the goods by exercising your final right to reject for a refund. The trader may deduct for usage taking into account the amount of time you’ve had possession of the goods. . Any refund should be provided within 14 days of the refund being agreed and via the same payment method.

If the trader doesn’t feel they are liable for the fault they would need to prove that goods are of satisfactory quality. The trader would not be liable for fair wear and tear, misuse, accidental damage or neglect.

Your next steps.
We would suggest that you contact the trader and request a copy of their formal complaints procedure and follow this. If the trader does not have a complaints procedure, we recommend you send a letter outlining the reasons for your complaint. We would suggest setting a reasonable deadline for a response, keeping a copy of any correspondence for your records and sending any letters by recorded delivery; that way the mail will be tracked and signed for. Template letters can be found here, and a sample of recorded delivery can be found here.

As part of your complaint we would recommend you ask the trader if they are a member of an alternative dispute resolution scheme (ADR) or, if they’re not, would they be willing to use a non-membership based scheme. ADR schemes are independent bodies that offer services such as arbitration or mediation if your complaint is still unresolved after following the trader’s complaints process.

What we will do.
We will let Trading Standards know about your complaint. Whilst this does not help you resolve your dispute, it gives Trading Standards vital intelligence on how a trader is conducting their business and if they deem it necessary they will contact you directly for further information.

[hl828]

Hi All,

I've just come across this thread and am so glad I have, all the other information I was finding seemed to relate to crown paint problems from several years ago.
I recently completed painting one of the bedrooms in my house that I recently bought and will hopeful move into soon.
Unfortunately, I have used Valspar wall and ceiling matt which was mixed in store for me from my local B&Q in Wallasey.
I completed my painting over the easter weekend. At the time I was happy with the finish and colour, and felt that the room was finally coming together after months of prep (removing woodchip, lining paper etc). Over the past 11 days, each time I visit the house I have needed to open the windows wide and thought it was just paint smell lingering, but it has taken on a new quality now to the point that I called out the emergency gas service 2 days ago, as family visiting had queried where the strong gas smell was coming from. The engineer that attended could smell what we meant as soon as he stepped foot in that room (it is confined to the one room where the Valspar paint was used), although no gas problem was detected after a thorough assessment.
Having read through messages in this thread I'm now really quite concerned as I was hoping that the smell would dissipate over time, but other peoples experiences suggest otherwise. I'm seriously considering taking all the lining paper off and starting from scratch now but I can't bear the smell which if anything seems to be intensifying.
As yet I have not approached B&Q about this, I still have the cannister of the 5L which I used so will have the batch number, though the remnants are minimal and quite dried up. The odour is quite ammonia like, quite different to the gas smell currently seeping from my bedroom walls! Unfortunately I also purchased an extra tin (yet unopened) which will go to waste (I would never chance using this brand ever again)
As I've only just found this thread I haven't yet read through all of the information on recommendations for dealing with this issue, but will do so over the coming days. I will look out for any updates with keen interest and wish others affected by the issue well in your quest for resolution from B&Q/Valspar and would of course be willing to add my name to any collective grievance put forward to relevant agencies.
Kind Regards
Hannah

[lindylu]

Hannah, so sorry you have this problem too. I had a large part of my house decorated with trade Crown ceilings and trade Dulux walls. Dulux and Crown reps have visited my house and so far only Dulux has got back to me. They asked for estimates for redoing everything, which my decorator supplied (labour costs only). Dulux got back to me saying they won't cover labour costs for the alkaline sealant, which is an essential part of sorting the problem.

My decorator is treating my bedroom and ensuite ceilings next week, and for now, that is all. If the smell persists, then it is the walls causing the problem.

Crown sent a rep more than a month ago but they have gone off the radar and ignore me now.

Decorator is going to use Zinsser BIN and then Zinsser white emulsion.

I will keep you updated. I have had to move out of the house, the smell was giving me a permanent headache, it is beyond disgusting. It affects a large part of the house.

[Rodgydodge]

Hi Hannah, it's been a living nightmare, I had watchdog ring me on Friday as i wanted to know the outcome of what happened with the crown issue. Unfortunately I wasn't in. I think they are going to ring me tomorrow! (I hope so). Like you said its as far as I could get and couldn't find an outcome. If you look at the Valspar U.K. Facebook page you'll see it's inundated with people with the same problem. I fear it's been a faulty batch of paint leaving the factory. They recon 1 in 100,000 people experience this but I feel it's a lot more. Maybe watchdog are going to follow the issue up again I don't know until I speak with them. I'll keep you all posted. In the meantime I'd get in touch with citizens advise, they'll keep you right about complaining, I approached Valspar and b&q I got a voucher for paint from Valspar and a £95 gift card from b&q although they said they would refund the paint as well as pay for the bin sealer it wasn't enough. When I contacted them about being small changed they said case closed because I'd accepted their offer of the gift card. 8 weeks of hell and nearly having my cat rehomed...

[Tubularowl]

Hi all, not posted for a bit so a little update on my smelly issues. Everything that stunk of rotting flesh was BIN'd between 2 and 4 weeks ago. Last weekend I repainted everything in Zinsser Perma White (tinted in dulux heritage colours). So far the smell has not return. Lindylu, I notice you are having Zinsser Perma White as well. Can recommend it and cost worked out at £45 per 5ltrs tin. It's cost me about £500 in total plus hours and hours of redecorating to sort this mess out. With The Valspar slop, some of my walls have had 5 coats of paint since Christmas. House is normal again now but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Hannah, this is curable but it's not a five minute job to sort out. Zinsser BIN is the only product it seems that is capable of dealing with the stink. It is not going to go away on its own.

[hl828]

Hi Tubularowl, Rodgydodge and Lindylu, thanks for your comments on my post. Just to update I have contacted B&Q via the Martin Lewis "Resolver": they have requested batch number and receipts which I will forward and let you know how I get on. I contacted Zinnser customer service for advice regarding my situation with using the BIN as I wasn't sure if it would be okay over the lining paper I used, though they assure me this should be fine.
I have been keenly following the recent reviews on the Valspar UK website too. Wish I'd seen those prior to choosing Valspar as there seems to be a recent cluster of cases, plus I'm convinced that under-reporting is probably an issue with this.
I will keep you posted on how I get on. Many thanks to you all for the tips and advice, it is reassuring to know there is a solution (albeit a costly and time consuming one!)

[Beany]

So relieved to find this thread! I can't believe it has been going on for so long.
We are having the exact same smell problem after using Valspar paint from B&Q.
I have read many, many posts in this thread and from what I can see, the Alkaline Resist Primer is the only thing that has worked.
We have recently moved house and are starting to redecorate. Thankfully, we have only painted our conservatory and loo so far. However, it does make me nervous about painting the rest of the house. Reading through previous posts, it seems that the problem is not limited to one specific brand.
I am concerned that the problem is with bacteria present in the plaster that is set off by certain paints, since this clearly does not happen to everyone who has used the same paint / brand.
l'm thinking we will need to do an Alkaline Resist Primer in all rooms just in case....sigh...

[Tubularowl]

Beany - forget the big shed paints and take a look at Zinsser Perma White. It's tintable so any decorating store that sells it should be able to colour it. I had mine tinted to the Dulux Heritage range and it was spot on. It also has a high fungicide content so nothing nasty will grow in it. I am a total convert to it after the months of stink I had to put up with Valspar. Never had a paint issue in 30 yrs of decorating until a few months ago. Valspar? Never again. I've binned every tin.

[Beany]

Thanks for the tip Tubularowl. I'll definitely try it. The thought of adding another coat to the painting process just fills me with dread. :)

[lindylu]

Update! It was the Crown Machoherson paint on the ceilings causing the problem. A little reminder! I had my living room, dining room, bedroom, ensuite, hall stairs and landing painted. Crown ceilings, Dulux walls.

Crown rep visited and I suggested the decorator just does the bedroom and ensuite ceilings to see if that cured the problem. The decorator used Zinnser BIN and the zinsser emulsion on the ceilings and the smell has gone! The rest of the house reeks of gas still.

After constant calls to Crown they finally agreed to pay labour costs but not the cost of the Zinsser

There is no way this is bacteria, I had two bathroom ceilings painted by the bathroom company at the same time, they used Dulux and there was no smell. Only the ceilings painted with Crown Macpherson gave off the disgusting gas smell. It was so bad we had a brand new gas fire replaced, new cowl on the chimney and new chimney liner as we were convinced it was gas (though assured by the gas board and the gas fitting company many times that although the smell was like gas, it wasn't gas.)

Truly shocking it took Crown two months to come up with a decision. The smell was so bad I spent a lot of the time away from home. I can't wait for the de orator to go the rest of the house, but it is at huge expense to us, and a lot of unnecessary disruption.

[Melja]

Another valspar sufferer here. I had my daughters bedrooms painted 8 months ago before we moved in and the rooms still smell bad now. I have the house quite cool but now the weather is getting hot, the smell is getting worse. I'm worried whether the smell will cause any health problems for them. So glad I found this forum. Kept hoping the smell would go with time but now know that I need to do something about it! Emailed valspar today and they wanted details re paint and said they would send me voucher for valspar paint. No way will I be painting any room again with valspar. So my poa now is to get BIN sealant and then repaint both rooms. Have no money and no time. No idea where to put my daughters when I am doing this. Also I had spent a fortune on a decorator painting the rooms in the first place. Sigh. Please keep this thread active. Nice to know I'm not going mad sniffing walls!

[davygravy73]

Has anyone had success just using the sugar soap?

[davygravy73]

What about this, has anyone tried it? https://uk.hg.eu/products/aircare/hg-el ... e-05l.html

[D.I.Y.Dad]

Hi All,
So glad this isn't just a problem that I have encountered. Painted my new born sons nursery with Valspar paint back in March and within a couple of weeks we noticed a fairly faint odd smell. With it being a nursery we automatically assumed it was nappy smell or the nappy bin. After several clean ups and change arounds it was not going away. With the humid hot weather in the last week when anywhere near the room we could smell gas/methane which got so strong I was thinking there was a leak but the room is no where near any gas lines or boiler etc. It was only by chance when trying to find the real culprit we discovered it was coming from the walls. Then came the google search and I could't believe how many similar story's there were. Never in my life have I heard of anything like this. My instant concern is what has my son been breathing in for the past few months, BQ were quick to assure me there would be nothing sinister in the paint but couldn't really pinpoint what the issue was other than the bacteria theory. They had a Valslar rep on site but they weren't interested and didn't even talk to us. BQ have however refunded the paint costs and now comes the fix up. From what I've read sealing the walls with a primer is the way forward but think we will wallpaper instead of painting again. Hopefully Valspar take some serious time to investigate this but I won't hold my breath. In total it would be interesting what the full cost of everyone's redecorating would be, good sealer/primer isn't cheap and a lot of people would be paying a professional to do it. Will keep you posted with our progress.
Dad Out.

[angiebee26]

Hi
Another unhappy VALSPAR customer .. Got my son's bedroom painted just before XMas (2016)
Again noticed a smell similar to cat urine .. It was driving me mad .. Pulled every single item and every part of furniture out of the room to find out where the smell was coming from .. Cleaned it until it was spotless .. Sniffed every item .. Still the smell was there ... It was my sister who noticed the smell was coming from the walls that were painted with the VALSPAR paint I had mixed in B&Q ...
2 walls painted in VALSPAR had the cat pee smell ( made much worse with windows open and exposed to the sunlight )
The other 2 walls I had painted in a light shade by Dulux ... The Dulux walls didn't smell at all ... ( so I can't be the walls )
Got through to VALSPAR via email
The reply sent back to me basically saying it was the substrate in the walls .. Happens to 1 out of every 100,000 people ..
paint your room with an alkali sealer .. We can offer you a voucher for another tin of our paint ...
That's it ... Basically another tin of paint that caused the problem in the first place ..... Grrrrrrrrr ....
What bothers me is if it only happens to 1in 100,000 people then I'm assuming that not all of the ones it does happen to have used VALSPAR .. They may have used other brands .. Which if my maths is right .. Means that it's maybe only maybe 1 in every 500.000 people using a VALSPAR paint ... Obviously I don't believe this ... But if it is true then why is VALSPAR only offering the 1 highly unfortunate customer this happens too a voucher for another tin of paint .. Instead of offering to pay for thats customers room / rooms to be redecorated !
So glad I've found this post ... Because unless it's happened to you, I really don't think other people can get their head around the stress it causes ...
I cant afford another painter and decorator to come in and re-decorate ... And what if the alkali primer doesn't work and the smell comes back ?
I'm thinking of putting the alkali primer on and then wallpapering on top of that ?
Anyone tried wallpapering over the offending paint ?

Thanks for reading this ... Any advice appreciated