Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 24, 2011 5:28 pm This has been getting to me lately and thought I'd ask your opinions. When I did pre-start, I asked for all skirtings, doors and architraves to be painted "just plain white" and white is stated on the documents. I imagined them being white like the ceiling as when you opened the doors onto the white tiles in the bathrooms etc, I didn't want them to stand out. We have had the walls painted in whisper white, and to be honest, I can't see any difference between my walls and the doors, skirtings, architraves. If anything, they look a little "creamier" maybe, but there really isn't much difference at all. Now I was imaging a nice crisp white, but they are not. My hubby has told me to get over it as there is so many shades of white, but as I said plain white, I thought I would get what I wanted. I assumed white would be white with no other colour mixed in? What would you have expected? It looks fine as it all blends, but it's not what I had in mind, and I often sit on the lounge staring at them to try and see some sort of separation (yes, I get bored easy lol). Re: What would you expect? 2Jan 24, 2011 6:04 pm Sorry I think your husband is right there are about 100 different versions of white (and not one is called plain white) and unless you actually specify the one colour you will get the most convenient white for the builder The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: What would you expect? 3Jan 24, 2011 6:10 pm I would expect colours to be specified by name - and approved by me. But if you signed a contract with "white" as the only detail, no brand or colour names, then you probably have no leg to stand on. Re: What would you expect? 4Jan 24, 2011 6:33 pm Yes sorry, I too tend to agree that "plain white" can mean 100 different whites. Unless you specified untinted or the actual name of the white, unfortunately I don't think it is unreasonable to end up with what you got. Add it to the big thing called the learning curve when building???? Re: What would you expect? 5Jan 24, 2011 7:09 pm I agree with the other posters that there are obviously loads of different variations of "White"- however I don't think it is unreasonable of you to expect that it would be 'pure white'. After all- if you have stated white ceilings and white architraves I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect these two things to both be close to the same colour. The one thing I have learnt though- is that you do need to be specific...very specific. I left written instructions with the tilers and also included a picture and they still got it wrong! Re: What would you expect? 6Jan 24, 2011 7:12 pm I agree with the others, while it's frustrating I think that it really does need to be specified even if it was called 'ceiling white' or something instead of just white. At the end of the day though if it still bothers you it's not too difficult to change some paint - maybe save this difference of opinion with the builder for something bigger/harder to change after handover 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: What would you expect? 7Jan 24, 2011 7:12 pm I requested the whitest white on the skirts in our colour meeting with the builder. I was advised that it is only available as an upgrade so had to go with a not-so-white. May be why u didn't get the white u wanted either. Land at Chermside At tender stage Re: What would you expect? 8Jan 24, 2011 7:47 pm Thanks guys. I'm not upset as such as I'm use to it and it doesn't look out of place, but it's just one of those niggly things that I have found since moving in and I'm sure I'll get over. I remember at pre-start we were talking about whites and I remembered from the last time we built I couldn't just specify white as there were so many whites, so I said, "I want white to match the ceiling, no tint, just white" and she knew what I meant. I guess though, just putting "white" on the paperwork doesn't cut it though. I just don't get though, how a creamy colour can be considered white. To me, cream isn't white! Re: What would you expect? 9Jan 24, 2011 7:52 pm Rizzo I just don't get though, how a creamy colour can be considered white. To me, cream isn't white! I hear ya.... but I always marvel at the 'white' paint charts and wonder how some of those dark creams could be put on as a 'white'. But that's the very point... most people/companies/paint manufacturers (whoever) could all sorts of shades of whites from bright white through to creams and even some stoney colours - as white. Go figure. Re: What would you expect? 10Jan 24, 2011 9:32 pm We chose Wattyl Stalactite for our trims which is a real 'white' white and is a great contrast to our wall colour. We have found that our ceiling and kitchen/bathroom cupboards aren't as white though. Isn't that obvious but I do notice it. Re: What would you expect? 12Jan 24, 2011 9:58 pm We were struggling with what sort of whites we wanted for our doors/walls during color selection, luckily we found Taubmans white on white colour card, so we chose princess bling for our doors, ocean pearl for our walls. Hope they will come out nicely. Re: What would you expect? 13Jan 24, 2011 10:31 pm B STAR i would have expected that white has no additional tint in the paint. ie off the shelf white. No this is the whole point, Bstar - there are so many variations. You really have to look at the colour chart and pick from that - not from the name of it. Our walls are a cream colour - which is good,what we wanted - but the colour chart calls it stone white - which to me implies a beigish off white rather than a cream. Re: What would you expect? 14Jan 25, 2011 6:51 am A couple of points .... Have you checked your colour selection sheet/record? Does it have some code/number or something else written down, other than just "white"? Ours does. I think the code also 'contains' the paint type (at least in our case), but unfortunately it means nothing to the outsiders - only our builder can decode the number. Also, what brand of paint it is? If it's Dulux, for example, does the builder have colour named "white" in the selection list they gave you?? You can check it for yourself first and then take it from there with the builder (if you want to). Another thing - have they been creamy right from start, or are you just starting to notice it? If right from start, maybe they did paint it in pure white, but used oil paint instead of water based. You can test this by gently rubbing an area with a dark cotton cloth and metyl spirits - if the cloth stays relatively clean, it could be oil paint. (Oil paint starts to yellow really, really, really quickly.) Another way of looking for oil paints is in the joins to other surfaces - eg. architrave to wall joins and so on. Usually, your painters would have "overpainted" the walls just a little with the trim paint, by 1 mm or so. Houses settle. In case of oil based paints, these little painted gaps would then usually crack as the house settles. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: What would you expect? 15Jan 25, 2011 7:35 am Helyn B STAR i would have expected that white has no additional tint in the paint. ie off the shelf white. No this is the whole point, Bstar - there are so many variations. You really have to look at the colour chart and pick from that - not from the name of it. Our walls are a cream colour - which is good,what we wanted - but the colour chart calls it stone white - which to me implies a beigish off white rather than a cream. hmm i dont dispute what your saying. I am just saying what i would expect if some one said plain white. The whitest white that you can get is un-tinted paint. I am also pretty sure that you may not even find this is the color chart. Re: What would you expect? 16Jan 25, 2011 10:04 am Lex A couple of points .... Have you checked your colour selection sheet/record? Does it have some code/number or something else written down, other than just "white"? Ours does. I think the code also 'contains' the paint type (at least in our case), but unfortunately it means nothing to the outsiders - only our builder can decode the number. Also, what brand of paint it is? If it's Dulux, for example, does the builder have colour named "white" in the selection list they gave you?? You can check it for yourself first and then take it from there with the builder (if you want to). Another thing - have they been creamy right from start, or are you just starting to notice it? If right from start, maybe they did paint it in pure white, but used oil paint instead of water based. You can test this by gently rubbing an area with a dark cotton cloth and metyl spirits - if the cloth stays relatively clean, it could be oil paint. (Oil paint starts to yellow really, really, really quickly.) Another way of looking for oil paints is in the joins to other surfaces - eg. architrave to wall joins and so on. Usually, your painters would have "overpainted" the walls just a little with the trim paint, by 1 mm or so. Houses settle. In case of oil based paints, these little painted gaps would then usually crack as the house settles. Hmmm, I wonder if that's the case. I do remember when it was first painted, I commented to my hubby how good the contrast looked, but now I can't see it. Will do that test. If it is oil paint, will it get any yellower, or will it stay like it is now? If it gets yellower than I will spew! Re: What would you expect? 17Jan 25, 2011 10:28 am Oil paint will get significantly yellower and darker over the next 6 months and it will continue to darken for quite some time after that. A friend of ours had their trims painted in white oil paint (because they didn't realise what happens and their painter didn't tell them that there was a choice) and after about 6 months their trims were quite ugly, dark/creamy and dirty looking, especially since they had non-tint white walls. I think the paint mfr can also test the paint to see if it really is the oil paint. If your specs don't specifiy the exact type of paint you wanted/selected, it could be that they just used oil paint. But it's better to check. Good news - it can be painted over with water based paints - after a fine sand and/or after a good primer, to be sure it sticks. But it's not a small job My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: What would you expect? 18Jan 25, 2011 11:09 am Thanks Lex, yeah, I could imagine it wouldn't be a small job and I'd rather avoid repainting it. If it stays the way it is now, I can live with it, but if it gets any worse, I will be speaking to the painter. Re: What would you expect? 19Jan 25, 2011 9:05 pm I have just noticed the same thing in the last week happening to my gloss white doors and we had handover 2 months ago The other day I pulled the cavity slider out from the laundry and the door is yellow, not cream, yellow!! I thought the doors were looking like a "dirty white" recently and not as stark as when we first moved in as I have been comparing them to the ceiling white like when I first moved in. I also opened a cupboard in the bedroom and yep, the shelf is already yellow!! I then went and checked the leftover paint tins out in the shed that the painter left us and sure enough the painter has used OIL BASED ENAMEL for all the woodwork and my gorgeous doors which I paid over $1,000 to upgrade. HELP!! What can I do about this! The painter even told me himself he doesn't use enamel because it discolors, I don't know why he would do that!! Do I have a leg to stand on? I really hope all the doors and woodwork don't need repainting... Re: What would you expect? 20Jan 26, 2011 6:36 am OObubblesOO, unfortunately there is no other option than repainting. Do you have this in writing? Is this a private job with the painter? BTW, I can imagine your shock and horror when you saw The Sin Tin, as the same happened to us! Luckily, we had acrylic paint type "coded" into our contract (not to mention proudly spread all over their specifications ), so they had no choice but to repaint (but boy did the resist!). In the end, the job itself took them a day or two for the whole house!! Oh and welcome to the forum ! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8766 Thanks mate. Yeah good points! Leaning towards Option 3 to get a bit extra space in the cabinets but not going too crazy high (and expensive). Would require a mini… 13 39473 Hi It came to my attention after the handover that - The facade cladding on the face and the side are not straight. -The face tapers down by 50mm from left to right and… 0 2448 |