Contractor forgot to prime metal railing before painting it

Questions & AnswersCategory: Exterior Painting QuestionsContractor forgot to prime metal railing before painting it
Carlos Danger asked 4 years ago

I hired a contractor to repaint my exterior metal railing, which had some peeling paint and some rust.  The contractor sanded it but forgot to use primer even though I had specifically said to use primer.  Instead, he just applied an exterior latex paint on the railing with no primer (it was not one of those cans that claims to be both a primer + paint).  The question is what to do now – strip the paint off and do it right, or put a second coat of the paint, or tell the contractor that he will need to redo it once it starts to peel.

1 Answers
MagicDave answered.

If you knew all of this, did you already pay him? Since he did not do the job the way you specifically wanted him to, then you should have stopped him first and demanded that he redo it …
Now you could take him to court… but that’s a lengthy process…
So… you should lightly sand all of the surfaces, or better… strip them of most of the latex paint, using a Paint & Varnish Remover (follow lable instructions) … then Prime all surfaces using an Exterior Grade Oil Base Sealer Primer…
Finally top coat using a good quality product like Sherwin Williams or Behr and use an Exterion Oil Base Product…
Good Luck!