Blew a $600 bid on a repaint because I skipped the walkthrough

I was rushing to get a quote out last Tuesday and just eyeballed the living room from the doorway. Turns out the walls had heavy wallpaper glue residue from a previous job and my paint wouldn't stick right. Had to eat the cost on extra primer and labor to fix it all. Now I always spend at least 10 minutes actually touching the walls before I give a number. Anyone else get burned by skipping a step in their process?

2 comments

2 Comments

umaprice1mo ago

Was the glue residue visible or did you find out the hard way after rolling the first coat?

nathan8511mo ago

Man, 300 bucks worth of glue from Sherwin-Williams just bubbling up under the first coat... I mean, that's a nightmare scenario. I vividly remember the guy at the counter telling me to "really glob it on" for this specific non-woven paper, so I did. First roller pass and it was like the paper was having a bad reaction, just puckering and peeling away from the wall. Had to stop everything, scrape it all off while it was still wet, and start over with a different kind of adhesive that was way more watery. Still makes me mad thinking about it, what a waste of a Sunday afternoon.