It pays to have low friends in high places

[Curlycherry]

I mentioned a while ago I had a paint fading problem with the paint on my house which was resided with Hardi board in 2006. After the first painting the professional painter said it might have been his fault so he did it over. Then when it faded again he got Sherwin William's involved and they said it might have been their paint that was at fault. So SW paid the painter to do it over again, 3rd time.

Well it faded and so my contractor got up in Hardi's face about it and they sent out two tech service guys and a quality guy. They looked it over, said there was a problem and took some boards off and took them back to the lab. A month later they call and say their product is not at fault and that I should have used better paint and had a professional do it. Gee, did they not even read their report that said who did it and the tests they did to show they did it right? They offered to comp me 10 gallons of paint to have it redone on my dime again.

I was now pizzed, so I called in some favors. A visit to some people down the hall that work in construction markets and they set me right up with how to chemically test the siding to prove it is their fault. I can't say what the tests were but they are semi simple and so I did them. I got the results and sure enough it is the siding's problem.

So I called yesterday and talked with the QC guy and told him what I had done and what I had found. His one comment was "how did you learn about that series of tests?" I told him I did not want to disclose that.

Just a few minutes ago the Hardi rep for my area called me and said they will gladly pay to have someone they know repaint my entire house with a paint of their choosing and using a special prep system on my house that will be no cost to me at all.

The rep also asked me know I knew about the tests and how the did I do them?

This is a good offer but I was actually hoping they would surrender and pay to have the house resided with the baked on finish. I am still not 100% certain that if they paint it the problem will not reoccur. I need to see the offer in writing to see what or how they are going to guarantee that what they do will last.

What would the woodnet collective do? Take this offer or push them harder?

[CLETUS]

The original painter and Sherwin Williams need to be compensated.

[daddo]

How could you paint it wrong?

Primer and 2 coats paint. ? How does the primer and paint know it is a pro brushing it on?

What causes the board to be at fault?

Any one of us could find out the testing method with a few clicks- why would it be a secret unless Hardi doesn't want to be responsible for their product unless they actually get caught? That's poor business practices I'd say.

[Curlycherry]

daddo said:

---

How could you paint it wrong?

Primer and 2 coats paint. ? How does the primer and paint know it is a pro brushing it on?

What causes the board to be at fault?

Any one of us could find out the testing method with a few clicks- why would it be a secret unless Hardi doesn't want to be responsible for their product unless they actually get caught? That's poor business practices I'd say.

---

That's just it, other than getting the paint too thin there is no real way to paint it "wrong." The stuff is pre-prined and according to them you just make sure it is clean and put the top paint on with a sprayer.

I can't say what causes the board to be at fault. You'll have to let Google be your friend.

You can get a lot of testing methods, but not all the ones I used. There are certain competitive advantages all companies hold close and don't disclose. This is one of them. My coworkers down the hall said I need to stop by for one of those Men In Black flashy sessions once I get this all resolved.

[GHR]

Curlycherry said:

---

That's just it, other than getting the paint too thin there is no real way to paint it "wrong." The stuff is pre-prined and according to them you just make sure it is clean and put the top paint on with a sprayer.

I can't say what causes the board to be at fault. You'll have to let Google be your friend.

You can get a lot of testing methods, but not all the ones I used. There are certain competitive advantages all companies hold close and don't disclose. This is one of them. My coworkers down the hall said I need to stop by for one of those Men In Black flashy sessions once I get this all resolved.

---

Actually you can paint most things wrong. The paints you used reacted with something.

No need to use google.

[Curlycherry]

CLETUS said:

---

The original painter and Sherwin Williams need to be compensated.

---

Good point. My contractor paid for the paint and the painter to put it on so they should be the ones getting compensated. I'll mention that and work for it.

[Admiral]

Well, who is to say that the special "prep" and repainting will work, and your skepticism on this point is justified after what you have gone through; looks to me like a materials problem and they know it. Did you check the original product warranty on the siding? There may be a replacement option buried in there; your local state laws might have something to add about the warranty. Otherwise, I'd take the deal, and agree it should be in writing, but I would not sign any document which has you release them from ultimate liability if their "fix" fails so you have the option of coming back to them again if the paint fades.

[Curlycherry]

Admiral said:

---

Well, who is to say that the special "prep" and repainting will work, and your skepticism on this point is justified after what you have gone through; looks to me like a materials problem and they know it. Did you check the original product warranty on the siding? There may be a replacement option buried in there; your local state laws might have something to add about the warranty. Otherwise, I'd take the deal, and agree it should be in writing, but I would not sign any document which has you release them from ultimate liability if their "fix" fails so you have the option of coming back to them again if the paint fades.

---

Their previous proposal released them from further liability and so I dismissed it right off the bat right there. I'll wait to see what this was says, but I agree, there are offering my no guarantee that this will be the rock solid solution so no way will I release them from further liability. My lawyer will make sure they know that.

I believe that they know I know what the problem is, so if they are smart they will know they *must* fix it first before the final coats go on. The question that I don't know the answer to is do they have some trick up their sleive I don't know about to fix the problem 100%. I need to research that part more.

Their warranty is full of weasel words to get them out of trouble. I grew up in the construction trades and they always have a worm way out. I've only seen one OSB manufacturer admit right out of the gate they had a problem and it was a big one. The floor deck got wet during framing of a house and the OSB swelled. The wax was not applied right to the OSB and the minute they saw it they admitted it.

[Bob10]

So if you tell us what secret tests you did, they put you in azzhat prison or what?

[Lynden]

http://www.classaction.org/james-hardie-siding