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Should a contractor pay for re-painting after having to re-open a wall?

Our contract specifies that we are to hire our own painter. The painter came and painted when requested to do so. After this our contractor had to re-open the wall to install a shower valve that was missed during installation. The contractor now expects the painter to repaint for no additional charge, and claims this is completely "normal". No mural, just prime & one color of paint.

Public Comments

1. Check with a lawyer or small claims court for your area, but if you had the job finished and the contractor has to damage that work due to their mistake they should have to pay or do the repair/painting themselves. I would take them to small claims if they won't paint or pay for it.
2. No. It is not normal to leave plumbing fixtures out. He is required to supervise his work. If he does not pay for the repainting, contact the state license board and file a complaint. An investigator will arbitrate the issue. He has to restore the wall. I mean how much could it cost to paint one wall? Sounds like you have a fly-by-nite contractor. Honest people generally take care of their mistakes and keep their reputations intact. I sometimes fixed mistakes that weren't even mine to keep a customer happy. The dollar amount of this can't be very much? Unless your painter did a mural. Why should the painter be liable for a plumbing error? The contractor may not want your painter to do the work, he can paint it himself.
3. Ask him if it was the other way around, and a subcontractor had to go in and undo something that wasn't done correctly, would he be willing to go back and do his own work over free of charge. In my opinion it was the contractors fault that the shower valve wasn't installed in the first place. If he is a contractor and has knowledge of plumbing then it should not have been missed. So if he had to partially demo the wall to make the correction, then he should do the labor required to fix and repair it back to the original state that it was in before he corrected his mistake. He made a mistake and it just may cost him some labor, materials and paint. We learn from our mistakes, this one he will surely remember.
4. I am a 37 year experienced painter and we call this "extras"...The builder subcontracted the work out to the painter, and the painter did his job..we usually allow one free touch up after a job is completed and the owner does a ":walk through"..however this is simply a touch up..any new patches, possibly new door or window replacement or moving them, or any other structural damge to the drywall etcetera is considered an "extra" and the contractor should pay the paint sub the extra monies torepair something the builder overlooked..the same as any leaks in the plumbing etcetera, if the drywall is cut out to repair the leak, or for any reason in that manner..the contractor has to pay for it... We do not continiously repair other peoples mistakes for free..Our one time free touch up is a touch up from a few marks, handprints on thewal etcetera..but does not include free patching and repairs...The contractor created the problem so he is responsible to pay the painter....