Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Dismal Failure is Looming

So... you remember that bathroom cabinet project I mentioned? The one that had an excellent chance of ending up a dismal failure?

Well, it got off to a good start with a partial assembly of the cabinet. Easy.
The piece on the table is upside down.

Step two: Primer. I had selected a primer that will stick to glossy surfaces and asked the clerk to tint the primer to go under black paint. The result was a light grey-almost-lavender color. I was expecting dark grey... but okay, I like purple. I'll give it a go.

The primer rolled on smoothly and easily with a foam roller.

Step three: Paint. I had researched the best paint for furniture and found many rave reviews of Sherwin Williams ProClassic. Wanting a very smooth, durable finish for my bathroom cabinet, I made a special trip to Sherwin Williams. The clerk told me that ProClassic cannot be tinted to dark colors and recommended All Surface Enamel. He also recommended a particular type of roller and said it would give me a very smooth finish.

Wrong. Very wrong.

The paint finish looks HORRIBLE. It was not user error. I am not a novice at painting. I've achieved good results many times with a $2 roller and Behr paint that cost half as much as Sherwin Williams. It was either the paint or the roller, or a combination of the two. The only solution is to sand the painted surfaces and start over. I hate sanding. HATE it!

I will be taking a cabinet door to Sherwin Williams and having a discussion with the manager.

Step four: Add trim pieces. I ordered some trim from Amazon. The tracking information states that the package was delivered Monday, but I haven't received it. :( I have ordered from Amazon numerous times, and I have never had a package go missing.

I hoped that making a claim with Amazon would be easy since I'm a Prime member... but I got an email response stating "We're unable to create a replacement. Please contact customer service."

Ugh.

I keep reminding myself that the most critical factor to home improvement success is tenacious determination. :P

16 comments:

  1. Grrrrrr, I hate it when things like this happen to me or my friends!! I'm glad you are not going to just let either one go, although it's always annoying to have to do a lot of complaining to get something fixed. Hopefully managers will be able to make things right, or at least compensate you for your trouble. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!

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    1. Thanks! The prospect of having to sand a piece of furniture is a good impetus for complaints. ;)

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  2. Oh no! I hope you find a solution, maybe clear paint to gover the ugly surface? Because sanding all this down again would be a major pita... I keep my fingers crossed that you will have more success with the next steps!

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  3. That clerk at Sherwin Williams ripped you off. Beat him with the cabinet.

    cafelastrange.com

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    1. Ha ha! Maybe just a little smack with the door. ;)

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  4. Aww, I'm sorry to hear that this project has hit so many roadblocks. I hope the package (or a replacement) makes its way to you soon, and that the SW store refunds you or explains what went wrong at the very least.

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  5. Gah. You could chalk paint over top, then you wouldn't have to sand as much? Not that chalk paint is cheap either but at least there's very little prep work involved. Beats sanding everything! Still, I'm glad you're going to complain to Sherwin Williams. I swear I know more than the clerks at our local Benjamin Moore dealer. :(

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    1. The clerk seemed distracted, and I overheard him saying he only had a few minutes until he got off work and joking he was "too sober."

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  6. Tartar sauce...
    I've had a lot of packages in New Mexico state delivered, but were nowhere to be found. I later found out it's because our carrier had changed, and they had a habit of scanning it delivered and forgetting it in the truck in their rush to get done. SUPER annoying, especially with time sensitive material during the selling of the house.

    I hope everything resolves in your favor because Amazon's customer service gets dicey after a certain period of time.

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    1. Ugh, that must have been annoying. I had similar problems in the past. Here, though, I've had the same carrier since I moved in 5 years ago, and I've never had issues.

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  7. It is a cool looking cabinet. I am reading in reverse order, so I already know what happened next, but I am interested to see what happens after that! ;)

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    1. I think the shape of the cabinet and the trim at the top makes it look a bit nicer than the average bath cabinet... which is why I hope I can salvage the paint job.

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  8. I feel your painting woe! I have gloss black set of corner-shelves I recently painted that looks less coated in slick darkness and more coated in an oil slick :( The paint was thick like treacles and had a tendency, even when applied thinly, to leave translucent patches, gloopy thick patches, weird shrinkage wrinkles. I hate it when you go to paint something and what should be an easy job turns into a nightmare. Everything else I have painted in my new house is fine, including the matt AND gloss black ceiling rose (gloss jet black details over black with a blue undertone), which is the trickiest thing I have ever painted. But this one boring set of corner shelves looks like it was dredged out of a barrel of crude :( It was cheap wood gloss, and I feel that I've reaped the rewards of buying cheap; cheap-looking results :( Going out of your way, and paying extra for a product and getting bad results has got to suck even more :(

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    1. How frustrating! Black paint can be a challenge even under the best of circumstances... but yes, it's especially annoying when you're gone to extra trouble and expense only to end up with poor results.

      I have a chest of drawers that I want to paint matte black with gloss black details. I just have to build up the courage to face the task!

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