Boynton Beach Home Depot Fiasco

We had to paint the outside of our stucco house because it probably hasn’t been painted in 30 years and it was looking rough. A lot of paint had flaked off and showed bare cement or the original pink that it was first painted. Since it is impossible to find people to do work on the house, we knew we had to paint it ourselves.

So, after doing research in Consumer Reports, we learn that Behr paint is the best exterior paint to use and it is only available at Home Depot. When we go to the paint department at Home Depot, we ask the guy about the paint. He agrees that the Behr Marquee is the best (at $51 per gallon) so we ask him to give us 4 gallons of flat white exterior paint to paint the outside of our house. He gets the paint for us and even helps us get rollers and brushes. When asked if we have to add white to the paint, he says no because it is already white and we just need to get it stirred at the desk.

Due to the heat, we can only work a few hours each day and spend about 4 days painting the house with the first two gallons. (Remember, we are not professional painters so it takes us a little longer than a professional). Finally, we have half of the house done and we have used 2 gallons of paint so far. When we open the 3rd gallon and we notice it looks a little wonky. When we roll it on the house, it doesn’t even cover the old paint. So, we thought that maybe they didn’t stir it well and we open the 4th gallon. But we have the same results.

We load the 4 cans in the car and head to Home Depot. When we get to the paint department and explain the problem, the first guy tells us that it is our fault because the numbers are different on the paint. We explain the Home Depot guy gave them to us. Another paint person tells us that we didn’t get white added to the paint and the paint was just a base so we explained that their guy told us we didn’t need to get anything added. So, we asked to speak to a manager. They walked away and started helping others but no one called a manager. I called the customer service desk on my phone and asked for the manager to come to the paint department.

Judy, who was a customer service manager, showed up and we explained the problem to her. Again, she said we didn’t get the same paint numbers. I told her that while I was on the phone asking for the manager, the two guys were looking at the cans. One guy told the other that he needed to get the cans with the same numbers when he gave them to customers. She looked at me and asked, “You mean the new guy was telling the tenured guy what to do?” Then she looks at the paint and tells us that we had gotten the wrong paint! This stuff was an unpigmented base paint and it wouldn’t cover the paint on the house and would probably fade next year. We asked if we had to repaint over what we had already done in the past 4 days. Judy scoffed with disbelief and didn’t believe that we had been painting for 4 days! My husband got upset that Judy was calling him a liar but she finally backed down from that and said we would have to repaint it because that base paint was going to fade quickly without pigment. My husband was irate because he just wasted 4 days of painting! At least she gave us 4 gallons of the correct paint (we hope anyway) but there is no way to make up for the labor that we had put into the house already.

Things I Learned:

• Always check the numbers on the paint can even if the guy tells you it doesn’t matter.
• Base paint always needs pigment in it.
• Ask for a second opinion even if it makes the first guy mad.
• Home Depot employees will tell you anything to sell you a product.
• Consider going to Lowe's for home improvement supplies

Original photo by Pat Hensley