window sealant pulling paint away from surround

EoinML

Hello,

Last year we got new windows installed. I recently noticed that the exterior sealant (silicone, I'm guessing) was applied to loose or old paint and the selant has now pulled the paint away from the wall. Photos attached.

My assumption is that the company involved (not cheap!) should have wire brushed any loose paint away or applied some sort of stabilising paint prior to sealing with silicone. Or at the least they should have flagged it to me so I could addresses it in advance.

They are saying it's not their issue if the paint was loose.

Am I right here? They are sending someone out - as a gesture, without accepting any liability.

What arguments can I use to ensure they properly seal the windows?

Thanks,

Eoin

Citizen Six

Paint doesn't look the best there in fairness. Shouldn't be too big a deal for the company to seal them again properly though.

10-10-20

That's a bit of a 50/50 there. It appears that the paint was peeling in places - they should have seen that and told you that it might not adhere. But as for the installers scraping back paint, that's an issue for them as they then cause damage to the paint finish and could be liable to repair it, which in some cases could be a whole-house repaint. So they generally won't touch it with a barge-pole unless they have agreed with the householder. Most of these lads are subbies, so they get hit for call-backs on their own coin/time.

EoinML

Thanks for the responses. I feel the loose paint should have been flagged during the pre-install survey. Then I could have addressed the issue myself or even got a painter to scrape back and repaint the window surrounds. By ignoring it they've caused hassle for me and hassle for themselves.