The paint job that looks fine for six months, then doesn't

Freshly painted, every wall looks the same. That's exactly what makes a bad paint job so easy to miss until it's too late to do anything about the quote you already paid for. The paint itself is rarely where the difference is — two people using the identical tin can produce a finish that lasts five years, or one that starts flaking, bubbling or dulling within six months.

What actually determines the outcome happens before the roller ever touches the wall: sanding down the old finish properly instead of painting straight over it, treating damp patches instead of sealing moisture in, using the right primer for the surface (masonry, plaster, previously glossed wood all behave differently), and giving each coat enough time to actually cure rather than rushing the second coat on to finish the job faster.

None of that prep work is visible in the final result on day one. It's only visible in month six, when a rushed job starts showing hairline cracks along old cracks that were never filled, or peeling where damp was painted over instead of dealt with. By then it's not a touch-up, it's a strip-back-and-redo.

A recognised decorator's value is almost entirely in that invisible hour of prep — the part that's easiest to skip, hardest to check at the time, and the only thing standing between "looks great today" and "looks great in three years."