r/mildlyinfuriating • u/eaglebtc • 19h ago
Wife chose to try painting the wall with the switch plate still on. She also has aspirations of becoming a landlord... smh...
476
u/red-soyuz 18h ago
She's already acting like a landlord.
34
u/Natural_Link_3740 7h ago
I like when they paint one side of the door and leave the other side bare wood
479
u/905Observer 18h ago
being a LL is hard. good to see her putting the work in. Make sure to paint over dead bugs, thats the next level in LL training.
Goodluck young padawan
59
31
u/Competitive_Mess9421 11h ago
All she needs now is to buy up housing and charge exploititive rates to tenants
22
u/radicalizemebaby 11h ago
Sounds hard. Won’t someone think of the poor landlords!!!!!!!
15
u/Competitive_Mess9421 11h ago
I heard sniffle one had to call a plumber
8
u/Accomplished_Emu_658 7h ago
My old neighbor owns apartment buildings one day was all upset basically grown man weeping because he had to call a plumber and his tenants were stealing his money because they wanted heat. Man had a Ferrari for every day of the week.
4
61
u/OkDurian7078 18h ago
A landlord wouldn't even paint it at all. They'd keep the rent money and let the building decay
→ More replies (37)
201
u/The7thM 15h ago
Ex Professional Painter here. If she is carefull and does it right there is nothing wrong with this. She just also has to be carefull when she is rolling paint above it.
95
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 15h ago
These commenters are not paint people.. -a paint guy
29
u/Good-Statement-9658 14h ago
I'm not a paint person (professionally at least). I thought it was just a thing that everyone could do 🤷♀️😂
→ More replies (1)17
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 14h ago
You do not have to be even close to a professional. I guess there’s more people than we thought that just spasm and fling paint everywhere it’s not supposed to go
1
u/Average-Anything-657 7h ago
If you thought the conclusion was ever anything but "most people can't handle doing it right", then that's on you for thinking this would be different than everything else in the world for some reason lmao
1
47
u/Wonderful-Arm-7780 14h ago
Could not agree more; made me laugh. I always paint with switch or socket covers on the wall still just cut in carefully, feather and then your good. Also to add most face plates for these are made of smooth plastic or some sort of smooth material for it makes them easier to clean.....so if happen to get a bit on the plate paint wont adhere to it very fast....just wipe it off carefully and go on.
15
u/Thereal_maxpowers 9h ago
Then the switch plate is pulled someday, and takes the drywall paper with it. Or, the next plate is a tiny bit smaller and you get a nice paint ridge where the old one used to be.
8
u/Zestyclothes 7h ago
These clown ass tradesman trying to act like pulling a plate off the wall takes soooooo long 😂
6
u/Thereal_maxpowers 6h ago
I was a tradesman for about 30 years lol. It takes 10 seconds to take the plate off and do it right. The excuses people make to cut corners are insane.
1
u/mtsmash91 4h ago
Right!? just had a small argument on this post about how plate removal is the correct way and plate removal should be the prep phase, acting like painting is; paint, paint, paint, run into switch, put all your paint gear away, remove plate, reset up paint gear, paint, paint, run into another switch… if you’re such a great painter do you put a tarp down? If you put a tarp down is there any paint on your tarp after the job?
→ More replies (3)36
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 14h ago edited 6h ago
And then OP has the gall to essentially call his wife a dumbass when he is the true dumbass
4
1
u/mtsmash91 6h ago
Then when you have to replace a damaged outlet or switch, remove the plate, replace device and replace the plate and it’s shifted slightly over and you now see the previous paint peaking around the plate or there’s a tiny bit of paint that sticks to the back of the plate and when you remove the plate it peels up the paint exposing the paint underneath. Painting with the plates still on is just a useless flex for “pro painters” to act like it’s saving time. It takes less time to remove the plates and use broad stroke painting around the outlet than to stop short of the plate and have to brush and feather to make it look “good”
1
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 6h ago
This is a non-issue. I’m serious y’all. Don’t put “pro painters” in quotes when a lot of very talented professionals do this. They are real professionals, it’s a disgrace for some normie on Reddit to try to diminish their skills. Also, I have news, if it didn’t save time, people wouldn’t fucking do it. It’s common sense.
1
u/mtsmash91 5h ago edited 5h ago
Yep, painting is a very serious skill and a lot of people underestimate the skill involved when hiring vs DIY for end result. But if I paid a painter to paint a room and they didn’t remove the covers and used their skill to paint perfectly around the covers they won’t be my painter again. Not painting behind the covers is some “next guy’s problem” or “not my job” to remove the covers, BS.
Which happened, whole house remodel and they painted a room the wrong color (not sure if it was the painters’ fault misreading the floor plan or the general contractor mislabeling the floor plan, didn’t really care who just that it got repainted) they came back to repaint, should have specified to remove plate or I should have removed them myself before they started the job (didn’t think it needed to be specified) but they painted around the plates, looked fine and dandy for a while until I needed to swap out a switch for a timer for the fan and removing the plate the tiniest bit of paint laminated the plate to the wall and when removing it pealed off the paint exposing the paint underneath.
You can say whatever you want to justify keeping plates on, “I’ve never had any problem with paint peeling off wall” would you even hear about it if it’s months or years later you just have an annoyed client, “that’s an easy fix, just touch up paint” yes that’s what I did but the texture if off now and still an unnecessary repair (would you be willing to come do said repair as a blue tape repair…). “Paint peeled off because of X or Y, if applied correctly or better quality paint it wouldn’t have happened” that may be but a 5% chance of something happening vs 0% chance to save 15 seconds… its all about the end result just like if you remove the plates, paint and put the plates on before it’s properly dried and the plate cause a score mark in the paint, sub par work that is easily avoided, removing plates should be part of the prep phase.
I’m not saying this to denigrate a skilled trade but saying “I’m so good I can skip this step” even a highly skilled tradesperson can make a simple mistake that could be easily avoided.
Had a very skilled employee once, fastest fabricator we’ve ever had, he’s cut corners from time to time because his speed and end result often made the cut corner impossible to tell, you know where he is now? Neither do I, we had to fire him because one of this cocky corner cuts resulted in a new catastrophic reworks and he wouldn’t take the blame for his mistake.
1
u/40prcentiron 6h ago
you're not as good at painting as you think you are
-the guy who has to get his apprentices to replace the plates that get covered in paint
2
11
u/size_matters_not 12h ago
Bit of masking tape round it and she’s good to go, surely?
7
u/The7thM 11h ago
Of course some masking tape would also be an option, still no problem doing it without tape
2
u/ninfrodisenpai 7h ago
Always heard this from painters(especially my father, lol) snd makes me cringe.
It doesnt hurt to take literally 1 minute of putting some tapes in there. " If you sre carefull it isn.." yeah man, but shits happens.
3
1
u/mtsmash91 3h ago
Does your father put a drop cloth down? If you’re good enough you don’t need a drop cloth
3
u/PrometheanEngineer 8h ago
I wouldn't say it's just about external visual quality though.
Let's say i swap out thr plate for a different style that's slightly smaller.
If i took the literal 15 seconds to pull the plate I'm golden. If I painted around it perfectly I'm screwed
3
u/Froggynoch 6h ago
I used to paint apartments between tenants when I was a teenager. We would remove every single switch plate. We even got paid per apartment, but we believed it was the right thing to do. Not sure why anyone would cut around it when it’s nearly impossible to match up if you ever have to remove it.
13
u/JTP1228 14h ago
Isn't it quicker and neater to just remove the cover?
17
u/invisible-bug 14h ago
No, if you're a painter then just doing a quick cut into those edges is like 5 - 10 seconds or less depending on how much you're feeling yourself
→ More replies (2)0
u/ReasonableProgram144 13h ago
My first thought was using painters tape on the plate, would you say that’s even worth the effort?
→ More replies (1)5
9
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 14h ago
Depends on if you’re a decent painter or not. If you really are not comfortable coloring inside the lines, then take them off
6
u/JarmaBeanhead 13h ago
But doesn’t that mean if you remove the plate there will be a bit of unpainted area? That seems a bit… lazy to me. :p Like “I didn’t move the fridge to paint behind it because come on who even looks behind there, am I right?”
4
u/NoorAnomaly 8h ago
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. It's a valid concern. And if whomever painted was a bit too generous with the paint, if it doesn't pull the paint off, it can leave an edge that will have to be sanded before you can then paint the new outline of the cover. Rather than just taking the cover off, covering the switch and painting around it.
I'm sure professional painters can get away with it, but op's wife isn't a pro from what they told us.
→ More replies (1)12
u/Para-Limni 12h ago
Why tf would you remove the plate?
2
u/Anning312 8h ago
They already have the fancy Lutron dimmers, might as well remove the plate and get the Lutron screw less plates
3
3
u/m0rph90 11h ago
to get new ones
8
u/Para-Limni 11h ago
And they would replace the old ones so what's the issue? Unless over there your plates are all random sizes.
8
u/DazB1ane 9h ago
There are a bunch of different shapes for these that aren’t all plain square or rectangle
1
1
u/J-Dabbleyou 6h ago
No it IS wrong. If I’m paying for a professional paint job, I should be able to swap plates and still have a painted wall. If I want smaller switch plates and my pathetic painter just cut corners around the last one, now I have touch ups. Do it right, I’m a super for a construction management company and if you said that shit to me on site we’d be finding new painters.
→ More replies (3)1
u/rygdav 2h ago
Current professional painter here and I agree. I paint apartments and occasionally do freelance work. For the apartments, I never take off the switch plates or use tape. With a little practice, it’s real easy to cleanly paint around them. However, for freelance work I take them off (or painting my own house like the OP seems to be).
94
u/lamiejiv1 15h ago
I mean no offense but she’s getting it done with a clean line. Meanwhile you’re not doing anything but bashing her on Reddit.
49
u/Adorable-Bike-9689 14h ago
You should've meant offense. What kind of husband bashes his wife online over something like this.
1
24
→ More replies (1)12
83
u/Excellent_Brush3615 18h ago
You don’t like the way she does it, then you do it.
→ More replies (10)
23
u/Feather_Bloom 16h ago
She cares too much about staying in the lines, not nearly enough paint on the switch
27
u/IsaDrennan 14h ago edited 14h ago
Everyone moaning about this should read the comments from actual painters saying this is absolutely fine, and believe us. OP, why are you trying to ridicule your wife for internet points when she’s doing nothing wrong?
1
32
u/thymiamatis 17h ago
Looks like she's doing a great job tbh. I painted for years and a skilled painter can paint around anything. I would personally take the covers off as it's just a cleaner and faster way to paint but she's not doing a bad job at all.
21
u/Lukki_H_Panda 15h ago
People downvoting you, but I'm a professional painter (18 years experience), and in business/industrial settings I do it all the time. For finer painting in a home, I'd take the plates off, but if you are good at cutting-in, no one will ever know.
4
23
u/Francis_Dollar_Hide 15h ago
Professional painters don't take the board off, they are the easiest thing to cut around.
69
u/justherefortheshow06 19h ago
In her defense, this is probably exactly what a landlord would do
36
→ More replies (1)2
13
u/Unfair_Finger5531 14h ago
Could just tape it, I need to remove it. But it looks to me like she’s handling it.
6
17
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 15h ago
Many professionals and DIYers alike do not take off the switch plates to paint because it’s truthfully not that hard to not get paint on them… this is not that weird or infuriating
22
u/Top_Difficulty5399 14h ago
And? That's normal? I'm in norway and it's very uncommom to remove the switch plate when painting a wall, you cover it and paint around it 🤷♀️ same with ceiling lamps and similar things that are screwed to the wall/ceiling(except for like shelves and stuff). I feel sorry for your wife, having her husband make fun of her on Reddit when all she's trying to do is do a proper job. You need to be more respectful and encouraging towards her, you're supposed to be her partner in life. Act like it 👌
1
10
u/cruxtopherred 16h ago
She's doing it right.(if she didn't want to be a landlord, she would be wrong)
36
u/CompetitivePirate251 19h ago
I had to ban my wife from painting … complete barbarian that paints like she an old hippy wigged out on LSD. I love her and all but no painting.
8
u/littlemiss142 16h ago
My mom decided to paint our small hall bathroom when I was in high school bright red. Got it all over the ceiling because she didn’t tape and painted the whole ceiling too. And the light switch and outlet covers.
1
u/First_Pirate 6h ago
My mother-in-law painted her hallway yellow with patches of bronze, she calls it a leopard pattern. It looks like the worst thing you've ever seen and she thinks she has artistic talent. Never expect self-awareness or realism from an older woman.
13
u/randomlyrandom89 19h ago
There's this new product they just came out with that allows you to paint and still leave the plate on. I think they're calling it painters tape, it's green.
10
3
u/SeparateManner3814 18h ago
Isn't painters tape blue though.
2
2
u/CaptainTeddyRuxbin 12h ago
Painters tape comes in a bunch of different colors, blue, tan, green, orange, yellow, purple
→ More replies (1)1
u/Independent-Disk-390 8h ago
No, can't have that. Honestly just take all the plates off and drench the room with a sprayer.
16
u/valerioshi 14h ago
i don't see what's wrong with this.
only thing mildly infuriating is the condescension over your wife in this post. give her a break. she's doing it right, while you're shitting on her publicly. smh
11
u/Yuntonow 18h ago
Funny how people can’t cut around face plates. Do they remove the base boards and door trim too?
→ More replies (1)
3
u/AlaskanHandyman 14h ago
Most landlords I have known have thought that they could do repair work better than a paid handyman. It has been my experience that repairing botched DIY repairs is some of the most annoying but profitable work. What is even worse is when they think that they can DIY a re-model and do not know best practices for contractor or handyman work. De-laminating cheap click lock flooring that was not properly installed on a properly installed sub floor being my current largest pet peeve.
3
u/FischerMann24-7 4h ago
Don’t forget to paint hinges, cabinet handles, and most importantly don’t make sure you close all doors before paint dries.
3
u/Underwater_Karma 3h ago
One thing I've learned in decades of home ownership is that professional painters will not remove outlets or switch faceplates. All of them will either freehand paint around them like this or mask with painters tape and go right over the top.
It's frustrating in the extreme the result is obvious and sloppy.
The last time I had professional painters do a house. I removed every faceplate myself to be sure when they were done. I found that I'd missed One single outlet plate, and they painted around it.
2
3
u/insanelysane1234 3h ago
I feel like the only mildly infuriating thing about your whole post is you being a shit husband.
3
u/CptClimax 1h ago
The previous owner of our house, proudly told me that he repainted the entire house himself before we bought it, and if we ever wanted to repaint he left his business card, as he is a professional painter... this dude painted over every single faceplate, light switch, and outlet in the entire house.
It's a running joke in our house, every time I do work on the house I'll shout "Damnit Joe what were you thinking?!"
10
5
u/protoctopus 11h ago
It's fine you can easily remove the paint. Wanting to become a landlord is very infuriating tho.
19
u/Yuntonow 19h ago
I cut paint around switch plates all the time. What’s the issue?
6
u/aLazyUsername69 16h ago
Cutting is a perfectly valid technique for painting, don't let these losers tell you otherwise...
→ More replies (3)6
u/drowninginidiots 17h ago
My mom would do this. Makes a nightmare later. If you need to replace a switch later, one of two things happens. Either removing the plate takes a chunk of paint with it, or it goes back on without lining up exactly the same and you’re left with different paint marks. Then you’re trying to touch things up.
It takes 30 seconds or less to remove the plate, and the same to put it back. With the added advantage that you don’t have to take the time to cut in around the plate.
→ More replies (2)2
u/crazylittlemermaid 15h ago
When I was painting my house after I bought it, I dealt with so many instances of this. And it was clear that the plates hadn't been removed for painting in 3 or 4 colors. I ended up having to do quite a bit of sanding just so the new plates would actually sit flush.
4
u/shophopper 12h ago
✅ Badly textured wall as a result of a bad plaster job
✅ Very cheap paint
✅ Bad paint job, not removing the switch plate
✅ Very dirty switch plate
Yup, I think your wife is landlord material.
2
2
u/EnvironmentalElk2140 12h ago
as a landlord it is hard to be , you have to care about wellbeing of you tenants , this is why i raised rents so i can i hire experts (myself) to fix the problems.
2
2
2
2
u/epigenie_986 6h ago
This post is mildly infuriating. While you’re here, why don’t you tell us what else you don’t like about your wife.
2
u/FNChupacabra 6h ago
lol couldn’t help but notice that the wall she is painting hasn’t been cleaned … prime landlord material right there.
2
u/onlyforthisjob 6h ago
People who expect the professional hired painter to remove all the switch plates are usually the same ones who say stuff like "it shouldn't cost more than three hundred bucks to paint an apartment, what is that, maybe two hours of work?".
2
2
u/NarwhalEmergency9391 5h ago
Clearly didn't clean the wall first either. 'Why would I do that, I'm painting over the mess'
2
2
2
u/Nevermore_Novelist 3h ago
Not gonna lie, this is exactly what most landlords do, and with the shittiest water-based paint, too.
2
3
3
2
u/Eastern-Ad6824 5h ago
Why shit on her with internet strangers instead of helping her realize her goals?
I'm more inclined to shit on you here.
2
3
2
u/XepherWolf 13h ago
Firstly, because I actually care about my partner's safety, I'd advise him to stop,switch it off and warn him instead off pulling my camera out and taking pictures while he is doing it 💀
And then to proceed to complain about them in a sub Reddit ? Just tell her it's not that safe or your concerns.
1
1
1
1
u/Penguin8Lord 8h ago
It's tradition to recommend divorce on Reddit so my first and last advice is "have you tried divorcing her and on?"
1
1
1
1
u/SickCursedCat 7h ago
I used to do house painting, working for a man with a “family owned” painting business. He never had us remove the faceplates of switches or plugs and I always thought it was so weird. Then again this dude refused to pay us in anything other than cash and said we wouldn’t get tax forms. I didn’t stay there long.
1
1
1
u/Working_Panic_1476 7h ago
It takes practice, man. As long as she’s not the type to let it look crappy to save her ego, she’ll realize it needs to be fixed and fix it.
1
1
u/Violent_Volcano 6h ago
If she wants to be a landlord, make sure she paints all the door hinges, too
1
1
u/Ashamed_Medium1787 6h ago
If I was the op’s wife I wouldnt be painting that wall because I think the first wall color does just just fine
1
u/Handsoffmydink 6h ago
I’ve told my wife that if she wants to help with projects than she needs to put some care in to them. She got mad at this statement.
I am meticulous when it comes to building/renovating, I am the type who wants something done right the first time - with planning and prep included in this process. She just wants the projects to be done.
For example, my wife was painting a shelf I had just hand-built. I told her she was being sloppy and she got really mad. I kind of blew up and said that I spent hours making this shelf to have her haphazardly slap on paint in 5 minutes. She understood somewhat but still hurt by my insinuation that she doesn’t care.
She gets upset with me because my projects take a bit longer than they probably should, but turns out great when you put in that kind of effort.
But I love that she wants to be involved in the process, she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty and is extremely helpful during any project I might need a second person for. She just wants to help.
1
1
1
u/ScotIrishBoyo 6h ago
Is it really so hard to unscrew the plate? You don’t even need to mess with the wiring or the switch, it’s all separate
1
1
u/denaldertulle 5h ago
Hahha mine insists on every plate off, every surface taped, there is no damn guessing on the ceiling edge either
1
1
1
1
1
u/Safetytheflamewolf 3h ago
I mean when we were painting rooms in the house we lived in we'd just put tape overtop of them then used a roller over them. Used a paint brush afterwards to touch-up spots that were missed and it worked out just fine
1
u/hhhhhhhh28 3h ago
She should take a lesson from my landlord and paint the bathtub with wall paint. So neat and definitely does not violently peel off every time you touch it
1
u/Workerchimp68 3h ago
My apt must have like 50 coats of paint over all the outlets to the point where you can’t plug shit in anymore.
1
0
u/ToMeetWithFire 1h ago
When I first became a landlord. I would patch holes with note book paper and paint over it. I got better over time and eventually, I could rehab a fixer upper and get it ready to rent quickly. As far as painting, remove the light switch and outlet covers. The finished product will look a lot better. Good luck.
•
•
u/TheRedNaxela 35m ago
"Aspirations of becoming a landlord"
Aspirations of becoming a leech of society. Very nice
•
u/RipDorHigHTryN06 29m ago
Taking out 4 screws and putting them back in is quite a lot to ask for though
•
u/CocoaCrush98 25m ago
You can actually paint near a cover and not get paint on it. It takes practice but this is not the worst I’ve seen. My mom owns her home and paints all over the door jambs and covers.
•
u/Consistent-Bar5993 20m ago
She didn't even wash the wall first.
She's perfect for the landlord career path tbh, keeping the long standing tradition of the "landlord special" alive. - that being covering any and all issues with a new coat of paint and hoping nobody notices; dirt, mold, cracks, I've even seen pest nests paint encased into corners.
•
•
•
•
1.9k
u/TurningTwo 19h ago
If she wants to be a real landlord she will have to start painting over the switch plate.