Auckland House Painters BJA Painting Services Reveal Dangers of Cheap Paint

The Auckland Painting Company, BJA Painting Services has recently revealed the easily overseen dangers of using cheap paint in home renovations. The CEO and founder of BJA Painting Services, Brian Arnold spoke publicly about the paint in hopes of alerting unsuspecting homeowners and gave tips on how to avoid it.

BJA Painting Services is urging New Zealand homeowners to be aware of cheap house paint that can commonly contain high levels of lead in it.

The painting company also states that some “affordable” painting companies knowingly use the cheaper lead paint and do not tell their clients of their use.

In a bid to save money and eke more profits in the highly competitive housing market of Auckland, some paint companies will purchase bulk lots of cheap house paint from overseas vendors where regulation is less strict and use them to paint homes with.

Brian from BJA Painting Services says, “I have seen it happen with my own eyes and its disgusting. The cheap painters will pour the paint containing high levels of lead into buckets of known brands like Resene or Wattyl and pretend they are using quality paints that contain little to no lead. Owners do not know the difference until they enter the house and feel their eyes water. Even then they will not think to ask why that is.”

The sad truth of lead in paint is that’s it is simply cheaper to produce and thereby much cheaper to purchase over leading paint companies that are regulated and produce health friendly paints. According to the New York Times, “Paint with higher levels of lead often sells for a third of the cost of paint with low levels.” These cost-cutting tactics can result in health risks to kiwi families as the levels of lead found in the paint will remain even after the paint has dried fully.

Watch this short video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Asp6HNMZE.

Brian gave some advice on helping homeowners avoid lead paint being used in their homes: “One – When you are receiving quotes from local painters, be wary of quotes that are largely less than your other quotes. If a painter is using quality New Zealand made paint, he simply can’t afford to charge less as he won’t make any money after the material costs are included. Two – Have a look at the paint when the painter is using them. If the paint is from a reputable source and the bucket is fully sealed from the factory, you’ll know it’s genuine paint. Three – You can opt to supply the paint yourself, it will require more work on your part, but could save you the worry. Five – Use reputable and well established Auckland house painters.

“Just be aware of the dangers really,” Brian says. “Chances are you won’t run into this sort of thing but just like the dodgy car dealer selling lemons, it’s good to know about and remember the next time your getting some painting done.”

Paint containing lead is definitely not a new phenomenon in New Zealand building as most paints sold prior to 1965 contained dangerous levels of lead. Also, homes built in the 80’s of before could still contain lead paint in them as new coats of paint were simply applied over the top of the old paint containing lead.

Brian says, “If you believe you may have lead paint in your home, we can do a full strip back to bare wood or concrete and apply the new lead-free paint to the bare surface. That way we are removing the lead contamination and also provided the fresh paint the best surface to stick to for a lasting finish.”

On top of the health risks of using lead paint, Brian also shared that the cheaper paint is of much lower quality in comparison to a paint from Resene and it wasn’t made to withstand New Zealand conditions.

With a coastal climate and high humidity ratings year round, Auckland homes especially require more than a paint made overseas with cost-cutting techniques. They simply will not last as long or retain their qualities like a premium paint would.

BJA Painting Services has been painting Auckland homes and businesses for over 25 years. They have an Auckland-wide service area and have extensive knowledge in all forms of interior and exterior painting. More information on their painting services can be found on their website.