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My titan + 1 gallon white paint = :(

3242 Views 30 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  firulice
Went to Home Depot and picked up 5 gallons of paint and some supplies with the girlfriend the other day to do some work on our deck.

We get home and discover that on one of the 5 gallon cans, the paint department guy didn't put the lid on correctly, and that can happened to tip over in the bed of my truck. An entire gallon of white paint poured out all over my bed liner, splashed backwards and sloshed up the front of the bed and up my back window, then washed backwards out and under the tailgate, and poured all over my bumper. The wind then slung it under my bumper and all over one of my rear tires, which spun it all up the underside of the truck and into my wheelwell.

It was a monumental mess, all from one can of paint. We got home, and being that it was water based latex paint, I immediately got the hose and started blasting off as much as I could. Once I'd washed out as much as possible, we called HD and spoke to the manager. He said bring it back in and talk to the paint specialist. When we talked to him, he apologized profusely and gave us a bottle of Krud Cutter cleaner and a scrub brush. We spent the next 5 hours of our Saturday afternoon on our hands and knees in the bed of the truck spraying and scrubbing and even pressurewashing. We got a good bit out, but none of it came completely out, and there's still a huge permanent mess that looks like crap.

We called HD back and spoke to the manager, and he said to give him all our information and he'd file a claim with his insurance. He didn't know what would happen after that, and said he couldn't guarantee anything. We said we understood, and made it clear to him that we didn't care about money out of this so much as we just wanted our beautiful truck clean again like it was, and if he could get that taken care of somehow, there was no need to file with insurance. He didn't really have a response, and said an adjuster would be in touch.

The adjuster called, and we sent her the digital pictures we took of the whole ordeal, and she said to go get two quotes. I got one at a private body and paint shop today ($1200), and will go to the dealer on thursday for their quote.

I still have a feeling that it's quite possible that Home Depot's insurance will see the amount for the quotes and tell me "sorry, you didn't properly secure your load, it's your fault".

I'm not out to screw anyone, but I do feel like a paint can shouldn't pour out a gallon of paint just because it tips over. Oh well. This sucks. We'll see what insurance says.
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That DOES suck! Wow! Hope they make it right for you. I think it's pretty upstanding of you not to ask for more than a clean truck. And I would think they should feel likewise. hopefully they don't hose you. Good luck!
Sorry to hear about the pain flying incident. In my mind I could see it all happening as I read your description.

Keep a positive attitude, Home Depot being such a large company you might be surprised what they come back with.
Yuck. I hope they make it right for you.
Good luck and sorry to hear.

At least they told you to get quotes, I'm sure they will make it right. There's a reason why they have insurance.
I'm going through something like this with ACME. I went in to dump 400 bucks for groceries and came out to find a cart that had rolled into my truck @ the passenger's side bed.. it's a small ding and scratch but noticable for sure. Still waiting to hear.... not holding breath.

The part that pissed me off was the cart guy, as special as he was, came over while i was on the phone with my dad getting the "what should i do pop" reassurance call, decided to come over and profess that he didn't see the damage... sure pal, it's your fault this cart is damaging my property, of course YOU don't see it...

hope it works out for you, HD should man up..
Wow that sounds like a huge mess. I'm assuming the latex paint came right off the body panels but the undersides is where it would stick like glue on.

Try calling a pro detail shop to see what they can do as well to remove the latex paint. The good ones already offer services to remove paint overspray so this is close to the same lines.
Same thing happened to me with green piant and2-3 gallons of it. I saw green paint splash up and cover my bed and I drove home and got the garden hose to dilute the paint. It took me a couple of hours to hose everything off but I got it. The latex washed off nicely..
Same **** happened to me with oil based outdoor concrete paint...
ZeroPt99 said:
Went to Home Depot and picked up 5 gallons of paint and some supplies with the girlfriend the other day to do some work on our deck.

We get home and discover that on one of the 5 gallon cans, the paint department guy didn't put the lid on correctly, and that can happened to tip over in the bed of my truck. An entire gallon of white paint poured out all over my bed liner, splashed backwards and sloshed up the front of the bed and up my back window, then washed backwards out and under the tailgate, and poured all over my bumper. The wind then slung it under my bumper and all over one of my rear tires, which spun it all up the underside of the truck and into my wheelwell.

It was a monumental mess, all from one can of paint. We got home, and being that it was water based latex paint, I immediately got the hose and started blasting off as much as I could. Once I'd washed out as much as possible, we called HD and spoke to the manager. He said bring it back in and talk to the paint specialist. When we talked to him, he apologized profusely and gave us a bottle of Krud Cutter cleaner and a scrub brush. We spent the next 5 hours of our Saturday afternoon on our hands and knees in the bed of the truck spraying and scrubbing and even pressurewashing. We got a good bit out, but none of it came completely out, and there's still a huge permanent mess that looks like crap.

We called HD back and spoke to the manager, and he said to give him all our information and he'd file a claim with his insurance. He didn't know what would happen after that, and said he couldn't guarantee anything. We said we understood, and made it clear to him that we didn't care about money out of this so much as we just wanted our beautiful truck clean again like it was, and if he could get that taken care of somehow, there was no need to file with insurance. He didn't really have a response, and said an adjuster would be in touch.

The adjuster called, and we sent her the digital pictures we took of the whole ordeal, and she said to go get two quotes. I got one at a private body and paint shop today ($1200), and will go to the dealer on thursday for their quote.

I still have a feeling that it's quite possible that Home Depot's insurance will see the amount for the quotes and tell me "sorry, you didn't properly secure your load, it's your fault".

I'm not out to screw anyone, but I do feel like a paint can shouldn't pour out a gallon of paint just because it tips over. Oh well. This sucks. We'll see what insurance says.

I think a quick trip to a car wash bay with a high pressure washer would have taken care of most of it if it was latex based.
odd how the only can with a loose lid tipped over? whenever I haul paint, I strap it into the corner using some bungees. better safe than sorry.
Keep on top of Home Depot to make sure they don't drag their feet. You don't by chance pay for PrePaid Legal services do you? I work w/ Primerica, and one of our products is the "Primerica Legal Protection Program" (offered thru PrePaid Legal). It's awesome, my wife and I got ripped on a crappy hotel and they didn't want to pay up. So we called our lawyers and they wrote some letters... few days later... apology and a check for $70.91 to reimburse us for the room. We get full access to lawyers to help us out when we're getting screwed... for only $25 a month!

Anyhow, I hate Home Depot anyways. We bought some pre-built picket fencing that was supposed to be cedar. When we picked up the panels, they were actually pine. The manager was trying to tell us they were not as red as the others b/c they must have been on the top of the stack at the warehouse and got more sun. HA! Good luck!!
harrolldean said:
Keep on top of Home Depot to make sure they don't drag their feet. You don't by chance pay for PrePaid Legal services do you? I work w/ Primerica, and one of our products is the "Primerica Legal Protection Program" (offered thru PrePaid Legal). It's awesome, my wife and I got ripped on a crappy hotel and they didn't want to pay up. So we called our lawyers and they wrote some letters... few days later... apology and a check for $70.91 to reimburse us for the room. We get full access to lawyers to help us out when we're getting screwed... for only $25 a month!

Anyhow, I hate Home Depot anyways. We bought some pre-built picket fencing that was supposed to be cedar. When we picked up the panels, they were actually pine. The manager was trying to tell us they were not as red as the others b/c they must have been on the top of the stack at the warehouse and got more sun. HA! Good luck!!
LMAO...$25 a month? What are you?....sue happy?
laquer thinner or mineral spirits will clean it up orr the paint just don't get it on the plastics it dries them out. I was skeptical but it worked for me. heard it from a detailer. Latex can be power washed from the liner I'm willing to bet and a clay bar job would probably do nice for the plastics. as far as the undercarage fuggit.
I'll try and hit all of these at once here. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the plastic bedliner, I'm talking about the spray in kind.

FourDoor said:
Wow that sounds like a huge mess. I'm assuming the latex paint came right off the body panels but the undersides is where it would stick like glue on.
Yeah, places like the chrome of the bumper and the factory painted body panels, it came off with relatively no problem.

FourDoor said:
Try calling a pro detail shop to see what they can do as well to remove the latex paint. The good ones already offer services to remove paint overspray so this is close to the same lines.
I did, but unfortunately by the time I realized I was over my head with removing the paint, it was 4:56pm on a saturday, and the professional detailing places were closed. I did call a few.

AF-Medic said:
Same thing happened to me with green piant and2-3 gallons of it. ... It took me a couple of hours to hose everything off but I got it. The latex washed off nicely..
Do you have the drop in plastic bedliner? I have no doubt it would have come off a smooth surface like that. This was one time I was actually wishing I had one. I have the spray in bedliner, and it's a totally different surface.

HudsonValleyTitan said:
I think a quick trip to a car wash bay with a high pressure washer would have taken care of most of it if it was latex based.
I tried that. In fact, I pumped $10 of quarters in using their pressure washer holding it right up to the bedliner, to no avail. Then, I went home and borrowed the neighbors (even stronger) pressure washer. Neither of them made much difference.

Just-in said:
laquer thinner or mineral spirits will clean it up orr the paint just don't get it on the plastics it dries them out. I was skeptical but it worked for me. heard it from a detailer. Latex can be power washed from the liner I'm willing to bet and a clay bar job would probably do nice for the plastics. as far as the undercarage fuggit.
You'd be amazed. We tried everything. The factory spray-in bedliner is like a super sponge. Mineral spirits work on oil based paints, but they don't do much for water based paint. This stuff is supposed to clean up with soap and water, and it did, on all smooth hard surfaces, but not on the bedliner, and the rubber and plastic trim pieces.

When I got my quote yesterday, the guy told me flat out "it's easy to get it off of the painted surfaces, but things like the rubber trim around your window, and the black plastic pieces on your bumper...you pretty much have to replace those. You might could take a harsh solvent and scrub the overspray off with a lot of elbow grease, but you're about as likely to leave bleached swirl marks as you are to get the paint off". He said paint comes off of a factory clear-coated surface easy, but the rough textured surface of the plastics and rubber make them much harder.

Edit: This isn't just paint, this is white-tinted deck stain, by the way. I have a feeling the latex material came off fine for the most part, but the pigment in the stain is what did the damage.
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HD should be no stranger to spilled paint... A few weeks ago I was in a store where somebody had dropped an entire pallet of white 5 gallon buckets... luckily, nobody got hurt, but whooooowheeeee what a mess! There was paint from the floor to the top of the racks... in every crack and crevice.

Stay on them... they should help you out...
Sorry for the mess man.

I keep a Contico plastic truck box in the bed and have either the sliding bed divider or a cargo pole (ratcheting kind) hold it in place. I use it for potentially messy stuff like paint. The hard tonneau cover keeps it from being ripped off and I can take it out easy.
"paint specialist"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry to hear about the eff up.
walleeme said:
"paint specialist"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Paint Specialist at Home Depot = the guy who's been stuck working the paint department counter the longest.
ZeroPt99 said:
Paint Specialist at Home Depot = the guy who's been stuck working the paint department counter the longest.
Been there... done that... And God forbid you actually show some hustle and do a good job.... They promote you to Department Manager and transfer all your help to other departments since "you can handle it better by yourself than those others can as a group". - Please accept my resignation starting NOW!!!!
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