Holidays are areas on a painted surface that were accidentally skipped and did not receive any paint or coating. The name is a bit of trade humour: where the painter did not work, they in effect had a “day off” — a holiday. In Dutch the same defect is called heilige dagen (holy days).
How do they happen?
Holidays are a finishing fault caused by careless or hurried work. Common causes:
- Poor lighting — while the fresh paint is wet and glossy the missed spot is invisible; only when the paint dries to a matt finish does the gap show
- Edges and corners — window corners, junctions and back faces are easily forgotten
- Too little paint on the brush or roller — the film does not close fully
- Working without a system — not working strip by strip and wet-in-wet
Preventing and fixing
- Work under raking light or with an extra lamp at an angle to the surface so matt and glossy patches stand out immediately
- Work wet-in-wet and keep a wet edge to avoid visible joins
- Check the work after drying and touch up any missed spots before the next coat
- Opaque systems usually need two coats; a single coat produces holidays sooner
Application
The term applies to all forms of painting and coating work, inside and out, including protective coatings on steel and concrete. It is a quality criterion: on handover of painting work, no holidays should be present.
Related terms
- Primer
- Wall paint types
- Paint film
- Pigment
- Enamel paint
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