Painting and decorating costs

[sc0tt]

Good Morning all

Moving soon and I would like to get a painter\decorator into the property to do a few rooms. Mainly bedrooms.

How much should we budget for a decorator to make good walls, wallpaper a single wall, paint doors, ceilings and skirting. Example for a 10" x 10" room.

We are based in Essex.

Thanks

[steveo3002]

friend just paid £160 a day plus materials if thats any help, also in essex

[sc0tt]

steveo3002 said:

friend just paid £160 a day plus materials if thats any help, also in essex

Good to know thanks Steve.

[Jaguar steve]

I used to decorate around mid Essex.

I'd rarely quote clients a day rate as it's often impossible to actually do a exact 8 hour day taking drying times into consideration especially on smaller jobs and if you buggered off at lunchtime they'd not be happy.

Instead I'd offer a fixed price quote for the work that usually for a smaller room - second bedroom, smaller dining room or study for example - with woodwork and walls in reasonable condition, a feature wall in either wallpaper or paint and without needing a lot of prep work and making good would come in at around £350/400 plus materials.

If you get organized you can run two smaller jobs like that side to side and get both finished in a reasonably easy week - which comes out at £160 a day.

[Classy6]

My mate just had one wall wallpapered using a floral paper - wanted it all lined up neatly etc. Wall width about 4.5m and 2.x standard ceiling height, had a fireplace in middle of the wall. We had already stripped old paper off wall, sanded and filled. He supplied the paper.

Decorator quoted £140. Thought it was a bit steep myself but assume that was her day rate and it wasn't worth coming and doing the job for less? In West Midlands.

[sc0tt]

Thank you for the responses. I factored around £400 as whilst waiting for one drying etc the second could be started on.

I did do all the decoration in the previous house but I just want a good quality finish. That and I did knock over 10L of magnolia on the hall/stair carpet.

[Jaguar steve]

Try negotiating a better price by asking for two or three rooms are done at once rather than one after another.

Experienced decorators know there's a huge amount of time to be saved by working the same tasks across two or three rooms at a time rather than completely finishing one room then starting all over again on the next one.

Whereabouts in Essex are you? I can ask around some old contacts and probably find a couple of numbers for competent and reliable brush draggers if you're in the Chelmsford area or up towards the north of the county.

[Alucidnation]

£140 too expensive?

fking hell.

People really do still want something for nothing.

[Jaguar steve]

Alucidnation said:

£140 too expensive?

fking hell.

People really do still want something for nothing.

Most people have absolutely no idea 'tho.

Show exactly the same decorating job to 10 different people and ask each one how much they'd be prepared to pay for it and you'll have wildly varying answers. I'd usually get about half the jobs I'd quote for exactly because of this, some clients thought I was very reasonable and booked the work the moment they got the quote and others though I was way too expensive and the job wouldn't get done .

Available soon. Excellent work. Reasonably priced. You'll only ever get two out of those three virtues with any decent decorator.

[sc0tt]

Alucidnation said:

£140 too expensive?

fking hell.

People really do still want something for nothing.

I would agree, whilst £140 would see expensive to wallpaper a wall, it’s a skill I don’t possess and an entire days work. I think that’s pretty reasonable.

I may ask for the third bedroom to be done. I reckon that’s a weeks work, maybe 4 days for 3 rooms.

[MellowshipSlinky]

Alucidnation said:

£140 too expensive?

fking hell.

People really do still want something for nothing.

Apparently, if you can piss you can paint.

[markbigears]

That’s what my plaster recently said to me! Come on, it’s not hard, is it.

[Sheepshanks]

sc0tt said:

I would agree, whilst £140 would see expensive to wallpaper a wall, it’s a skill I don’t possess and an entire days work. I think that’s pretty reasonable.

The £140 job mentioned above was a pretty big wall - esp the 2x normal height.

We had a bedroom wall done as the paper was expensive and we didn't fancy doing it ourselves - decorator popped over on a Sunday and was in and out in 1.5 hrs. He asked for £30 and wouldn't take any more than £50 - and he supplied the (solid) paste. Job is amazing - it's really tough to find the joins. When we do it, about a third of it comes out like that.

[MoelyCrio]

Just paid £1100 for one room which I thought was excessive, but....

4m x 4m and 8ft ceilings. Made good, lined and painted, including thermal paper on external walls. Took him 5 days and there is no chance I could have done it.

[Leroy902]

MoelyCrio said:

Just paid £1100 for one room which I thought was excessive, but....

4m x 4m and 8ft ceilings. Made good, lined and painted, including thermal paper on external walls. Took him 5 days and there is no chance I could have done it.

Was that Wayne Rooney doing a cash in hand job midweek!? That is pretty expensive

[Classy6]

Sheepshanks said:

The £140 job mentioned above was a pretty big wall - esp the 2x normal height.

We had a bedroom wall done as the paper was expensive and we didn't fancy doing it ourselves - decorator popped over on a Sunday and was in and out in 1.5 hrs. He asked for £30 and wouldn't take any more than £50 - and he supplied the (solid) paste. Job is amazing - it's really tough to find the joins. When we do it, about a third of it comes out like that.

Just to clarify, it was a standard ceiling height at 2m something.

[bakerstreet]

We just oaid £575 to have walls and ceiling stripped of paper and all repainted. That included base coat and the white for the ceilings and woodwork.

Think he was there four days. First time in 10 years that we have used a decorator and I'm really pleased with the results.

Don't understand why people can't quote for a job and rely on day rates because of drying time. This chap managed it. He was here at 8 and left at 4 every day.

[iphonedyou]

bakerstreet said:

We just oaid £575 to have walls and ceiling stripped of paper and all repainted. That included base coat and the white for the ceilings and woodwork.

Think he was there four days. First time in 10 years that we have used a decorator and I'm really pleased with the results.

Don't understand why people can't quote for a job and rely on day rates because of drying time. This chap managed it. He was here at 8 and left at 4 every day.

The gent we use is on day rates and is bloody brilliant. Faultless.

[MellowshipSlinky]

bakerstreet said:

We just oaid £575 to have walls and ceiling stripped of paper and all repainted. That included base coat and the white for the ceilings and woodwork.

Think he was there four days. First time in 10 years that we have used a decorator and I'm really pleased with the results.

Don't understand why people can't quote for a job and rely on day rates because of drying time. This chap managed it. He was here at 8 and left at 4 every day.

Kind of agree in what you say re drying time etc, however in this age of using water based paints at this time of year...

Single glazed timber windows - full of condensation when you get on the job in the morning and totally unable to take any paint.
You dry them off but they’re never dry enough, you have them open to help dry them which means the cold air is now in the room and the filler / paint on the walls won’t dry...and you’re now freezing your bks off and Mrs Jones thinks as you’ve got the windows open she may as well turn the heating off...

Then, by the time the windows are dry enough to give a coat it’s late afternoon and the temperature is dropping outside, so if you paint them now you can’t shut them...and if you *could* shut them they’ll condensate up again before the paints fully dry and fk up what you’ve just done...

It’s a vicious circle, the life of a decorator.