What does your decorator charge?

[blushingmare]

We have a good decorator that we have used in the past, but I've just got a quote from him for a fairly large amount of decorating and I'm surprised at how much it is - certainly gone up since the last time we used him and would be interested to see how he compares.

His daily charge (just him) is £200 per day.

He's estimated it'll take about 4 weeks to do the work and has quoted an additional £200 per week for "materials" - we are supplying paint, but he says this figure includes diesel, filler, undercoat, masking tape,caulk and primer. £800 for this seems steep to me?!

We are based in Hampshire FWIW.

[MummiUni]

£110 per day in the NW

[gamerchick]

I don't charge myself anything

The dudes I know of round here charge by the room not the day. If you charge by the day you can just take your sweet time can't you?

[haggardoldwitch]

We've just had a lot of decorating done. We asked for a fixed price and invoices for all the paint & supplies.
We reckon it was about £100 per day per decorator.
SW.

[BonzoDooDah]

That seems very steep THEN adding a piss-taking materials! My friend has just had had her kitchen done, her decorator charges a flat rate £180 per room, plus materials This is the NW England.

[thejoysofboys]

NW here too. My decorator has just quoted me £300 for two decent sized rooms. The last one I used was more expensive but was around £110 per day (incl all materials except paint).

[TooTiredToBeCreative]

£160 per day, I'm in Surrey

[SoMuchForSubtlety]

We are in the SE, and our decorator charged us £130 per day. He charged for paint but not for all the other consumables (tape etc). The work was finished very recently.

Have you asked for quotes from other decorators?

[blushingmare]

Thanks all. As I suspected, he is pricey! Wanted to get an idea about whether it would be worth getting other quotes and it seems it is. Annoying because I know this guy is good and has done work for me before, but I certainly didn't pay him that rate.

[SoMuchForSubtlety]

Have you tried haggling?

[BackforGood]

I would go for some other quotes.
I actually pay mine by the hour as I've known them for years and they work really hard all the time they are here, don't stop for breaks or phone calls or anything, just get on with it, and they are also "handymen" so, as I'm paying by the hour, then I am comfortable saying ..."While you are here...." and they look at other things for me.
However - depending on length of day of course, it's just under £100 for a day, so half what you are being quoted.

[YouAreMyRain]

I think your decorator has decided that he has found his golden goose!

[Clutterbugsmum]

Mum does it for cups of Tea and sandwiches .

[blushingmare]

YouAreMyRain- you know I think you're right! We used to live in a tiny house in a grotty area and he was pretty reasonable then. We've now moved (lucky us!) to a much bigger place in a much nicer area and now his prices seem to have gone up dramatically! Coincidence?!

[OrchidFlakes]

We've had quotes at £120, £130, and £200 per day in Essex

[Madamecastafiore]

840 quid for our sitting room but that includes the paint which will be about 150 quid or thereabouts.

[sebsmummy1]

£150 a day in Cambridgeshire. We have to pay for the paint on top, not sure about what else.

[AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons]

Larger houses tend to have larger rooms, higher ceilings and more ornate and bigger woodwork. Worth taking into account re pricing.

[BumWad]

thejoysofboys is that lee room or two rooms altogether? What are you having done?

[ggirl]

OP why is he charging for diesel ?

[blushingmare]

ggirl I've no idea - he is taking the p I think! Just got another quote, which £130 a day and no mystery "materials" charge, which works out about £2000 cheaper in total! What planet is this other guy on?!

[BonzoDooDah]

Sack him then - and maybe tell him he was talking the piss so he didn't get the job. plus no recommendations either. Seriously piss-taking.

[blushingmare]

Yep Bonzo that's pretty much what I've done