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Painting quote.. is this reasonable???

79 replies

newoldhome · 03/12/2024 11:00

I have moved into a small house. I had someone come round to do a quote to paint the living room, stairs, landing, one double bedroom and one small box room.

The rooms are small. The living room is fairly small. The whole house is 600sqft

The guy has quoted me £2,000 (not including materials) and said it will take him 12 days to do.
12 days??? I thought it would be 5 days MAX.

I said I didn't anticipate that length of time. So he said if I want he will just do the living room so it's done before Christmas which will take him 4 days and will be £720.

I feel absolutely baffled by this. I'm new to this so just wanted to check if this seems right. I'm in the northwest.

OP posts:
LigamentBandy · 03/12/2024 12:58

My hall stairs and landing not massive, but high ceilings was over a £1100 over 7 years ago took more than week to do ( can't remember exactly how long )
As a side note I do not recommend Valspar paint it stinks like fish and it terrible for colour saturation
So I don't think that quote is high but ask around for other options, good painting is a skill

Didimum · 03/12/2024 12:58

Sounds completely reasonable. I recently had hallway, stairs and landing done, including ceilings, woodwork (12 doors, skirting, picture rail), which came to £2.5k, including materials. That was 14 days. I was home during the work and they all worked incredibly hard.

cantarguewithfools · 03/12/2024 12:56

Quote sounds reasonable but the timeframe is too long. Is it just him painting by himself? Maybe look for a company who can send out a few guys. I got my kitchen, living room, hall and two bedrooms painted recently (no ceilings or woodwork though) and it took 4 days with one painter who was never here before 9 or past 3.

Siriusmuggle · 03/12/2024 12:53

That day rate is spot on. So much of decorating is preparation.

Missamyp · 03/12/2024 12:51

SabreIsMyFave · 03/12/2024 11:46

Get more quotes @newoldhome that is easily DOUBLE what it should be. They're trying to fleece you.

Are you a woman alone? I'm not saying women are daft - but some tradesmen like this will assume women know fuck all about anything, and will ramp up the costs.

I got 2 such men around in the summer to get a price to supply and fit 2 fence panels, and 3 fence posts. £900 - and £800. I was like Shock

Got a third one in - local lad. Did it for £285. Where the fuck did the other 2 get their prices from?! Hmm

I'm married btw, but was presenting as alone - as it was just me ringing and seeing the men when they came.

I disagree that the original poster has unrealistic time and cost expectations. No painter doing the job correctly would take five days to prep and paint what is essentially a full house alone.

12 days is nearly 2.5 working weeks after costs, tax and NI that's nearly £100 per day profit for a business.
Thats poor.

mrswilfred · 03/12/2024 12:50

Definitely get more quotes.
We were quoted between £1.2k - £5.5k for the same job!

imjusthereforAIBU · 03/12/2024 12:49

We paid just a bit less than £300 for our hallway to be painted upstairs and downstairs. Took 2 days and we supplied all paint. So given that yours is 2 x the time and includes the paint, it seems about right?

Hiiteex · 03/12/2024 12:40

If they do all the woodwork etc then it’s reasonable. Daily rate of £150 plus is usual now. The scrubbing of skirting boards and walls etc can take up a lot of time.

HannahinHampshire · 03/12/2024 12:39

I paid £3500 to have my whole house painted this year - HSL/sitting room/2 bedrooms/kitchen/bathroom/downstairs loo. That was everything - all prep/materials/labour. And to me it was worth every penny, he did a fantastic job!

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 03/12/2024 12:37

Sounds about right to dead reasonable if they are prepping [filling and sanding walls and woodwork] properly and giving each room at least two coats of paint.

I would ask for references so you can call and see if people are happy with the finish. I've had two painters who charged the same but the first took shortcuts everywhere and it hasn't lasted.

Breadcat24 · 03/12/2024 12:32

It depends on what prep they need to do. Are you just wanting to paint over plastered walls? Or are they having to strip wallpaper or lining paper? Are there cracks? Are they having to change the colour radically- dark to light? Is there fancy coving in the ceiling?

If it is a basic freshen up of paint on plaster - it normally takes me about 6 hours to wash the walls, lightly sand the woodwork and then do 2 coats of emulsion and one primer and gloss/ eggshell on the wood

TheYearOfSmallThings · 03/12/2024 12:32

allthatfalafel · 03/12/2024 12:31

no point asking for pics these days, they just get them from professional painter FB groups so you can't reverse search.

True!

allthatfalafel · 03/12/2024 12:31

TheYearOfSmallThings · 03/12/2024 12:30

Get more quotes, but also be very specific about what is included. Are they moving furniture? What state are the walls, ceilings and woodwork currently in? What prep will they be doing?

I would not assume they will do it right unless they tell you exactly what needs doing. Anyone can set up as a painter and slap some paint about - ask for pictures of previous jobs.

no point asking for pics these days, they just get them from professional painter FB groups so you can't reverse search.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 03/12/2024 12:30

Get more quotes, but also be very specific about what is included. Are they moving furniture? What state are the walls, ceilings and woodwork currently in? What prep will they be doing?

I would not assume they will do it right unless they tell you exactly what needs doing. Anyone can set up as a painter and slap some paint about - ask for pictures of previous jobs.

allthatfalafel · 03/12/2024 12:30

12 days is too long for the work and size of house involved, I imagine they won't be full days you're paying for and he will have multiple jobs on.

We're paying about that for less size-wise as we're not getting every room done, but it includes materials and they think it will take about 4 days for 2 of them to do.

lavendarwillow · 03/12/2024 12:28

Do people ever question accountants or solicitors or other such professions? No they don't.

Like others have said, that's actually a very reasonable day rate.

TotallyTwisted · 03/12/2024 12:27

It sounds about right to me. But painting is pretty easy to do yourself.

Catza · 03/12/2024 12:25

It sounds correct. The prep work alone would probably take a couple of days. All the marks and dents filled, left to dry and sanded off. Taping up. Skirting, ceiling and walls painted on separate days as you can't tape up wet paint. Undercoat, waiting to dry... Clearing the space before painting (unless you have completely empty rooms with no furniture or carpet which also needs protecting).
Painting banisters alone is a day's work from experience.

Justwingingit2005 · 03/12/2024 12:22

DHs best mate is a decorator. We are south England. He charges £250 per day. He does 8 to 9 hrs per day. If you have white that's included in the day rate.

helpfulperson · 03/12/2024 12:20

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 03/12/2024 11:25

I always get 3 quotes. at the very least !

This is good in theory but getting tradesmen to quote these days is a challenge.

Anotherworrier · 03/12/2024 12:19

HollyBollyBooBoo · 03/12/2024 11:45

12 days to do all of that sounds totally reasonable.

Daily rate of £166 is cheap, usually £250 here in East Mids.

I agree with this!! It’s only £166 a day. I can’t imagine what you thought it would cost you?

Dutchhouse14 · 03/12/2024 12:18

We are having a professional decorator in for the first time ever to decorate our lounge 16ftx14ft, we have high ceilings, picture rail etc quote was £950,we supply paint, he supplies any filler, base coat etc (we are South East)
He says it will take 4 days incl drying time.

Treacletoots · 03/12/2024 12:17

I think it's sounds reasonable. In the east midlands we'd say £100 a wall was reasonable about 10 years ago.

Saying that, the cost of just doing it yourself, is a LOT less. Unless you physically can't, why don't you just do it yourself?

DoublePeonies · 03/12/2024 12:17

Sounds like a lot of days.
I've just gone back to the messages from when we had kitchen, diningroom and utility painted, and 2 floors of hall, handing &stairs stripped of wallpaper and repainted. 6 days work, inc gloss.

I'd get another quote.

ISeriouslyDoubtIt · 03/12/2024 12:15

Sounds about right to me if he's doing proper prep, ceilings and woodwork too. If you think it's too much why not do it yourself?
I've never paid a decorator, always do it myself because I do it properly with thorough prep and I'm extremely fussy about standards, never seen any work by any decorator that's better than I can do myself. However it takes me a long time. The thing that makes paying someone else to do it worthwhile is the time saved.

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