£1,000–£1,500 to paint a medium lounge?! Is this normal?

Exactly

Most certainly do. Lot more so than you by the sounds of it.

Are you really trying to say that you need to prime previously painted walls and woodwork each time?

The OP just wanted some white walls and shelves painted

£370! That works out at about minimum wage … for a skilled trade. You got a bargain, but a tradesman surely deserves a better wage than that, especially in the South East where the cost of living is particularly high

I live in Hertfordshire and yes the quotes can be bloody ridiculous. If you don’t fancy doing it yourself I would look into asking a good handyman to do it for you. I have a great guy who only charges £25 per hour.

What kind of bodgers are you talking about? Preparation and two coats plus any doors and window frames takes a professional.more than a day. To do everything in a day sounds like a bodge job to me. (And Cash in hand lol)

I've used professional painters for many years and have also decorated myself. Easily two days minimum. Paint isnt cheap anymore either.

If OP is that disgusted, I suggest they go out and buy some paint and do it themself.

Totally agree,I can paint and did the kitchen last time,recently had it done again professionally and the difference is like night and day 😂

There are two types of painting, and I can’t stress this enough.

The first is slapping a single coat of paint over everything and calling it a day. The second is doing the job properly: preparing surfaces, sanding, filling imperfections, priming where necessary, applying at least two coats (sometimes three, depending on the colour, coverage and type of paint), carefully painting skirting boards, coving and ceilings, protecting floors and furniture, and allowing adequate drying time between coats. Then there’s the time spent setting up, using the right equipment, cleaning brushes and rollers, and tidying up afterwards.

All of these things take time, skill and materials, and they’re what make the difference between a quick cosmetic refresh and a professional-quality finish.

Neither option is a mystery. You decide which standard you want and which you can afford. It really is that simple!

We’re paying £700 including paint for a hall, stairs and landing including 8 door frames, all skirtings, the stair edges ready for a runner to go down, making good walls and ceilings. This was just one space we couldn’t manage ourselves due to the height, we’d need raised platforms. I didn’t think that was too bad. They are also ripping the existing carpet out too. We’ve managed to paint and wallpaper the rest of the house ourselves it’s just this one space.

I’ve told my husband he should start charging for quotes. He is a heating engineer.

The amount of people that want jobs for practically nothing is ridiculous. It’s the cost of fuel to get there, his time looking and measuring. Then him later working out the costs. Then to be told, “ooo that’s a bit much” 🙄. So yeah I understand why any tradesmen would charge to quote.

It’s not, they will sand and fill and possibly need to sand again. Then prime, then 2 coats of paint. That can’t be done one day.

lol, say that to any professional decorator and see what they think!
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

Want a good job done, pay the going rate.

I had a quote of £450 to do our loft room (reasonably big space). London zone 4. So your quote seems a lot.

Why no breaks? That seems…. Unethical…..

@Blueberrymuffin8 ive sent you a pm - wish I could tell you the insane quotes I’ve had for all sorts in Herts. Best was an electrician for small jobs like couple hours total charging £80 to quote!!! But have the best painter I can share with you.

We’re having our lounge painted at the moment. Cambridgeshire. It’s a big room, with three big windows, external doors, plus internal doors and a small staircase that goes up to a small landing with more doors. We’re having the whole thing painted, plus full wooodwork/doors/window frames for £1,000. That’s excluding paint, which we had mixed ourselves at a paint shop.

But for a small bathroom we were recently quoted £850 by someone else.

Always worth getting a few quotes as I’ve found it varies massively. The guy we’re using is basically retired but does this for extra money and the enjoyment of it, so charges less than a company might.

With all the proper prep?? I doubt it!

Johnstone's paint goes a lot further than the DIY stuff and the folks are able to give good advice. Had to repaint the room a housebound, chainsmoking relative had lived in - a nightmare but a lot easier with expert advice.

My husband is in the business but we are south east
Pretty average quote for what you need. More rooms start to get slightly cheaper overall as you do a lot of prep across the board. Having said that a quote like that includes paint and prep and skirting. So if you literally want to slop paint onto existing walls with zero prep or sanding then 280 per day rate is average and should take no more than 3 days for undercoat and topcoat. However most tradesman worth their money won't just do that as even though newly built ideally you do the prep very well for a good finished productm white walls hide a myriad of problems like Tiny cracks etc you would easily see with colour. Roll up those sleeves and get a professional in afterwards if you dont like the end result

Funkyfoxy I don’t think you can say that without seeing the prep that might be involved?

I had one of these handymen who had a good kocal rep saying a job (that actually took us 3 days in the end) would take him 6-8 days... When I let our an involuntary laugh... Asking was he using a tortoise a Labour he explained it would take him at least a day to put down dust sheets /duck tape and also wipe down the (cleanish) walls... This lad was about late 20s so I'd expect him to move reasonably quickly....

He also wanted 320 day rate... That was with me supplying all the materials... Just emulsion... No gloss work...
Laughable... I timed it.... The taping /dust sheets /wipe down and light sand just under 2 hours... I don't work quickly...

Painting a room isn't that difficult. It's time consuming with prep (including washing walls with sugar soap and filling any dents), and two coats of paint. I listen to podcasts as I'm working so I don't get bored. The materials aren't expensive either, and depending on what you're using, you could spend less than £100. I like Little Greene, which is more expensive, but I know what I'm saving by doing the work myself. I also live in the South East.

TBF that does allow for paint coats to dry properly in between!

Ridiculous estimate. I had the same problem and did it myself. Honestly not difficult. Rewiring the house or plumbing is difficult ,but you can paint the longe and will do a good job. At the most it is a dayand a half job for a professional.

I second the advice to get good quality trade paint. The stuff you buy from DIY shops is not the same quality as trade paint. Get yourself to a Dulux, Crown or Johnstone’s decorating centre. I am lucky, my brother works for Johnstone’s so he gets be great discount