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

Have you been given a timeline for how long the work will take? Does the price include the paint?
I can understand why they want the room cleared before hand, if something was broken or damaged they would get the blame.

Have a go yourself. Get on YouTube and check the process, sanding, cleaning, priming, and then painting. If it's already painted then use a wall primer and obviously sand and prime gloss areas. Going to be a lot cheaper than the quotes you've had.

As I said, tips for filling/caulking and finer points can be found on YouTube. Frog tape is your best friend.

Absolutely no chance I'd pay that. Just do it yourself, it's not difficult. I repainted an entire house including woodwork/internal doors in under 5 weeks whilst working full-time. A single room would take a weekend at most.

I hate decorating, so I pay someone to do it.
Just had my small third bedroom done -c£800. So yours sounds pretty normal.

If you think a day rate would be £200-£300 roughly, think about all the prep of the walls etc first before painting too. I’d imagine it’s 2 or 3 days work maybe? Does the quote include materials or are you buying the paint?

Normal. Dont forget that's labour time and their experience going into the cost not to mention prepping time.

Ridiculous. It's a days work for a professional at the most. Can't believe people think it takes 2-3 days. With their skills they can paint a room in as little as an hour. Prep work and finishing as well takes very little time.

Normal

They’re quoting you that much because they don’t want the job.

I have a friend with a decorating business in Hertfordshire. They are unbelievably busy at the moment with big jobs (whole house renovations) so have very little interest in little, one room jobs.

They give quotes that seem way too high, because that is the only level at which it would be worth it to them to take on such a small job - but they’re expecting you to say no. It’s called ‘fuck off pricing.’

I'm in the sunny south and I had a lot more painted for £1,000 about 3 years ago. At that time, over 5.5days, 2 people painted my stairs, 3 levels with lots of bannisters/pickets, shower room and cloak room - all complicated areas with lots of tricky bits. They could have done more prep in the shower room.
We supplied the paint but they supplied all the other materials. We cleared the rooms and the landings.

It’s not possible to prep and paint the skirting boards, doors, walls and ceiling in a day and get a quality finish, never mind in an hour. You’re being ridiculous. Sure, you could slap some paint over the existing in a couple of hours, but it’d look exactly as if you’d just slapped some paint on. I imagine the OP is looking for a better finish than that. It’s not difficult so she could do it herself, but it will take time.

Does that include drying time between coats and woodwork?

Tbh a grand sounds about right OP.

We paid £900 for ours. Took 2 days. And its your responsibility to move stuff

If 2 people working 5.5 days only charged £1,000 then that’s only £90 per person per day. Unless they worked very short days that’s a lot less than the minimum wage…even 3 years ago.

I recently had the exterior of my rendered house painted. Sanded back, filled, rerendered, sealed, four coats of paint plus the small walls surrounding the garden. In the South. Took three days. All materials. £370. It looks amazing!

So you paid £1000 for 11 days of labour and experience. I call those rates exploitative

That sounds expensive to me. My DD has just had her dining room repaired and it was £350. And it was a very good job

You are assuming the walls are in a fit state to be painted. I do all my own decorating and the last time I did my lounge when we moved in it took me 4 days to prep the walls. That included stripping wallpaper, filling and sanding, not just the filler but every wall, top to bottom with a sanding pole. Then prepping the skirting boards which meant removing the old shitty caulk job someone had done, filling the gap properly, sanding the tops flat and then keying the rest of the skirting. I did a coat of Zinsser Gardz on the walls then painted them so that was 3 coats of paint.

The OP could be going from a very dark colour to light, the skirting boards could be in a terrible condition and she wants that sorting out. There definitely is a level of what some people deem acceptable and what a professional can achieve. It might also be a two person crew.

God that would put me right off too

I'd try myself. Then spend the rest of the cash on a little holiday !

Just like anything, if someone has a skill and someone wants to pay for that skill, the person with the skill can charge as much as people will pay.

Honestly its a piss take, they probably dont want the job.

Painting really is not difficult, especially with good quality modern paints designed to go on easily.

Just buy a roll of plastic carpet protector (cheap & widely available). Invest in a decent finish roller. Use bog standard masking tape to cut in. Its worth unscrewing plug sockets. Radiators are more faff but also worth draining and unscrewing.

I did my sons large bedroom last year. Quotes were a grand, i did it myself in a weekend having spent about £200 on paint and materials and the finish is really good.

Honestly interior painting is a level of skill the vast majority of healthy adults can acquire in a very short space of time. Its like being skilled in mowing the lawn or wiping the kitchen counters down.

Break it down:

Prep work, filling, sanding. Sanding woodwork - about a day. Clean up and tack off post sanding.
Two coats of paint plus shelves and skirtings etc 2 days.

Paint - 5 litres of colour about £80, white paint for woodwork about £35, any other eggshell or similar for shelves about £35.
Filler, sandpaper, a contribution to brushes/ rollers.
Time to travel, liability insurance.

Ceiling? 2 coats of white plus a days work.

So 3-4 days work plus materials.
Day rate for a quality decorator in your area probs £250-300 per day.

I’d say you have been quoted about ball park.

A lot of tradespeople round my way only work 9-2.30

Some do school runs but ive had several who've told me they do 1 job in the morning & a different one in the afternoon. So the "day rate" is not really a day!

300 quid a day is £40 an hour based on a typical 7.5 hr.

For painting?! Its not high skilled work. A teenager could do it with minimal training, no qualifications.