Page 3 | £1,000–£1,500 to paint a medium lounge?! Is this normal?

Blueberrymuffin8 · 2026-10-16T10:29:12+00:00

I'm in Hertfordshire and have been getting quotes from painters and decorators ranging from £1,000 to £1,500 to decorate our medium sized lounge in a standard three-bedroom terraced house. There are also two sets of shelving to paint, but nothing particularly complicated! Am I completely out of touch, or does this seem ridiculously expensive? What frustrates me even more is that they expect me to clear the entire room and move everything out of their way beforehand. Fair enough, but at these prices I would expect a bit more of a service! None of the decorators has provided a proper breakdown of costs either. Just a figure seemingly plucked out of thin air, with no explanation of labour, materials or how many days the job will take. I'm now sitting here looking around the lounge thinking that, for £1,500, perhaps I should just roll up my sleeves and have a go myself! Has anyone had a similar-sized room decorated recently? What did you pay? Particularly interested in hearing from anyone in Hertfordshire or the South East. Am I being unreasonable to think these quotes are excessive?

Original poster

Blueberrymuffin8 · 16/10/2026 13:02

Tryingtokeepgoing · 16/10/2026 11:52

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.

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quotes from painters who work alone

OP posts:

Original poster

Blueberrymuffin8 · 16/10/2026 13:03

DinoLil · 16/10/2026 11:52

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!

can I have his number 😂!

OP posts:

Original poster

Blueberrymuffin8 · 16/10/2026 13:06

Ilovemyshed · 16/10/2026 12:09

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.

we agreed ceilings and skirting do not need doing, and Id supply all the paint.

OP posts:

lalalalalala2024 · 16/10/2026 13:06

Astonishing, we are moving and we have had quotes in the West Midlands area for 150ish a day, going with a friends family member and he said he can do the whole house is 7-10 days so it’ll be 1500 max. We will be supplying all the paint but it works out £25ph for 6hrs work,

Original poster

Blueberrymuffin8 · 16/10/2026 13:07

Fast800goingforit · 16/10/2026 12:12

I would expect it to take a day to cover the flooring and anything that can't be removed and do the prep. If there are two people doing the job then the OP will be paying for both of them. Paint and materials could easily cost £250 and most decorators have products they prefer using and will get the paint for you.

It also depends on whether it's a straightforward re-paint in similar colours or going from dark to light.

If all the quotes are in the same ballpark that suggests it's the going rate in the area.

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going from white to a natural, sandy colour. Quotes from painters who work on their own.

OP posts:

gamerchick · 16/10/2026 13:08

Shatenoeuf · 16/10/2026 12:41

I covered flooring & removed furniture in a 4 x5m room in 1hr. These are not big jobs.

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Fucking hell.

OP this poster seems to be offering to come and do it for you. Struck gold there, get in quick.

Tortephant · 16/10/2026 13:10

Shatenoeuf · 16/10/2026 12:12

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.

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Watching the painter at my house right now, I, age 51, could not do what he is doing to anywhere near the same level.
The detail in the prep work, the accuracy and evenness of the edges.....and it would take me much much longer.

OP - yes, get a break down so you know how much is labour, materials and so on. What paint will be used if you didn't specific. And how long it will take. But if everything is included then that quite is ok. If you don't like it, do it yourself.

FizzyColaBottle8 · 16/10/2026 13:10

BePeachNewt · 16/10/2026 11:45

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.’

Edited

Or they could say they’re busy?

Zebedee999 · 16/10/2026 13:11

EatenTooMuchChocolateAgain · 16/10/2026 11:37

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?

Quite. People understand how much prep is involved. Just cleaning off all the old paint off light switches or sockets etc where they have been daubed over in the past takes hours.

Cla7 · 16/10/2026 13:14

Funkyfoxy · 16/10/2026 11:40

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.

🤣🤣 sorry but how do you prepare walls and woodwork, use fillers, apply a primer followed by several coats of paint in 1 day? It’s about 4 days, my husband is in the industry.
OP, if your quotes include the paint then I think these are fair quotes. I’d be wary though about the 1k quote, considering that £500 will be for paint alone if a good quality paint is used, I’d doubt that you’ll get a satisfactory job done for that amount.

WhatNextImScared · 16/10/2026 13:16

Yes

chocolatestodgeandcustard · 16/10/2026 13:18

Blueberrymuffin8 · 16/10/2026 12:54

need to add that we have just bought the house and the walls are in really good nicl, just dont like the colour! No holes to fill , bumps to smooth.

If the walls don't need much preparation, buy paint rollers and do it yourselves.

thefeelingofbeingalive · 16/10/2026 13:19

Ffs this ain’t exactly an essential service. Do it yourself or cough up

thefeelingofbeingalive · 16/10/2026 13:20

Cla7 · 16/10/2026 13:14

🤣🤣 sorry but how do you prepare walls and woodwork, use fillers, apply a primer followed by several coats of paint in 1 day? It’s about 4 days, my husband is in the industry.
OP, if your quotes include the paint then I think these are fair quotes. I’d be wary though about the 1k quote, considering that £500 will be for paint alone if a good quality paint is used, I’d doubt that you’ll get a satisfactory job done for that amount.

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You can definitely paint a room in a day.

StuNur85 · 16/10/2026 13:23

My husbands got a painting and decorating company. If there's no woodwork, ceiling or prepping/filling required then that's a total pisstake for one man when they aren't even supplying the paint. My husband could get that done in one day. He does our livingroom and skirting, ceilings etc in one day but will usually work till about 8 till it's done.

YorksMa · 16/10/2026 13:24

Funkyfoxy · 16/10/2026 11:40

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.

Professional prepping takes longer than painting. It's the most time consuming part of the job.

UniquePinkSwan · 16/10/2026 13:24

No way I’m paying that. I do all my painting myself. It’s easy

YorksMa · 16/10/2026 13:25

Cla7 · 16/10/2026 13:14

🤣🤣 sorry but how do you prepare walls and woodwork, use fillers, apply a primer followed by several coats of paint in 1 day? It’s about 4 days, my husband is in the industry.
OP, if your quotes include the paint then I think these are fair quotes. I’d be wary though about the 1k quote, considering that £500 will be for paint alone if a good quality paint is used, I’d doubt that you’ll get a satisfactory job done for that amount.

Show quote history

I think you'll find the 'professional' P&Ds who could do this in a day don't bother with any pesky prep work 😂As with all things in life, you get what you pay for.

Anabolicanna · 16/10/2026 13:25

It recently cost me. £600 to have my living room painted.

LoafofSellotape · 16/10/2026 13:29

How big is the room in feet or metres?

I pay £175 a day plus materials.

I imagine what has bumped up the price is painting the shelving,that would have to be sanded back and 2 coats of paints .

Or they don't want the job as they're too busy so quote high to put people off.

maddiemookins16mum · 16/10/2026 13:30

You never see a poor painter/decorator. No way would I pay that.

InvitedWho · 16/10/2026 13:32

My friend in herts is having her whole house painted at the moment. 3 downstairs rooms plus kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedroom, hall stairs and landing, she’s paying £6k

Pushmepullu · 16/10/2026 13:40

plasterer charged us £300 for 3 hours work. All he did was skim the walls!

Bearbookagainandagain · 16/10/2026 13:45

We've just been quoted 850 for ours in the SE, but it includes a lot of prep work as some walls have been replastered and others have cracks that needs filling. So 1k+ seems very high to me!

On average over the past few years we've been quoted about 500-600 per room if the walls are in good condition and just needed 3-4 coats of paint.

Woodwork does add quite a lot to it though generally (cost is much higher for the same surface). You might want to ask for the breakdown between walls and shelves.

cornflakecrunchie · 16/10/2026 13:47

I do mine myself for the simple reason that I can't bear rooms upset. I'm getting older & would LOVE someone else to do it, but cost & mess.. no. I move, say, a sofa, paint the wall behind it, & put it back. I do the same neutral colour every time so it's easier than changing shade. I don't drip paint either - surprising the number of professionals who do..
By the way, I use paint pads for walls - brushes are hard work & leave lines, rollers splat all over. If you get tired, pop the pad / brush / roller in a polythene bag for the next day instead of washing it out.