DECORATORS - is £250 a lot as a day rate (West London Zone 1-2)?

[mochacat]

Hi - interested to hear perspectives on whether this day rate is considered normal or a rip off, especially from people currently using decorators in Central London. I think it sounds like a lot, especially as there would be 2 of them, meaning £500 per day! AIBU? Thanks.

I pay £200 per day in Scotland, so I would say no.

OK thanks, that's good to know.

It's about average.
Let's say 7 hours worth of work, £35 an hour, which seems alot but then consider insurance, parking, congestion zone, ulez, tools, cost of vehicle. It all adds up.

We recently paid £1,700 for 6 days of painting work (4 days of one person, and an additional person for 2 of those days) including all materials, so £283 a day. We’re in the SE.

Thanks for this. Good to have some benchmarks.

My best mate was quoted £800 to strip wallpaper and paint a bedroom this month. We’re in Kingston. She obviously declined but yeah prices are sky high rn.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

and yes it will be £500 a day for two of them but they’ll get done in half the time.

Perfectly reasonable. Sounds alot when youre paying it out, but £250 a day isn't a massive amount for someone to earn, especially when youre considering taxes, expenses, and the fact they may not be working every day depending on jobs landed

Does that include materials? I'm in Bristol and the rates for tradesmen are sky high - that's if you can find anyone to do it in the first place!

Hi - if you're interested to hear perspectives from the AIBU forum you chose to post in, @mochacat , then I've posted your poll results so far below.

100% of people appear to think the same way.

For an average eight hour day that is approx £30 per hour for a skilled trade service (remember its a business service, not an hourly wage).

What would you expect to pay for an all inclusive business service per hour including skilled trades?

I paid more than that in Zone 3 last year. £275 an day to be precise. And a very good job they did too.

If you think what the total cost of employing someone on £36k a year is after factoring in employers NI (15%) , pension (5%), holidays (11%) etc then you are at £48k a year, which is not far off £200 day before you factor in overheads, vans, equipment and, dare I say it, some profit. £250 seems cheap, especially if they are VAT registered.

We had £300!
and another at £350!

£250 a day here in London.
Would you get a estimate with a total cost then compare

On the lower side for London these days. See if you can get a quote for the job rather than a daily rate.

My husband is a decorator in the midlands. I’d say zone 1-2 in London that is really cheap!

This would be very low in my part of London where good painters and decorators are as rare as hens’ teeth. Last year, in desperation, I hired a couple of cowboys who were significantly cheaper, but their work was nowhere near the standard of reputable painters.

Sounds really cheap to me and I’m in Bucks.

Cheap

Ok that's great to hear it's a reasonable rate. I suspect they will want cash in hand, need to clarify. Thanks!

If anything that is cheap.

I live in West Wales. Our decorator charges £100 a day. He's retired and not a professional though.

It's not that helpful to think of it as £500 a day. It's £500 per 2 days' work.

Sounds very cheap! It’s more than that here in north London. Have they been recommended to you?

Should be able to do at least one large room beautifully in a day, including doorframes and skirting - these bits take longer than the walls.

Good value, OP, and stir the paint/ clear the room
first so you don’t lose professional time to prep.