Painter and decorator prices

[Weirdfishyfoot]

I recently had two quotes from two different people to have painting work done. Hallway, living room, stairs, upstairs landing, newly built storage units, coving, and the door frames will be painted. The living room is quite large, and all walls previously had wallpaper on, so they will need some prep work done. The first person gave us a quote of £2,100 and we provide paint, total time 12 days. The second person gave us a quote of £1,400 paint included, total time 5 days. Obviously, the second person sounds like the better option. But since I've never used this kind of service, I'm not sure if this seems too good to be true? What does everyone think?

The 2nd one seems like it would be a quick slap and dash with that amount of work. Depends what standard of work you are expecting.

We had 3 quotes for painting ceilings recently

1. 570
2. 1000
3. 1800

We went with no 1 and it was fine. At least some of the difference was because No1 didn't cut in, I went back and did it with the colour afterwards as we were redecorating most of them anyway

Yes, that's what I thought. I don't understand how it could be done in 5 days. Seems very quick for such a large job

I really don't know what to do. Both have great reviews. Both have vastly different prices and different time frames.

The better the prep, the better the finished job and good prep takes time.
The timescales alone would have me leaning towards the more expensive quote.
How many on site for each, a single person or a team?

I would not go just on price, I would try to get recommendations from previous clients.

I think that some people will overprice because they don't need or want the work

I think the first price is sensible and realistic and the second is way too low to do everything you've listed to a halfway decent standard. I'd go with the first quote.

The second quote doesn't sound realistic for a really good job. The prep work takes quite a long time and it makes all the difference! Maybe get a 3rd quote?!

I agree the 1st price sounds reasonable and the 2nd seems awfully low for the amount of work, but I'm not a professional.

My dh is a decorator he works with another guy and they'd manage that in 5 days. Are they just one person or more than one. He recommended getting a third quote. 12 days is quite long for that job to be fair though.

If it helps we have just had a quote for living room, hall stairs and landing and kitchen/ diner and it’s £2070 with us buying the paint. He’s estimated it will take 10-15 days.
We had another higher quote but this was the one we went with.
Your second quote sounds too low, both in time and money.

Just one person. I expressed my concerns with him about how quickly he can finish the job, and he told me that he's completed a 3 bed house top to bottom in 8 days. He also said that a job like this wouldn't take 12 days. I've no idea!