Painting quote help

[JustAnotherDilemma]

For a bedroom measuring 12’9” x 9.3”, how much would you expect to pay for straightforward strip of wallpaper and paint matt emulsion to walls and ceiling with no complications.

WALL 1 (12’9” length) has ⅔ built in wardrobes so only needs ⅓ of the wall painted.

WALL 2 (9’3” length) has ½ French doors so only needs ½ of the wall painted

WALL 1 (12’9” length) has a radiator roughly 4” long

WALL 1 (9’3” length) has a standard doorway

The response to my quoting their words about cleaning thoroughly was that they did and didn’t have to get every little bit, that’s my job

You didn't put any of that in your OP! 🤦 I would have challenged them before they painted asking why they were using the wrong paint, I wouldn't have asked them why they were leaving before cleaning up, and delays are fine as long as they aren't charging you extra for the extra time, they need to soak that up themselves

I didn’t want to put myself too much as I was only after the cost that would be reasonable so I can try to work out how much needs to be deducted seeing as they’re clearly not going to accept it.

the job had to be done hastily at the end for a moving date that was not changeable, so it wasn’t until 24 hrs before the end date that I saw 12 hours work being done from huge tins of the cheapest budget paint. It was too late by then. People were actually moving in around them finishing in the end so i couldn’t get picky about cleaning. They took far too long to do the job that should have taken a short amount of time, allowing them to clean as they said they would. I didn’t know about the radiators being important. I just thought that’s me being outdated and maybe In this modern world they have tools to avoid having to remove rads!

Are you going to tell us what you paid then @JustAnotherDilemma ?

How much do they want paying?

This.

If you want nice smooth walls afterwards, they will need to be steamed first, the paper removed, then the walls washed down several times with detergent & a scourer to get rid of the glue.

Then they will have to fill any holes and imperfections in the plaster, currently hidden by the paper.

Then they need to tape the woodwork, and paint the walls, two coats before removing the tape.

I would expect that to take one person a week and would charge £1500 and expect you to supply your choice of paint.

It sounds like whatever they charged, they aren't worth having back again.

I live in the (expensive) sunny south in a well-heeled village full of period properties, including mine. The painters around the corner from me did a job for us during 1/2 term. They priced by the day, charging £100/day/person so it was £1,000 for 5 days with 2 men. We supplied the paint of our choice.

They painted the walls and woodwork in the cloakroom and the shower room (both total pigs - tiny rooms with high ceilings and lots of fixtures to avoid - toilet/tank, rad, sink, window, door) and all the hallways/railings/bannisters for 3 stories. No wallpaper stripping was required. They should have prepped the shower room walls/ceiling better; that paint is flaking and bubbling.

They were very tidy and painted quickly and neatly. They cleaned up thoroughly. They came back and did the extra day required beyond their quote. (See above about workers under estimating the job) They are keen to work in the village so charge less for villagers. Normal rates include travel time/costs so more like £150/day/man so that would have been £1,500 for 5 days with 2 men.

My friend was married to a builder/handyman and she reckons £250/day for good preparation of walls.

I went to inspect the work now it has dried and found this:

It’s pretty pooor workmanship isn’t it?

Here are some photos

No it won’t, just work around it. All our rooms have been painted (by me) several times without removing them.

Yeah thats crap, they've not prepped the walls properly after stripping the wallpaper.

That's crap. Was it a personal recommendation or just a random decorator?

As a comparison I just had a room done.
Strip one wall of paper
Paint ceiling and walls in Dulux Heritage
Woodwork was stained and they painted door, skirting and windows and rad white.
Sloping ceiling so cutting in edge has to be right
They also painted some pine built in wardrobes white
Total inc VAT was £630.

That is shocking work I wouldn’t pay anything for that they can’t be a professional decorator

Do you think they should be paid for something because they did after all strip wallpaper (other than behind the radiators) and they did paint, even if they Didn’t use the paint they said they would and clearly haven’t done a good job?

Choice obviously

If I’m doing a room I do it all and if I’m paying a decorator I would expect them to do the whole room aswell

@JustAnotherDilemma , I would want them to rectify their shoddy workmanship using the paint you had requested first. I do all y own decorating and it is 100 times better than this and I would expect a professional to do an even better job

Really, honestly, because there was so hard to get to complete that the job and because they lied about the amount of mess they have left and because they lied about the pain because they are adamant they’ve done a brilliant job, I am actually quite concerned about bringing them back to the property to do more damage. Do I have an obligation to do this, even though I’m concerned about what damage they may do to the property? Especially as Good has long since gone.

I can understand you just want it over and done with , here is the advice on the CAB website which tells you what your rights are , make sure you have plenty of photographic evidence and keep hold of it but basically they have broken the law if it is not completed to an acceptable standard
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/problem-with-home-improvements/

Thank you for this. Other than the deposit of several hundreds , I haven’t paid anything. My withholding of the cost was reliant on inspection of the completed job because it had been rushed too fast at the end and I am now in the position of wanting to pay something out of recognition they some spent time there wielding a brush, but not too much because they’ve done a terrible job.

I don’t know if another professional decorator would be willing to give you a written quote to rectify this shoddy job to a standard that they would think is acceptable, it does sound like you have already paid them quite a bit

They have offered to come back and put it right, but I am concerned about that because they refuse to clean up the first time, didn’t use the right paint, denied that it wasn’t done properly and denied they haven’t cleaned up properly. Why the earth would I let them back into even more damage?! But do I owe it to them legally? I feel so stuck I don’t know what to do.

@JustAnotherDilemma

How. Much. Did. They. Ask. For??? (In total!) You have been asked this multiple times, but how can anyone answer you properly when you're not answering this question?

It doesn’t look like the walls have been prepped at all, it seems that they have just taken off the paper and slapped the paint on , have they explained what they would do differently to put it right in terms of filling and sanding etc , proper prepping is the bit that takes the time the painting is the quick bit. It’s obviously your choice whether you allow them back but I wouldn’t give any more money until it’s been done properly, would the difference between what you have already paid and the full amount cover paying somebody else to come in and put it right

I’m a bit confused. You said the new people were moving in when they were still there

If you’ve moved out how can you get them to come back.