Can I buy my own paint for decorators ?

[missrachael]

Already picked what I want and alot of thought has gone into it, our decorator who is currently stripping the house had quoted nearly 4k for 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and hall stairs and landing 😳 This includes the materials.
Can I expect them to reduce if I say we’re buying our own paint ? Is that cheeky ? I don’t know what the done thing is ?

It’s bullshit.

Thanks all. This is my way of thinking, if we’re paying surely we should be able to have what we want. Maybe he can colour match for us. I just need to have a conversation as he might be absolutely fine for us to use what we want, it was just the way he handed me the leaflets without asking lol

I have been on epaint and that colour matched LG slaked lime to Johnstones cotton tail, but I can’t find that colour in the leaflet 😫 I never thought choosing a colour would be so hard !

I’d run a mile if a decorator said they can’t/won’t use/charge more for F&B. Like it or not, it’s a good quality brand and any professional should be able to use it. I do get it though it decorators refuse to use any super cheap low quality paint if they think that it will impact the quality of the work.

It isn't bullshit. It always needs at least a 3rd coat to get the same finish as other brands, and some darker colours will need a 4th. Also, the Estate Emulsion doesn't touch up, with the newly repaired patches being very obvious even when the original paint job was only a month before (I was once witness to this on a massive scale, that resulted in most of a building needing a full repainting of the walls. The paint was all from the same batch, so that couldn't be blamed either. There were a lot of unhappy people on that job!). I will use F&B, both personally and professionally, but ensure customers know there is a price difference beyond just the basic £/litre and why, so they can decide if it's worth it.
There are a few brands across trades that have greater labour costs attached to them, and I can understand why someone outside construction may not know it or think 'bullshit', but a good tradesperson will be happy to explain why there's a difference. The other example that springs to mind is Ikea kitchens - they have no void, making fitting around services much harder and time consuming. I won't fit them as it isn't worth the headache to me (I'm originally a carpenter by trade, but I also decorate for existing clients), and any savings on the kitchen are more than swallowed on the installation. The few chippies I know who will, charge an awful lot more to reflect the extra work and still curse them.

OP, I'm always happy for the customer to supply the paint. I look at it as one less trip to the shops for me! I'd prefer this was discussed at the point of quoting, as I will have put some effort into checking the most up-to-date prices for the brand and finish, but I would just deduct that portion of the quote (which wouldn't necessarily equal what you end up paying directly). I don't 'make' on materials, but will round up slightly for ease of quoting (£63.89 would be oddly specific, so would become £65) and sometimes I add labour & petrol if the selected supplier is going to be more than a quick detour and short stop, although that is unlikely for paint.
I suspect the decorator has only quoted for basic paint brands, as your overall quote seems low for that many rooms including what sounds like stripping paper too, so buying the paint yourself may be more of a case of ensuring it's exactly the ones you want rather than saving any money. The swatch cards only have a selection of the most popular colours available, but the full range is available from the decorators' merchant, so no problems there.

@SkankingWombat@SkankingWombatthank you for the info. I have managed this morning to find some colours im happy with and going to ask our decorator to get some samples. Can I ask what you think of Johnstone’s paint ? I was going to splash on little greene but if I can colour match it’s better to do that !

we paid separately for the stripping, all those rooms mentioned was £1800

When people are saying get him to colour match it, they don’t mean you choose an equivalent colour. They mean he can go to the dulux decorating centre or wherever and get 15 litres of dulux paint mixed in whatever f&b or little greene colour you want.

I've never had a problem with Johnstones @missrachael.Little Greene is lovely to work with, but Johnstones is perfectly good too.

That isn't always the case @JessicaPeach , sometimes the other company's closest match isn't identical. Whether that's a problem depends on how you see colour (some people can see differences between close colour shades more than others. On average, women can see more than men - apparently!), and if you are wedded to that exact colour.
I have one room in my house in a F&B and one in Little Greene because the colour matches weren't the same and I didn't like the subtly different colours. In my dining room, I have a cream that was colour matched from the kitchen cupboard doors. It is close enough for me in this case as it is very neutral, but the chap in the shop apologised there wasn't a closer match available.
However, you can get very good (exact?) matches when both brands are owned by the same parent company and therefore mixed on the same machine eg getting a Dulux colour in Armstead.

I’ve had this before but usually not fussy enough to be that bothered. One of my ceilings is in Zoffany Huntsman’s green and I couldn’t get that colour matched, it just wasn’t rich enough so had to suck it up and buy the expensive paint.

Looks like we’re doing the painting ourselves afterall - dh went to the house today and the decorator had his dog sleeping on some of our new curtains 🤣🤣🤣

@missrachael WTAF?! 😮

Completely agree with every part of this post. Johnstones do exact colour matching and come in all sorts of finishes like really flat matt. Easier to use and better than Farrow and Ball for sure.

Trade paints are often premium products and not the cheap nasty versions that people often think they are. Decorators don't want to be mucking about with poor materials so wouldn't buy rubbish.

That is really cheeky isn’t it ?! I mean they wasn’t expensive but I don’t think that’s the point, who walks into their house with their dog and is like, here ya go some curtains to sit on ? 😆😆 I was abit 🤔 at him bringing his dog but thought I’d let it slide, that’s just taking the piss though

I’m going to stick to the colours I’ve chosen with johnstones definitely! Are all the trade paints available in their normal range that the general public can buy does anyone know ?

@missrachael Yes, Johnstone's paints are available retail from DIY stores.