Decorating Quotes - £8k to £16k? Post Reply

[boonkoh]

I'm in the midst of getting quotes for a complete house redecoration before I move in. Every room - walls, skirting, ceiling, hallways, stairs, door frames, doors. Not including any work to make good the walls (assuming all OK to start painting on) as the current condition is still very good.

Been given quotes that range from £8k to £16k! And these are quotes without thd cost of the paint or primers or undercoats!

Is this reasonable? I was expecting something maybe in the low thousands (£3-5k).

How much did it cost to decorate your house?

My house is 3 storeys, 5 bedrooms, approximately 1900 sq ft / 180 sqm.

[tooposhtopush]

I feel your pain - we were in the same situation.

Are you using a "proper" firm for the big quotes? Some of them charge VAT which will immediately bump up the price by 20%

We've had a number of quotes ranging for day rates of a 100 quid up to proper firms.

I can honestly say that the proper firms did so much of a better job - the day rate stuff wasn't prepared properly and has all started peeling again already.

[Jopoppy68]

Your house sounds pretty big, but you could ask my wonderful decorator to quote. Her name is Gill and she is amazing. She charges £130 a day. You will have to get all of the paints etc. but she will advise you what to get. She's a one woman band, so bear that in mind, but she's a great painter and 100% trustworthy. She's just done the exterior of our house and I'm really happy. She's based in Clapham and her number is 07791 791847. Best of luck!

[boonkoh]

Thanks for the tips!

tooposhtopush - yup, using a big firm (as we're doing lots of other works as well in the property at the same time). So definitely the VAT is a pain in all the quotes.

Jopoppy68 - I will reach out to Gill, but as we're looking at quite a big job, I wonder if one person will take too long to complete.


Just wondering if maybe the huge range in quotes I've gotten is due to different scopes of work - maybe some are pricing in a higher quality job than others?

What are some questions I can ask to figure out what level of decorating quality they've quoted for?

[Terry a ward]

Hi there we are south London Property services Ltd and would be happy to come and give you a quote! These prices sound rediculous and would not entertain them. Feel free to contact me on 07484927722 kind regards Terry

[katherine.w]

Hi,

The house seems to be quite big. But I would highly recommend Radek if you are looking to paint your house.

He is very tidy and leave the site as clean as possible during the work-in-progress stage, and gets the job done without continually adding to the bill for every minor detail.

He wasn’t the cheapest, but when you do a full side by side comparison, he was very comparable.

His number 07882852045

[LP73]

When we were doing a full house we also received ridiculous quotes then found two local guys who have a company called Brown and Thomas. They were half the price, their work is of a very high standard, we left keys for them and were very trustworthy.
They have a Facebook page and Lee Brown can be contacted on 07908311243 they will come and give you a free quote.

[AngellasKitchen]

Try Tommy 07940 186 381
Have used him now for 15 years.
Excellent, works quickly, cleans up, no mess and very trustworthy
Bear in mind there may be a slight wait because he is so good.
Well worth it and very reasonable

[SomethingForKate]

I would recommend Ian Day Decorators: http://iandaydecorator.co.uk/

We had our house renovated and redecorated last year and the decorating costs without colour paints (white included) were around £7k.

Now, ours is a smaller space than yours - 2 bed Edwardian terrace with a loft conversion adding 2 more bedrooms and another bathroom.

You definitely want a decorator rather than using a company that does everything as I saw what went into achieving that professional finish.

5 beds over 3 storeys, if you're including some bathroom paint work, doors, skirtings, hallways, living room, dining room, kitchen etc. I wouldn't be surprised at £10k but £16k sounds pretty high.

Good luck!

SFK