please help! "friend of a friend" decorating quote

Yooj_2

Just saying to give the decorator a break from the heat he was getting with regards to being on the sick, as like you said, he was unlikely getting paid for being sick and thus he is probably trying to make a few quid.

sindygirl58

My young relative who is a 10 year trained decorator, charges £10 per hour, when he is doing jobs for himself. when he is in between jobs.


Whats the man to do, go running to the tax office waving their cut ?? Must be many trademen who like a bit of cash .!! And many customer who offer it too.

sindygirl58

Also the charge for materials sounds too high, paint is not that expensive..

misgrace

ormus wrote: »

4 days work max.
he must be the slowest pro in the UK.

Crikey Ormus, where did you get 4 days from?

The guy has papererd a ceiling, ok, wrong move to paper over existing ceiling paper, he has lined the all the walls, loung, 2 bedrooms and a HSL, theres 3-4 days there, then he has to paint all ceilings and walls, plus prepping, I daresay all the woodwork, sheet up, set up, tidy up.

Two weeks is not a bad time scale TBH.

Materials might be a tad bit too much, depends on what grade lining paper he has bought, then theres the paste, white paint, coloured paint, woodwork paint, filler, white spirit, masking tape, decorators caulk, blades, sandpaper etc.
Materials isnt just a pot of paint, is everything you need to get the job done.

Just wait and see what standard of work he has done, and if not happy then you need to discuss the money.

McKneff

When you are self employed and you have paid enough and the correct NI contributions then you can claim sick pay from the government.
Bit confusing really, if he is self employed, he is not on the sick, he is working
so he is not sick if he is working = does that make sense.
Unless of course he is working and claiming sick pay from the government.

McKneff

sindygirl58 wrote: »

Also the charge for materials sounds too high, paint is not that expensive..

Have you seen the price of good paint recently.

When it comes to decorating - buy cheap means more coats, more time spent. False economy.

nickj_2

misgrace wrote: »

Crikey Ormus, where did you get 4 days from?

The guy has papererd a ceiling, ok, wrong move to paper over existing ceiling paper, he has lined the all the walls, loung, 2 bedrooms and a HSL, theres 3-4 days there, then he has to paint all ceilings and walls, plus prepping, I daresay all the woodwork, sheet up, set up, tidy up.

Two weeks is not a bad time scale TBH.

Materials might be a tad bit too much, depends on what grade lining paper he has bought, then theres the paste, white paint, coloured paint, woodwork paint, filler, white spirit, masking tape, decorators caulk, blades, sandpaper etc.
Materials isnt just a pot of paint, is everything you need to get the job done.

Just wait and see what standard of work he has done, and if not happy then you need to discuss the money.

thanks for that misgrace , i thought i was way out in my estimation or that ormus and andy11 were the fastest and bestest decorators in the land , from the description given by the OP it says that all ceilings are being papered , this is not a 4 or 5 day job by any stretch of the imagination , and i don't think the price for materials is over the top either , 5 lts of coloured emulsion can cost £35- 40 , ok guys you can come back form your fantasy land now , maybe you'd better stick to things you know about in future - let the experts sort things out;);)

nickj_2

andy111 wrote: »

Two weeks work for four small rooms?

I would hope anyone calling themselves a professional decorator could see that level of work off well within five days, and probably substantially less.

are you a professional decorator ?

misgrace

Lol Nick, I forgot he was papering all the ceilings, thats not a 5 min job either.
I know I can paper an average size ceiling in approx 2-3 hours, bearing in mind I have to paste myself, move the table, board and steps, cut the lengths etc, and of course hanging the lengths.

The thing is that some people through no fault of thier own think that its just slapping a bit of paint on, but there is a lot more to it.

I went a quoted for a job the other month, a big bedroom, they wanted ceiling painted 2 coats, 3 walls painted 2 coats, 1 wall papered, (the walls were a bit rough so need a fair amount of filling and prep, they wanted the built in wardrobes painted inside, and doors/frames/skirtings inside and out, plus dressing table, he also had the top 5 top cupboard doors attached to the wardrobes, and wanted them painted inside, and of course the front door tops,(both sides) also a built in cupboard painted inside on the other side of the room, he wanted the inside of that emulsioned also, plus both sides doors/frames painted 2 coats.
All woodwork in bedroom painted 2 coats.

The guy said to me that it shouldnt take more than 2-3 days :eek: I asked him how he came to that time scale, he said he had someone round who said he could do it in that time :rotfl:
He was quite insisting that it could be done, I tried to explain it couldnt be done, specially with the amount of work that was involved.

I said I would make a deal with him, if matey can get it done with the proper amount of coats, and to a professional standard like I would do in 2-3 days, then I would pay for the job myself:D.

I never heard from him again lol

Worried_of_wakefield

I typically pay my sub contract decorators £150ish a day (then deduct tax) your quote seems a little heavy as a 'cash' job but otherwise given the work described and the area you live I wouldn't worry too much. I think you probably could have save £150 if you had bought the materials yourself though.