Quote for painting and decorating a 1 bed flat £880 (excl materials) excessive?

jgallcash

Hi, live in London and have received the following quote for my one bed flat. To give an idea of the size (I’m at work and cannot measure the walls) the whole flat has a ground space of 52m2. Property is 2.5 years old and walls are in good plastered state with minor cracks to be filled.

In fairness the guy came recommended from a very reliable source and he did give a very thorough quote, what do people think to his costs of £880 excluding materials??

Sitting room / Kitchen

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down and
• To sand down all paint testing areas to eradicate potential 3D effect of where testers were £20
• Paint ceiling 2 coats £100
• Paint all the walls 2 coats £150
• Paint the skirting and door frame and doors 2 coats £50

Total fee:£320 (excl materials)



Hallway

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down £20
• Sand down all 6 doors and frames and skirtings £30
• Paint 6 doors and frames 2 coats £100
• Paint ceiling 2 coats £30
• Paint all the walls 2 coats £40

Fee:£220 (excl materials)



Bedroom

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down and
• To sand down all paint testing areas to eradicate potential 3D effect of where testers were £20

• Sand down all 2 cupboard doors and frames and bedroom door and frame and skirtings £30
• Paint all the woodwork 2 coats £40
• Paint the ceiling 2 coats white emulsion £75
• Paint the walls 2 coats £100
• Paper the wall behind the headboard £75

Fee:£340 ( excl materials)


Total fee: £880

Terms and Conditions

• The fee is for labour and my materials needed to do the job. The client is to supply the paint
• I would appreciate that books and DVD s and anything loose are boxed up prior to my starting
• Dust sheets will protect all furniture in the rooms
• The rooms will be returned to the client each evening in a state that is clean and habitable to minimise your disruption.
• Use of your vacuum cleaner would be appreciated
• If the fee is accepted I would require a deposit of 1/3 prior to startin

ewcs

jgallcash wrote: »

Hi, live in London and have received the following quote for my one bed flat. To give an idea of the size (I’m at work and cannot measure the walls) the whole flat has a ground space of 52m2. Property is 2.5 years old and walls are in good plastered state with minor cracks to be filled.

In fairness the guy came recommended from a very reliable source and he did give a very thorough quote, what do people think to his costs of £880 excluding materials??

Sitting room / Kitchen

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down and
• To sand down all paint testing areas to eradicate potential 3D effect of where testers were £20
• Paint ceiling 2 coats £100
• Paint all the walls 2 coats £150
• Paint the skirting and door frame and doors 2 coats £50

Total fee:£320 (excl materials)



Hallway

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down £20
• Sand down all 6 doors and frames and skirtings £30
• Paint 6 doors and frames 2 coats £100
• Paint ceiling 2 coats £30
• Paint all the walls 2 coats £40

Fee:£220 (excl materials)



Bedroom

• To make good any defects in the plaster and woodwork and sand down and
• To sand down all paint testing areas to eradicate potential 3D effect of where testers were £20

• Sand down all 2 cupboard doors and frames and bedroom door and frame and skirtings £30
• Paint all the woodwork 2 coats £40
• Paint the ceiling 2 coats white emulsion £75
• Paint the walls 2 coats £100
• Paper the wall behind the headboard £75

Fee:£340 ( excl materials)


Total fee: £880

Terms and Conditions

• The fee is for labour and my materials needed to do the job. The client is to supply the paint
• I would appreciate that books and DVD s and anything loose are boxed up prior to my starting
• Dust sheets will protect all furniture in the rooms
• The rooms will be returned to the client each evening in a state that is clean and habitable to minimise your disruption.
• Use of your vacuum cleaner would be appreciated
• If the fee is accepted I would require a deposit of 1/3 prior to startin

The price seems fair for london prices, but i would not ask for 1/3 prior to starting, can be dodgy, a stage payment is acceptable once works to a certain stage are reached.

shane42

cheap i would say , how do you expect to pay their bills ?

no to the deposit though, deposit for what??? say no absolutly to that as there are no real materials of significant cost for him to buy

jgallcash

I anticipated paying the gentleman by bank transfer so I have some record of payment.

I didn't realise London prices were so high comparative to the north. A decorator friend suggested that he would charge £850 for a three bed house in the North East. I'll continue with a few more quotes.

barnabee

Don't be fooled by a professional looking quote. More important is the standard of work and how trustworthy they are if you are not going to be at home during the work. If the decorator is recommended have you viewed any previous work he has carried out?

There are a few useful price calculators you can use to get a ball park estimate of cost - eg www.whatprice.co.uk/tools/decorating-costs.php

To me it seems a fair price for London. I would look at supplying some of the one coat paint if possible but it would depend on how much of a colour change you want. One coat emulsion and gloss is more expensive but will halve the labour time. Don't forget that a decorator will be using his own tools which he has to pay for.

nickj_2

barnabee wrote: »

I would look at supplying some of the one coat paint if possible but it would depend on how much of a colour change you want. One coat emulsion and gloss is more expensive but will halve the labour time. Don't forget that a decorator will be using his own tools which he has to pay for.

as a painter myself , i wouldn't touch any one coat gloss unless i undercoated any woodwork first , in the house i'm doing at the moment someone has one coated the doors and even using really fine sandpaper just lifts it off , and i don't rate the one coat emulsion either - if you want the job done , get it done properly
the price seems good ,

jgallcash

Managed to agree a cost of £650. Have references to check tomorrow and have it from a very reliable source that this guy is good. Starting to look better.

keystone

Where in London? Congestion Charge? Parking? All in all it looks a good price to me but:

1/3 up front when he's not supplying materials? Nah!

Use your vacuum cleaner? Nah!

I'm with nickj on the paint front. Actually I'd go as far as to say offer him £1k and tell him to buy the paint then its all nice and neat from a responsibility perspective - you just specify finish and colour.

Cheers

keystone

jgallcash wrote: »

Managed to agree a cost of £650. Have references to check tomorrow and have it from a very reliable source that this guy is good. Starting to look better.

That seems very cheap and just because its cheap doesn't mean it will be good but you are right to check references. How many days is he going to take to do the job and as a matter of interest just how big are the rooms? It would be interesting to cross check time/material estimates.

Added: Make sure you are comparing like for like though - if the cheaper one is just proposing a "splash and dash" on you then his labour will be less. Mind you that may be all you want.

Cheers

keystone

barnabee wrote: »

One coat emulsion and gloss is more expensive

and is usually rubbish paint.

but will halve the labour time....

You are, of course, kidding - yes?

Cheers

nickj_2

barnabee wrote: »

There are a few useful price calculators you can use to get a ball park estimate of cost - eg www.whatprice.co.uk/tools/decorating-costs.ph.

i don't know where whatprice.co.uk get their paint from , but £20 for 5lts of emulsion ain't going to get you anything worth putting on your walls , if they are that far out on something that you know the price of then their quotes can only be taken with a large helping of salt