removing wallpaper and painting

xyz123

hi

i have been quoted following for 3 rooms. we are in london.

as living and dining rooms are being done, its only really 4 full walls and reamining area around window and fireplace between these two rooms. Third room has built in wardrobes. no work to ceiling.

£350 to remove wallpaper

£900 to paint (for walls, skirting and a almost full width glass door between dining and living room. also includes dulux paint)

is it any good?

keystone

Where in London (roughly). T'will be more in the centre than out in the suburbs.

Cheers

blossomhill_2

London suburbs I paid £150 a day for a very pro job - but saved several half days by stripping walls myself (decorator estimates half a day to strip a room) - couldn't believed how easy it is with the decorator's steamer - once I got going I was quicker than the decorator

Are you having walls relined? Ceiling painted in the two rooms? Any previous smoking in rooms, in which case sealant might be needed

Approx 3 days per room if you are

PS - I favour Albany trade paint from Brewers after problems with Dulux trade discolouring

My price was excluding materials

xyz123

hi- am on outskirts of london, in ruislip.

no ceiling being done. no plastering or skimming.

he quoted 3 days to strip wallpaper and 8 or 9 more to re-paint all. seemed a bit excessive to me to be honest!

blossomhill - if you are roughly near to me, can u PM me ur decorator's details? Also what steamer did you use?

i thought it is easy to paint rather than taking wallpaper off!

southernscouser

xyz123 wrote: »

he quoted 3 days to strip wallpaper

What's he using, a toothpick? :undecided

How big are the rooms?

Is there any reason you can't by yourself, or even hire, a wallpaper stripper and do it yourself? Unless of course money is no object, but I guess this isn't the case as you're on this site and questioning the quote.

southernscouser

Also, if the walls are a bit rough, you'd be better off saving the money for the stripping, and spending it on someone putting up lining paper for a smoother finish on the walls.

xyz123

southernscouser wrote: »

What's he using, a toothpick? :undecided

How big are the rooms?

Is there any reason you can't by yourself, or even hire, a wallpaper stripper and do it yourself? Unless of course money is no object, but I guess this isn't the case as you're on this site and questioning the quote.

rooms are all 4 m x 3 m. dont know height, but it is a standard semi-detached house.

i can do it but not doing it for two reasons:

1) a bit difficult to find time to finish it all off in time that we need it done by

2) a bit unsure if it is really easy to do it. especially the upstairs room where we have just put down new carpets (a bit silly to have it done b4 getting decorating done!) and also fitted wardrobes so not sure if i can do a decent enough job or even reach the gap which is there at the top between wardrobe and ceiling.

ta

blossomhill_2

xyz123 wrote: »

hi- am on outskirts of london, in ruislip.

no ceiling being done. no plastering or skimming.

he quoted 3 days to strip wallpaper and 8 or 9 more to re-paint all. seemed a bit excessive to me to be honest!

blossomhill - if you are roughly near to me, can u PM me ur decorator's details? Also what steamer did you use?

i thought it is easy to paint rather than taking wallpaper off!

Nowhere you I am afraid, and he has so much work on that we are talking about me working for him by going in ahead of him on a couple of jobs and doing the stripping - its so easy

Steamer was like this
http://www.wickes.co.uk/wallpaper-steam-stripper-23kw/invt/155048/

Hold it in one place until paper changes colour, move to next section holding against wall with left hand while stripping the already-damp first section with a wide bladed wallpaper tool in right hand. Work from top down

If unable to DIY it why not pay a handyman at a lower rate to do the prep work (steaming, sanding glosswork) and just get decorator to decorate?

Or could you just be a room ahead of him?

If you strip the walls then you need to put up lining paper to get a decent finish IMHO - painted walls will look a little grim

PS - one room had 8 layers of wallpaper and was just easy to pull off dry. Newest papered wall was hardest as paper wrapped itself round the blade with every sweep

gibson123

Personally I could do this myself over 4 days, wallpaper stripping (with steamer) and wood sanding and sugar soaping - day one this is the labour intensive bit, day 2 - wash down all the walls and paint wood (first coat, ( 4 hours max), day 3 - paint walls, (4 hours using a roller, day 3 - light sand and 2nd coat on wood. (4 hours) I would also do the ceiling at the same time, as chances are it is needing a freshen. So I reckon a professional could do this in 24 hours max, spread over several days, so your decorator is looking at about £50 per hour.

My upper limit would be about £750 even in London.

Considering DIY there are costs associated with this over and above the paint. Of course the more expensive items you would have for the next time.

It would take about 5 litres of emulsion paint (use a once only paint), costs between £10 to 30 depending on quality, gloss paint for wood another £10, wallpaper stripper about £30, rollers brushes, sugar soap and brush cleaners about £20, sander £20, dust sheets £10. So about £120 for DIY plus your valuable time.

keystone

xyz123 wrote: »

hi- am on outskirts of london, in ruislip.

no ceiling being done. no plastering or skimming.

he quoted 3 days to strip wallpaper and 8 or 9 more to re-paint all. seemed a bit excessive to me to be honest!

blossomhill - if you are roughly near to me, can u PM me ur decorator's details? Also what steamer did you use?

i thought it is easy to paint rather than taking wallpaper off!

Its a factor of 2 wrong tbh. Get other quotes.

Cheers

keystone

blossomhill wrote: »

Hold it in one place until paper changes colour, move to next section holding against wall with left hand while stripping the already-damp first section with a wide bladed wallpaper tool in right hand. Work from top down

Just don't hold it in one place for too long - you'll pop the finishing coat of plaster off.

If unable to DIY it why not pay a handyman at a lower rate to do the prep work (steaming, sanding glosswork) and just get decorator to decorate?

I think both might be mortally offended by that approach in all honesty. Truth is the quote the OP has got is too high.

Cheers