DIY Interior Painting or hire a Professional?

pjcox2005

I've done a range of painting myself or more recently bringing someone in to do it.

Whilst some have pointed out you save yourself costs, it depends on if you value your time elsewhere. At work we can "buy back" 5 days holiday (i.e. lose pay) and that would be more than its costs to get a decorator, so it seems pointless to take a day off to do a job I don't really enjoy. Even if I did it over a weekend, I'm losing the chance to do other stuff and as such will probably choose not to do as much myself going forward.

You could split the job down, as mentioned rooms are relatively straightforward (although still take a fair bit of time to prep and put multiple coats on), where as stairs and landing are trickier so not a job I ever intended to do myself.

arbrighton

We've always painted/ decorated ourselves first but having just had an extension with vaulted ceilings done and struggled with one room, we are considering having the other room done. But not all the rooms that need it as that would cost a fortune when we've already shelled out loads on renovations.
We are capable of doing it, and I was taught by my mum but I suspect I will be rather fed up of it by the time I've finished.

Prep key though and buying decent paint

ps124

Hi All,

Wow that's alot of info and some great advice.

My builders are really really good, however, like someone has said above, they get their trusted labourer and have a cut on top of that.

The quote for my hallway is £1750 which includes new spindles on the stairs (which I need) and LED lights flush fitted down the stairs (nice touch selected by my partner but not really a necessity). So im thinking to myself, ill just get them to do the spindles and paint and decorate myself as ive still got a good 2 weeks of annual leave to take.

Even a painter who charges per day (for eg £100) should be able to do the spindles and paint in 5 days should they not? That would be like less then half the price.

I might give it a go myself too. I'm now less inclined to go with the builders even though they are very good.

Another question for you DIYers...down the sides of the staircase, I have this wooden board against the wall...how.what do you use to repair the dings, dents and scratches? Its a wooden surface similar to a door frame.

wallbash

.how.what do you use to repair the dings, dents and scratches? Its a wooden surface similar to a door frame.

Well I have a half sheet sander and a detail sander, so I would use them to start with.

arbrighton

ps124 wrote: »

Another question for you DIYers...down the sides of the staircase, I have this wooden board against the wall...how.what do you use to repair the dings, dents and scratches? Its a wooden surface similar to a door frame.

Depending on size, I have to admit many get sanded a little and painted over- gloss paint tends to partially fill. Or sand, fill and then paint