Sash window painting following refurb

chicane

I've just had my kitchen sash windows refurbished. The guy did a fantastic job of repairing the windows, removing all paint, sanding down and putting two coats of primer on, but he unfortunately doesn't offer the final coats of paint as part of his service.

I've been requesting quotes to paint the windows from the few local companies I can find that openly offer this service. My perception is that sash window painting is quite a specialist trade and all kinds of things could go wrong if I chose a company not experienced in this specific area.

The quotes I've received so far seem a bit excessive. Here's an example:

Area: Window at rear or property
• 1 x double sliding sash window at rear of property to be prepared for painting (sanding, spot priming, filling, caulking and flattening as required); to include both internal & external.
• External of this window to then receive 1 undercoat followed by 1 top coat of gloss (white).
• Internal of this window to then receive 2 coats of oil based eggshell (white). Gloss or satinwood finish can be used if preferred.
• Stone window cill & masonry in middle of the windows to be prepared & receive 2 coats of weather-shield smooth masonry paint (white).
£445.00
Materials required:
• Sandpaper, caulk, wood filler, putty. £5.00
• 0.5 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield flexible undercoat (white). £6.26
• 0.5 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield flexible high gloss (white). £6.26
• 1 Lt Dulux trade eggshell (white). £10.35
• 1 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield smooth masonry paint (white). £5.00
£32.87
Total for window: £477.87

Just for context, the area to be painted encompasses two individual sash windows in a frame measuring 265x210cm. Also, the guy that did the renovation work has already stripped all paint from the wood, sanded and painted on two coats of primer, so I'm really not sure that any further prep (sanding, spot priming, filling etc) should really be necessary.

I'm in West Yorkshire.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

casper_g

Seems steep to me. I paid about £1000 for similar painting to 18 newly refurbished sash windows last year in South Wales, although I did paint the stonework myself.

chicane

casper_g, thanks for your response.

£1000 for 18 windows sounds like bargain of the century - around £55 per window by my calculations! Was the trader in question a sole trader rather than an incorporated painting contractor?

How long did he/she spend in total painting the windows?

leveller2911

chicane wrote: »

The quotes I've received so far seem a bit excessive. Here's an example:

Area: Window at rear or property
• 1 x double sliding sash window at rear of property to be prepared for painting (sanding, spot priming, filling, caulking and flattening as required); to include both internal & external.
• External of this window to then receive 1 undercoat followed by 1 top coat of gloss (white).
• Internal of this window to then receive 2 coats of oil based eggshell (white). Gloss or satinwood finish can be used if preferred.
• Stone window cill & masonry in middle of the windows to be prepared & receive 2 coats of weather-shield smooth masonry paint (white).
£445.00
Materials required:
• Sandpaper, caulk, wood filler, putty. £5.00
• 0.5 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield flexible undercoat (white). £6.26
• 0.5 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield flexible high gloss (white). £6.26
• 1 Lt Dulux trade eggshell (white). £10.35
• 1 Lt Dulux trade weather-shield smooth masonry paint (white). £5.00
£32.87
Total for window: £477.87

Just for context, the area to be painted encompasses two individual sash windows in a frame measuring 265x210cm. Also, the guy that did the renovation work has already stripped all paint from the wood, sanded and painted on two coats of primer, so I'm really not sure that any further prep (sanding, spot priming, filling etc) should really be necessary.

I'm in West Yorkshire.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

The companies quote says 1 undercoat and 1 top coat/Gloss to the external of the windows and its not enough. If I remember the Dulux Weathershield spec it says there should be at least 2 undercoats so i wouldn't ask that company back .

I also think the quote is a bit high too. If you said a good decorator could do the entire job in 2 days then £445-00 for labour is over the top. I can't believe West Yorkshire is any more expensive than down here in the SE so you should be able to get the job done for £300-00 + materials.

I've used Dulux weathershield a fair bit over the years and generally speaking if the old paint is taken off back to bare timber you would usually use the Dulux Weathershield preservative Primer/basecoat as a primer and then the Weathershield Undercoat and Weathershield Gloss.

chicane

Leveller2911, thanks for your feedback.

Interesting point about the single coat. We did raise it as a concern when he came to visit, but he claimed that it would result in very little gain - perhaps enabling the paint job to last 6 years rather than 5.

It's also interesting that you should raise the question of pricing. 445 for labour only does seem a bit steep, especially given that he's keen only to do one exterior coat. I have to wonder how common it is for tradesmen to put in a higher quote for a given piece of work when the client lives in a more well-off area!

Back to the internet I go in search of painters and decorators then...

casper_g

chicane wrote: »

casper_g, thanks for your response.

£1000 for 18 windows sounds like bargain of the century - around £55 per window by my calculations! Was the trader in question a sole trader rather than an incorporated painting contractor?

How long did he/she spend in total painting the windows?

You're right, that would have been a bargain. On double checking I find the £1000 was the original quote for painting exterior only. The total was actually about £1600 including internal woodwork.

The decorator was a sole trader, with a good reputation locally. I'm not sure exactly how long he took. He did the work over the course of about three weeks, but I seem to recall there was some disruption to the work due to bad weather and he fitted another interior job round it to work efficiently.

PS: I'm glad to see the spec included two coats undercoat, after the posts above!