Interior Decoration Quote

ironmanjason

We have just moved into our first home and are newbies to DIY and are very short on time currently.. so we have asked for a couple of decorators to quote..

the scope of work includes - removing wallpaper (probably 15+ years old) in living room, hallway and stairs, landing and master bedroom. Fillers/sanding the plaster where required (not sure if we need complete replaster), apply primer and white paint (will decide on actuall colours later in the year). The ceiling will also be included in all these locations.

We have received 2 quotes so far..

1) £7k for all the work and will also not touch the ceiling but rather put a new plasterboard and screw it over and painting.. (medium sized company I guess - quoted to do the work in 2 weeks).
2)£1600 for the same work but will not be using the plasterboard.. and is a more local contractor (probably quite small as he mentioned there are 3 of them to do the work in a week at most). When probed what if the plaster board needs replacing after stripping the wallpaper he said cost can maximum come to about £3k and not more.

Whilst I still have 2 more contractors to visit I just wanted to check with other users with similar experience.. and if it helps this is in southwest London (zone 3).

somethingcorporate

£7k seems obscene. You could reskim and redecorate the entire lot for that!

Fire_Fox

:eek: £7K for two weeks work, possibly plus skim coat of plaster, possibly plus repainting in a different colour in a few months? :eek:

Are you intending to get all those rooms decorated at once? If yes where will you be living, and/ or where will your furniture go? If you are very short on time, who will be checking in with the decorators each day?

Do you know anyone who is experiencd in DIY prepping and decorating, or experienced in renovating properties? An older relative or colleague perhaps? Someone who could look over the rooms (IRL or a well lit video, showing surfaces from different angles) and say what they would expect to find under the wallpaper, and how bad the ceiling is.

ironmanjason

We have our current property to rent until end of month / early Feb.. so there is literally nothing there so I'm happy for them to work without supervision.. I will be changing locks once we move in anyway.. we have spoken well with our new neighbors who can help us with letting them in and locking up.. unfortunately I'm not from the UK and not aware of any family or friend who has done DIY. The third quote has come at just about 4k but again not doing complete re plastering.. I have asked the second guy 5o provide references so I can speak to his previous clients and get some feedback..

Fire_Fox

Ooooh you are being quoted for a rush job. _pale_

Check your buildings/ contents insurance policies if you haven't already. Companies might wriggle out of a claim with house keys being passed about.

ironmanjason

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Ooooh you are being quoted for a rush job. _pale_

Check your buildings/ contents insurance policies if you haven't already. Companies might wriggle out of a claim with house keys being passed about.

I checked and does not say anything obivious.. we anyway plan on leaving one set of keys with them in case of emergencies considering that we are going to live next to each other long term! We are more inclined towards the small contractor now.. Need to wait until thursday for the final decorator to visit and quote..

Doozergirl

I think it's actually hard to quote for anything that is behind wallpaper as you don't know what you're going to find.

£1600 is not going to buy you a week of three skilled labourers.

I think £7k is doing some serious backside covering, but I'd be wanting to cover my backside too if I didn't know what to expect. I've been renovating for 20 years and the proof of what is behind paper is always in the pudding. You cannot guess.

I would ask for a quote to remove the wallpaper and then see what you are faced with.

It's a waste of money to paint the walls white and then change your mind, in my honest opinion. Give yourself the chance of it only needing painting once. Have a good guess at some colours now and change it later in the year if you don't like it. The only cost then is the difference between brilliant white paint and the chosen colours. Otherwise you have all the labour of the inevitable repaint from white.

ironmanjason

You are right in terms of not having to paint twice.. 99% chances are that we do a DIY painting over the summer at our own pace.. and if its white we thought it is easier to paint over..

I agree we cannot guess what is behind the wallpaper.. We tried removing it along the edges at a few places around the house and except for one corner most looked to come of ok and the painters who surveyed saw this as well.. My guess is even if they have to to plaster the rooms all over 7k is still quite steep.. maybe 3-4k sounds reasonable at most considering its just 2 rooms and the hallway and landing.

Doozergirl

I promise you that white is not easier to paint over. in some cases it's harder because it's such a brilliant colour. You often can't even see it until after you think you're finished and realised you've missed some and it actually needs another coat.

ironmanjason

we initially thought we just do the coat of primer and leave it at that but then not sure if that is a good idea..