Is this quote fair? Decorating and painting in Birmingham

lifegoeson

Hello guys,

Our flat is about 1300 square feet and we would like to have our long hallway, living room (with open space kitchen) and 2 bedrooms redecorated.

We have 3 quotes so far. 1 with an italian decorator who quoted us £2500. We believe he just wanted to try to get as much money out of us coz he thought we are rich (which we are not!!!). Then we got another quote from a fireman who has 2nd job as decorator and again, he quoted us £2600.

The last quote we got is from this guy who seemed to be very professional (he has his own limited company). He quoted us £1200 (inc VAT) including materials supplied from Dulux. Here is the breakdown:

Bedroom 1
Prepare walls and woodwork (excluding doors)
Apply emulsion to walls (at least 2 coats)
Apply undercoat to woodwork
Apply gloss to woodwork
Bedroom 2
Prepare walls and woodwork (excluding doors)
Apply emulsion to walls (at least 2 coats)
Apply undercoat to woodwork
Apply gloss to woodwork
Main Living Area
Prepare walls and woodwork (excluding doors)
Apply emulsion to walls (at least 2 coats)
Apply undercoat to woodwork
Apply gloss to woodwork
Hallway
Prepare walls and woodwork (excluding doors)
Apply emulsion to walls (at least 2 coats)
Apply undercoat to woodwork
Apply gloss to woodwork

Estimated time for completion: 7 days



And by any chance any of you from Birmingham, have you heard of Robert Cook Decorating service? He seemed very responsive to our calls (unlike other tradesmen like tilers we have contacted). And he did not quote us a "price from the sky" so we are thinking to go ahead with him.


What do you guys think about this quote? I just want to confirm that this is a fair one and not just because he is the cheapest (and the others 2 are rippers hence we can't actually compare).



Any advices are very much appreciated.


Thanks a bunch.:T

misgrace

Is he going to paint the ceilings as well?, also, is it the same wall colour all the way through the flat?

TBH, I wouldnt go with the fireman, he is far too expensive, and they are the bane of a P&D life,lol they have like three or four days off before they start thier next lot of shifts, and they think they can decorate to a high standard

I think £1200 is not a bad price, and he would have to pay VAT on all materials from the dulux decorating centre, but, would have thought he would paint a couple coats on the ceilings also.
Also, if you have carpets, he has to mask up, sheet up, clean up every night before he goes home, move furniture around etc.

I am a P&D, and without the ceilings, I could do the job in about 5- 6 days, but depends on what prep there is, how bad is your woodwork, do they need a lot of filling.

I would ask for references though, or at least tel no's for his last 3 or 4 jobs, and if he is prepared to hand them over without blinking an eyelid, then I would go for it lol.

No, seriously I dont think you will get a better price,but just check his previous work.

I always carry my book of previous clients/jobs with me when I go to price up a job, and I say to the client to pick any name or names from my book and ring them.
I dont show them pics of my previous work, as to me, I could have copied them from a mag or something, but by giving them a choice to ring whoever they want, at least I know they have actually spoken to the people I have done work for.

john0612

ask him to break the qoute up, i.e each room

he's basically doing it for £1020ish ex VAT, and that sounds slightly cheap tbh.

also you said "including materials supplied from Dulux" check which paint he is using dulux or gliddens ? as the latter is far cheaper and not as good as dulux, if he is using dulux then i really can't see where he is making money on the job, as said by misgrace , get some reffs and check him up, if your happy go for it.

i would also get another few quotes just to compare, and also get them to break it into each room, as you can add extra onto the job without seeing it.

misgrace

I always give a seperate quote for each room, sometimes its easier to quote if your doing each room in a different colour.
But, if he is using the same undercoat and gloss all way the through, then one 2.5 ltr tin would do the whole lot easy.

TBH, If he does use gliddens, then its not a bad paint, I swear by it, I think the UC and gloss is very good, and the vinyl matt has a good coverage, plus, its made by ICI, same people that make Dulux, and comes off the same conveyer belt.;)

eco-friendly_2

Then we got another quote from a fireman who has 2nd job as decorator and again, he quoted us £2600.

Keep well away from this STAND BY FIREMAN/ PART TIME AMATEUR , ( who will want a cash payment ie ,non tax payer ) you will get your fingers burned . pun intended.


He's putting out fires because he can't hack it as a professional decorator.

john0612

misgrace wrote: »

TBH, If he does use gliddens, then its not a bad paint, I swear by it, I think the UC and gloss is very good, and the vinyl matt has a good coverage, plus, its made by ICI, same people that make Dulux, and comes off the same conveyer belt.;)

don't get me wrong misgrace, i'm not dissing gliddens, i use it all the time too and like it expect some colours in gloss which have a poor body.

i'm mearly saying that if diy man is quoting dulux and putting on gliddens then the mark up can be up nearly 3 times as much. (well with my discount % anyway)