Anyone experienced in painting houses?

bobwilson

We would like to get the front of our small terraced house painted with a fresh lick of paint prior to selling. It's probably about 20m2 or less once you take account for the windows.

Info on google seems to indicate £100 - £150 a day for a painter, plus paint. The house is in the outer suburbs outside sunny London and I just received a quote of £860+VAT.

I thought about doing it myself since I have experience painting internally, but being slightly past midlife, I'm not as energetic as I used to be! I've searched for advice on google & ladders on Amazon but admit I'm a little lost as to what to get. They don't look that sturdy!?

So my question is two fold:

Might anyone experienced be able to suggest

a.) what is a reasonable quote?
b.) what ladder should I get? (incase of doing it myself) :T

On the up-side, if I fall off the ladder I won't have to worry about house maintenance any more :rotfl:

bobwilson

Guess not then!

Doozergirl

Be patient. There's not that many people about in the middle of the night! I'm only here as DH has just gone on an airport run.

Look at hiring a scaffolding tower. A ladder isn't appropriate to work off.

greenface

our local window cleaner is also a fairly handy painter . It probably could be done off a dect set of ladders if you are used to ladder working . north of England but he takes 2 or 3 days at around 120/130 a day you buy the paint . prep . base and top coat

cybervic

£100 a day is cheap, I'm in south east and painter I've been getting quotes from have day rate between £160 - £180.

TELLIT01

Around £150 per day for labour is about the norm where I live in the West of England. Depending on the height they are working at, Health & Safety rules may require they work from a scaffolding tower. That would certainly add to the cost. There may also be a need to apply more than one coat of paint, so additional time for that.
Have you asked for a breakdown of costs, or how long the job will take?

the_JHD

Price wise most self employed decorators will charge between £120-£200 per day, but will work on a price of the job rather than a day rate. That includes a lot of running costs for their business, insurance , fuel, tax, etc. Obviously if you find someone who is doing it on the side they will do it cheaper.
Then the price will depend on if scaffolding is needed or it can be done off ladders, plus paint costs. Quality paint and materials obviously cost more than the retail stuff in b&q and for good reason.
Rule of thumb, get three quotes minimum and check if they are insured. Checkatrade and trustmark are good starting points and Dulux Select Decorators too for quality decorators (bias slightly as I am a member!) Also recommendations are good.

king132

Buy an airless paint sprayer (Wagner, Ozito) and do it yourself. Takes a bit of getting use to but its really quick and has a better finish than roller imho.

Doozergirl

king132 wrote: »

Buy an airless paint sprayer (Wagner, Ozito) and do it yourself. Takes a bit of getting use to but its really quick and has a better finish than roller imho.

There's a huge variation in pricing. Which one to buy?

longwalks1

we have a local painter who now charges £120 a day, workes well, very neat and tidy but does need 20 cups of tea a day to keep him going



We're in Essex, and know of several guys who will work for £120 a day doing most general things (painting, garden help, groundwork help etc). If we were wanting our house painting outside, we'd ask one of those I think