How to Compare Decorator Quotes and Spot the Gaps

Three quotes arrive for the same living room and hallway. One is £620, one is £940 and one is £1,350. It is tempting to bin the top one, call the bottom one and move on.

Hold on. The price is the last thing to compare, not the first.

Check they are quoting for the same job

A quote is only comparable if it describes the same work. Lay them side by side and look for the following.

• Which surfaces are included: walls, ceilings, woodwork, doors, radiators
• How many coats, and whether that includes primer or undercoat
• How much preparation is allowed for, such as filling, sanding and stripping
• Whether furniture moving and dust sheets are covered
• Who supplies the paint, and which brand and finish

A vague line such as “decorate lounge” tells you nothing. A good quote says what will be done to each surface.

Preparation is where the money hides

Preparation takes the time. It also decides how the finished job looks in two years’ time. A cheap quote often allows an hour of sanding for a room that needs a day of filling and making good.

Ask directly: what are you allowing for on the walls before the first coat goes on? If the answer is thin, the price is thin for a reason. Our guide to how to prepare walls before painting shows what proper prep involves, so you know what you are asking for.

Materials, and who pays for them

Some decorators include paint in the price. Others quote labour only and ask you to buy it. Neither is wrong, but you need to know which, because it changes the total by a fair margin. Our guide to what changes the price of painting a room explains why two similar rooms can be quoted differently.

Trade paint and shop paint are not the same product either. A quote that names the brand and the finish is easier to trust than one that says “two coats of emulsion”.

Look at the dates and the terms

Does the quote say when the work starts and roughly how long it will take? Is there a deposit, and how much? Is the price fixed, or an estimate that can move?

A fixed price with a clear scope protects you. An open-ended day rate can still be fair, but ask for an estimate of the days involved.

Insurance and who is actually doing the work

Ask whether the decorator carries public liability insurance. Ask whether the person who visited will be the person on site. Some firms quote with the owner and send someone else. That is not a problem if you know about it in advance.

For more on this, read how to choose a painter and decorator in Suffolk.

When the low price is fine

Sometimes the cheapest quote is simply a decorator with low overheads who works alone and does a good job. The test is not the number. It is whether the quote is detailed, whether they answered your questions without fuss, and whether you could see recent work.

When the high price is fair

A higher quote often reflects more preparation, better materials, proper protection of your floors and furniture, and a decorator who will come back to fix anything that peels. If one quote is clearly more detailed than the rest, that is worth paying attention to.

A quick way to level the field

Send the same written brief to everyone. List the rooms, the surfaces, the finish you want and any problem areas. Quotes based on the same brief are far easier to compare.

If you would like a written, itemised quote for your home, ask for one here. We cover interior painting and decorating across Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding villages.