Honest painting & decorating prices for London
Most London decorators won't publish prices. We do — because you deserve to know roughly what a job costs before someone visits your home. These are real bands from jobs we've completed in the last 12 months across Greater London.
Fixed jobs, not day rates
Painting and decorating in London is priced one of two ways: day rate, or fixed price per job. Day rate protects the decorator; fixed price protects you. We only work fixed. You get a written quote with paint spec, coat counts, protection and clean-down all included — you know the total before we start.
Every price band below assumes trade-grade paint (Dulux Trade, Farrow & Ball, Little Greene, Tikkurila, Zinsser), full floor and furniture protection, minor filling and caulking, and end-of-job clean-down. Bigger repair work (blown plaster, rotten timber, damp fixes) is quoted separately and always explained line by line.
Interior painting — room by room
Bands assume 2 topcoats + trim, average London room size, standard prep. Full-house repaints benefit from ~15% economy of scale vs. adding rooms one at a time.
Exterior painting
Scaffold and access are usually the biggest exterior variable. We coordinate them and price them transparently, never marked up.
Specialist services
Why two similar rooms can quote differently
- Prep condition
Freshly plastered vs. 30 years of layered paint with cracks and picture-hook holes is a 30–60% swing on labour.
- Number of colours
Every colour change adds cutting-in time. A one-colour room is faster than four accent walls.
- Paint spec
Dulux Trade is our standard. Farrow & Ball, Little Greene and Bulmer materials cost 3–4× more per litre — beautiful, but reflected in the quote.
- Access
Top-floor conversion with no lift, or a stucco third floor needing scaffold — access is a real cost.
- Ceiling height
Standard 2.4m London ceiling vs. 3.2m Victorian is 30%+ more paint and more time on ladders/steps.
Get a specific price for your job
Pricing questions, answered
Why don't you list prices as a single day rate?+
Because a decorator's day rate says nothing about how long the job actually takes. A £250/day decorator who takes 6 days to paint a room is more expensive than a £320/day decorator who takes 3. We quote fixed prices per job so you know the total number before we start.
Do you charge for the site visit and quote?+
No. Free site visit and written quote for any job in Greater London. Usually turned around within 24–48 hours of the visit.
What's included in the price?+
Everything — labour, all trade-grade paint, materials, protection, minor filling and caulking, and end-of-job clean-down. Scaffold, cherry picker or specialist coatings are broken out separately so you can see them.
Are the prices on this page fixed?+
They're indicative bands from real jobs completed in the last 12 months across London. Your actual quote depends on prep, colour changes, access and paint spec — always fixed and written before we start.
Do you charge extra for weekends or evenings?+
Residential work is priced Monday–Friday daytime. Weekend or evening work is typically +20–35%. Commercial out-of-hours pricing is agreed per job.
Do you offer payment plans?+
For jobs over £3,000 we take a small deposit (typically 20%) with the balance on completion. Larger multi-week jobs are staged with agreed milestone payments.
Are you VAT registered?+
Yes. All quotes and invoices show VAT clearly.
Ready for a specific fixed quote?
Send a couple of photos and a rough scope — you'll have a written quote in your inbox the same working day, or the next morning at the latest.