Builders, painters, decorators...lend me your ears

LIG

LIG

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Advice from any trades-peeps would be appreciated.

What I'd like to know is how many man hours would take to paint a 2bed house. All walls ceilings and doors/skirtings etc.
And what would be the approx labour cost.

Trying to set up the renovation (minor) and full repaint of dad's house but would be good to have approx numbers beforehand.

Thanks fellas (and fellees????!)
 
Personally I'd be tempted to have it done room by room as you can empty each one yourself and have a clear picture of what you want done in there. I doubt it would be any more expensive as you'll likely get stung (financially and quality of workmanship and even cheap materials) if you ask for a quote for the whole lot.

If you like what someone does to the 1st room then ask them to quote for the rest.
 
Firstly I've never heard anything like the above before. Why does everyone assume British trades men are cowboys who will rip everyone off. Unfortunately mate it is really difficult to give prices over the net, not because no one knows what to charge more the fact that they do not know how much prep work is needed. It is far from just a case of slapping paint on a wall willy nilly. If you are cowboy then yes you can do that but anyone worth his salt will need to know what condition the walls and woodwork are in.
My advise, get a quote from someone you have recommendations for, that way you can trust the quality of the work and know you will get an A+ job done.
 
drawboy said:
Firstly I've never heard anything like the above before. Why does everyone assume British trades men are cowboys who will rip everyone off.
Click to expand...

13yrs running a property maintenance business, I've seen it all. Not many out there I would actually trust to be honest.

Agree about getting a quote online, someone needs to see the work for real to assess what needs to be done.
 
drawboy said:
Firstly I've never heard anything like the above before. Why does everyone assume British trades men are cowboys who will rip everyone off. Unfortunately mate it is really difficult to give prices over the net, not because no one knows what to charge more the fact that they do not know how much prep work is needed. It is far from just a case of slapping paint on a wall willy nilly. If you are cowboy then yes you can do that but anyone worth his salt will need to know what condition the walls and woodwork are in.
My advise, get a quote from someone you have recommendations for, that way you can trust the quality of the work and know you will get an A+ job done.
Click to expand...

Exactly what drawboy said, would need to be seen to give an accurate price. You will always get people quoting really cheap but will only do a rushed job. I would try an get someone recommended to you by someone who can vouch for their work.
 
Put it this way, if you got 10 quotes and 9 of them quote you £2000 but 1 of them charge you £1000 then think why they are quoting you half the price more than likely they are cowboys. so be very cautious with that and them prices are just out of thin air by the way.
 
My old mans been a Painter and Decorator for 40 years and retired last year due to the economic downturn. He always worked on recommendation from previous jobs and had a great reputation in the North West. My advice would be to canvas opinion from as many people you trust as possible, then get quotes from every one who is recommended. Make sure you get the quote itemised so that you can see what materials are being used, or possibly agree to supply your own (A good tradesman will have an account at a local trade centre). Just be aware that anybody can buy the equipment and put an advert in the paper. Genuine tradesmen work mainly from word of mouth...
 
Thanks guys. I understand about seeing the place for proper quote, but lets assume for the moment it is just the repaint required. What should I be looking at in terms of the hours required?

The plasterer is booked for tomorrow and I'm looking to get the job started 3-4 days later, to get done by Easter. I need to work out how many painters I need to meet that timescale. Can somebody give me any firm(ish) numbers? :confused:

Would be a great help to be able to sort this out sharpish as I'm also trying to make time to get to the Kent and Woburn meets, not to mention getting in at least one visit to the range beforehand, so that I don't make a complete and utter ---- of myself. I'd hate to step onto the 1st tee at Chart having not touched a club for three weeks - that's got DISASTER written all over it. In capitals!
:p
 
New plaster work needs three coats of emulsion, so to do a room, say 12" X 12" you would be looking at 2-2.5 days, that would include one door and a window and skirtings, but if you have more woodwork than that then 3 days.

Labour cost would be hard to say, its different everywhere you go, down here in Dorset I can charge £175-200 a day without any problem,so your best bet is to get down your local decorating shop and chat to a few decorators.

You say you wanted the painting to start 3-4 days after the plastering is done, that would not be a good idea, plaster needs time to dry out, you might get someone to paint right away but i would advise against it, to help the drying out process get yourself a dehumidifier going as soon as possible but i would leave it a good week, it might look dry and feel dry to the touch but it will take a while to fully dry out.

Good luck and don't just go for the cheapest quote, get a few and then read through them and try to find out a bit about each decorator or firm you deal with, word of mouth is good, do they have a web site and if so check out there work and reviews.
 
Also make sure whatever price you get is a quote and not an estimate. Estimates can alter, however a quote is just that and once submitted if you accept the quote the trader must provide the quoted service for that cost.

And as others have said make sure they visit to provide the estimate/quote otherwise. Also a good trade will not require you to pay anything up front. Aside of for materials but for painting a house the cost is minimal in materials.

Also a good place to visit is Rated People.... just do your research. As others have said word of mouth approval by a friend or neighbour is usually the best place to start.
 
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