How to price painting and decorating jobs

Learning how to price painting and decorating jobs well saves you from the classic trap: a job that looked like two days of painting and turned into four days of filling, sanding and fixing problems. Preparation, access and the customer’s expectations make the biggest difference.

This guide gives a method. Your prices depend on your costs, speed and area.

Choose how you price

Most decorators use one or a mix of these:

• Per room: easy for customers to understand, good for typical rooms.
• Per square metre: more accurate for larger or unusual areas.
• Day rate: useful for unpredictable work, though customers usually prefer a total.

Whichever you use, work out the time first, then turn it into a price. See how to price a job and our free pricing calculator.

Preparation is the big variable

Preparation often takes as long as painting. Ask about and allow for:

• cracks, holes and filling;
• peeling paint, flaking or damp marks;
• stripping wallpaper;
• sanding woodwork;
• moving and covering furniture.

Photos from the customer help you judge the condition before you visit.

Materials

Decide whether you supply paint or the customer does. If you do, include quality paint, primer, fillers, caulk, tape and sundries, with a margin. Note the number of coats, especially for big colour changes.

Access and exterior work

Stairwells, high ceilings and exteriors need extra time and equipment. For exterior work, include access equipment or scaffolding, weather delays and preparation such as washing down and repairing woodwork.

Room-by-room ranges

Many customers just want to know what one room will cost. Common factors:

• size of the room;
• walls only, or ceilings, woodwork and doors too;
• condition and preparation;
• colour change and number of coats;
• furniture and access.

An instant estimator for painters asks these questions on your website and shows a ballpark range. Read how to give a ballpark price.

Make the quote clear

Spell out rooms, surfaces, preparation, number of coats, who supplies paint, and what’s not included. Our guide on how to write a quote has a checklist.

Questions

Should decorators charge per room or per day?

Customers usually prefer a price per room or per job. Work it out from your day rate and time estimate, then give a total.

How do I price wallpapering?

Usually by roll or by wall area, allowing for stripping old paper, preparation, pattern matching and the type of paper.

Should I charge more for exterior painting?

Exterior work usually needs more preparation, access equipment and allowance for weather, so it’s often priced higher.

For finding customers, see marketing ideas for tradesmen.