Is this insulting to a painter & decorator?

[Rebecca L]

I am looking to decorate 3 or 4 rooms, including stripping old anaglypta wallpaper, lining walls & painting. I've had a quote from a decorator but it's way more that I can afford. Would they be really insulted if I asked them to do it all except paint? (since I can do that myself)

 

[cjard]

You could give the stripping a go too?

 

[Rebecca L]

I could but it would take me months! There are a lot of walls and it's that horrid anaglypta that's been on there for many years, painted over & over.

 

[Robbie uk]

There is nothing wrong with what your suggesting ! They will price up to that point. Cant see a problem.

 

[Rebecca L]

Thanks Robbie

 

[Bosswhite]

Depends whether they need the job,

If they are busy they will not bother ( try a general handyman )

 

[Tigercubrider]

Striping old wallpaper is a pain but low skilled

Buy a steam stripper for £25 and have a go at one room -or wall even

A device to scar the paper and allow water/steam to enter is good, plus a decent blade, -allow time for th steam to work but don't go mad so as to weaken the plaster

 

[Nige F]

Weaken - or blow the plaster get some Zinnser Dif and a Zinnser paper tiger perforator.

 

[misterhelpful]

There is no real reason why a decorator wouldn't do whatever you require, but most will want to do a job to completion. That way, they can't be blamed for the end result if it turns out badly. Most would prefer for you to strip the walls and then allow them to prep, paper and paint (I know that I would). The problem there is that you may cause more damage to the surface when stripping than a pro would, resulting in preparation time/costs being higher.

It's wise to get more than one quote - some will overcharge so you really need to compare several prices (at least three).

Try to factor in how much they would want to earn per day to get a rough idea of an average price - materials supplied would be additional. Allow 1 day to strip, 1 to prep very bad surfaces, 1 to paper, and 1 to paint, i.e., 4 days max. for an average sized room, depending on the prep required. If you get a national average charging decorator, you can expect to pay approx £125 per day. Therefore, each room should cost around £500 from start to finish, again depending on size and the amount of prep involved.

Bear in mind that, for a good job, up to 70% of labour could be in the prep work - the actual painting should usually take the shortest amount time - so, in theory, doing that part yourself wouldn't really save you an awful lot of money.