How Much Does Painting & Decorating Cost? An Honest 2026 Guide

Painting and decorating is one of those jobs where the first question is almost always the same: what's it going to cost? It's a fair question, and a frustrating one, because the honest answer is that two jobs which sound identical on the phone can be hundreds of pounds apart once we've actually seen them. This guide explains what you're really paying for, what pushes a price up or down, and how to get a figure you can rely on, written from more than 30 years of decorating homes and businesses around Broxbourne and the Lea Valley.

Why decorating has no fixed price

A decorator isn't selling tins of paint, we're selling time, skill and a finish that lasts. The paint on your walls is a small part of the total; the work is in getting the surfaces right and applying the paint properly so it still looks good in five years. Because every house is different, the amount of that work changes from job to job.

Think of two identical-sounding three-bedroom houses. In one, the walls are sound and we're going light-over-light, so it's largely a clean repaint. In the other, there's flaking woodwork to strip, cracked plaster to make good and a dark feature wall to cover. Same number of rooms, very different jobs, and a real difference in the price. That's why an honest decorator won't give you a firm number down the phone without seeing it, or at least getting a careful description of what's involved.

What actually drives the cost of a decorating job

When we work out a quote, these are the things we're really looking at. Understanding them helps you see why prices vary, and spot a quote that's been pitched too low to be realistic.

Preparation, the part of the bill you can't see

Preparation is the single biggest variable in any decorating price, and it's the part homeowners underestimate most. Filling cracks, caulking gaps, sanding back old gloss, repairing plaster, priming bare patches, none of it shows in a photo, but it's most of the labour and it's what makes the difference between a finish that lasts and one that flakes within a year. A sound, recently decorated room needs far less than one that hasn't been touched in twenty years. If you ever see a quote that looks suspiciously cheap, this is almost always where the corners are being cut. We treat surface preparation as the job itself, not an optional extra.

Room size and ceiling height

More wall and ceiling area means more paint and more time, so size is an obvious driver. Ceiling height matters as much as floor area: a Victorian room with high ceilings or a galleried stairwell takes longer and needs access equipment, which a standard box bedroom doesn't. A small en-suite and a large through-lounge are very different propositions even though both are one room.

The condition of your walls and woodwork

Sound, smooth surfaces are quick to turn around. Walls with old wallpaper to strip, blown plaster, water stains, or woodwork with layers of flaking gloss all add hours. Woodwork in particular is labour-heavy: stripping and rebuilding a tired, peeling skirting and architrave is a different job from a light sand and recoat on sound paint.

Paint and materials

Materials are usually a small share of a decorating bill, often under ten percent, because decorating is labour-led work. That said, the products you choose still move the number. Trade paints from the likes of Dulux Trade and Crown Trade cover and wear well for everyday rooms; specialist finishes such as Farrow & Ball cost more per litre and sometimes need an extra coat to cover. Kitchens, bathrooms and hallways benefit from tougher, wipeable finishes, which we'll recommend where they earn their place. If you want help choosing, colour matching is part of what we do.

Colour changes and the number of coats

Going light over light is usually two coats. Covering a dark or strong colour with a pale one, or vice versa, can mean a mist coat plus two, sometimes three, full coats to get an even finish, and that extra coat is extra labour and paint across every wall. Strong reds, deep blues and bright yellows are the classic culprits. It's worth factoring this in before you fall in love with a dramatic feature wall.

Access: stairwells, high ceilings and tight spaces

Anywhere we can't simply stand and reach costs more, because it needs towers, ladders or scaffolding and slows the work down. Stairwells and double-height hallways are the common indoor example; outside, anything above the ground floor usually means access equipment. Safe access isn't a place to cut corners, so it's a genuine line in the cost.

Where you live

We're based in Broxbourne and our core patch is east Hertfordshire and the Lea Valley, so jobs close to home carry no travel premium. Work further out, particularly into and across London where parking, ULEZ and the congestion charge come into play, carries a modest allowance for the extra time and cost of getting there. You can see the areas we cover and our calculator adjusts the estimate by postcode automatically.

Outside the house: what changes for exterior work

Exterior painting follows the same logic, the price is mostly prep, access and condition, but a few extra factors come into play outdoors:

• Weather and timing. Exterior work needs dry, mild conditions, so it's seasonal and a spell of bad weather can stretch the schedule.
• Repairs before paint. Filling cracked render, treating bare or rotten timber and sorting failed sealant all happen before a brush touches the wall.
• Access. Gutter line, eaves, gable ends and upper windows usually need scaffolding or a tower, which is a real cost on a full repaint.
• Ironwork and detail. Gutters, downpipes, railings and gates are fiddly and add time, though they make a big difference to how the finished house looks.
• The right products. Masonry and exterior wood need durable, weather-rated coatings that stand up to the British climate, not interior paint used outside.

Day rate or fixed price? How decorators quote

Decorators generally price one of two ways. Some charge a day rate and estimate how many days a job will take; others give a fixed price for the whole job. Both can be fair. A day rate is transparent and flexes if the job changes, but it relies on trusting the estimate of how long things will take. A fixed price gives you certainty and puts the risk of any overrun on us, as long as the scope is clearly agreed up front.

We quote a clear price for the work we've agreed, so you know where you stand before we start. If something genuinely unexpected turns up once we open things up, a patch of damp behind old paper, say, we'll stop, show you, and agree how to handle it rather than springing it on you at the end.

How to compare quotes without getting stung

It's sensible to get a few quotes. The trick is comparing them properly, because the headline number doesn't mean much on its own. A good quote should make clear:

• Exactly which rooms or surfaces are included, and which aren't.
• How much preparation is covered, this is where cheap quotes quietly differ.
• The number of coats and the type or brand of paint.
• Who's supplying the materials, and whether that's in the price.
• A realistic timescale, and how access or scaffolding is handled.

If one quote is dramatically cheaper than the others, don't assume you've found a bargain, work out what's been left out. The usual answers are skimped preparation, a single coat where two are needed, or trade-priced materials swapped for the cheapest available. A few warning signs worth treating with caution:

• A price agreed without anyone seeing the job or asking detailed questions.
• No mention of preparation at all.
• Cash-only, no written quote, and reluctance to show insurance.
• A large deposit demanded up front before any work starts.
• No reviews, no examples of past work, and no checkable local presence.

For peace of mind, check the basics: that the decorator is properly insured, stands behind their work, and has genuine reviews you can read. Ours are on our reviews page, our cover and the way we work are set out in our standards, and you can meet the actual people doing the job on our team page.

Five ways to keep the cost down without cutting corners

1. Do several rooms at once. A lot of the cost is setting up, masking and access. Tackling connected rooms or a whole floor in one visit is more efficient than calling someone back every few months.
2. Be flexible on timing. Booking outside the busiest periods, and exterior work in settled weather, gives more scheduling room.
3. Sort small repairs first. Fixing a leak or damp source before we decorate means we're not painting over a problem that'll come back.
4. Keep colours sensible where it doesn't matter. Save the dramatic, hard-to-cover shades for the rooms you really want them in, and you'll save on extra coats elsewhere.
5. Clear the rooms if you can. We'll always move and protect furniture, but a clear room is quicker to work in, and quicker means cheaper.

Getting an accurate figure for your home

If you want a rough idea right now, our pricing calculator gives an instant ballpark based on your rooms, the work involved and your postcode. It's a guide, not a quote, but it's built around the kind of jobs we actually do, so it puts you in the right ballpark before anyone visits.

For a firm figure, nothing beats a proper look. We'll come and see the job, talk through what you want, and give you an honest written quote with no obligation and no pressure, whether it's a single room, a full interior repaint or the whole house inside and out. We're a family-run team, fully insured, with more than 30 years behind us and a lot of work that comes from repeat customers and recommendations. Tell us about your project and we'll take it from there.