Painting and decorating is one of the most competitive trades in the UK. Almost every homeowner needs a decorator at some point, which means there is no shortage of work — but there is also no shortage of competition. Whether you are a sole trader just starting out or an established decorating firm with a team, getting your pricing right is the difference between a thriving business and one that struggles to turn a profit.
This guide covers every aspect of pricing painting and decorating work in the UK, from choosing between day rates and per-room pricing to quoting exterior repaints, wallpapering, and commercial contracts. We will also look at how to price preparation work properly — the part of the job that catches out most decorators.
1. Should You Charge a Day Rate or Price Per Room?
This is the most common pricing question for painters and decorators, and the answer depends on the type of work you are doing.
Day Rates
Day rates in the UK for painters and decorators typically fall between £150 and £250 per day in 2026. In London and the South East, experienced decorators regularly charge £200–£300 per day, while rates in the Midlands and North tend to sit between £130 and £200.
Day rates work well for:
- Large, ongoing projects where the scope is difficult to define upfront
- Insurance restoration work where the insurer pays on a day-rate basis
- Commercial redecorations with changing requirements
- Working as a subcontractor for a main contractor or property developer
Per-Room or Fixed-Price Quoting
Per-room pricing is generally the better approach for domestic work. Customers strongly prefer knowing the total cost upfront, and fixed pricing rewards your efficiency — the faster you work without cutting corners, the more you earn per hour.
Tip: Track how long each type of room takes you over 10–20 jobs. Build a personal pricing table based on your actual speed, not industry averages. This is the single most powerful thing you can do for your profitability.
For more on structuring your quotes effectively, read our guide on writing quotes that win jobs.
2. How Much Should You Charge Per Room?
Room pricing depends on the size of the room, the condition of the walls and ceiling, and the number of coats required. Here are typical UK prices for 2026, assuming walls and ceiling with two coats of emulsion on surfaces in reasonable condition:
Interior Room Painting Prices
- Small single bedroom (8–10 m²): £250–£350
- Medium double bedroom (12–15 m²): £300–£450
- Large master bedroom (16–20 m²): £400–£550
- Living room (15–20 m²): £350–£500
- Large open-plan living area (25–40 m²): £500–£800
- Kitchen (including cutting in around cabinets): £300–£500
- Bathroom (smaller but fiddly with cutting in): £200–£350
- Hallway, stairs, and landing: £400–£700 (height and access add complexity)
Additional Items to Price Separately
- Woodwork (per door, both sides): £40–£80 (gloss or satinwood, including frame)
- Skirting boards (per room): £40–£80
- Window frames (per window): £30–£60
- Coving or picture rails: £20–£40 per room
- Radiator painting (per radiator): £30–£50
Using QuoteGuru's item library, you can save all these line items with preset prices and drop them into quotes in seconds. No more calculating from scratch for every job.
3. How Do You Price Preparation Work?
Preparation is where most decorators either make or lose their money. Customers often do not understand how much prep is involved, so it is your job to explain it clearly and price it properly.
Common Prep Work and Pricing
- Wallpaper stripping (per room): £100–£300 depending on layers and adhesion. Vinyl and painted-over wallpaper takes significantly longer than standard paste-the-wall types
- Filling and sanding (light): Included in your standard room price
- Filling and sanding (heavy, e.g., blown plaster patches): £50–£150 extra per room
- Mist coat on new plaster: £80–£150 per room (watered-down emulsion as a sealer coat before the two finish coats)
- Stain blocking (nicotine, water damage): £50–£100 per room for a specialist primer such as Zinsser BIN
- Sugar soap wash and degrease: Typically included in your standard price, but allow extra time for kitchens
Tip: Always inspect the property before quoting. Wallpaper that looks like one layer may turn out to be three. A ceiling that looks fine from the floor may have hairline cracks everywhere. A 15-minute site visit saves you from underpricing by hundreds of pounds.
4. How Much Should You Charge for Exterior Painting?
Exterior work is more profitable per job but carries higher risk due to weather, access requirements, and the condition of surfaces. Always price conservatively and include contingency for unexpected prep.
Exterior Painting Prices (UK, 2026)
- Small terraced house (front only): £500–£900
- Small terraced house (all elevations): £1,000–£1,800
- Semi-detached house: £1,500–£3,000
- Large detached house: £2,500–£5,000+
- Fascias, soffits, and bargeboards only: £400–£1,000
- Garden fence (per panel): £15–£30 (sprayed) or £25–£40 (brush/roller)
- Garden gate: £40–£80
- Exterior front door: £80–£150
Scaffolding and Access
Scaffolding is a significant additional cost that must be included in your exterior quotes:
- Scaffolding hire (standard two-storey house): £400–£900 per week
- Tower scaffold (DIY erect): £100–£250 per week
- Cherry picker hire: £150–£300 per day
Factor scaffolding into your quote as a separate line item so the customer understands it is a third-party cost. Many decorators pass this through at cost rather than marking it up, which keeps the overall quote competitive while maintaining your margin on the painting labour.
5. How Do You Handle Materials and Markup?
There are two common approaches to materials pricing in painting and decorating:
Option A: Supply and Apply (Recommended)
You supply all paint and materials as part of your quote. This is the professional standard and gives you control over product quality. Apply a markup of 15–25% on materials purchased at trade prices. On a typical room requiring £40–£60 of paint, this adds £6–£15 to your profit per room — it adds up across a full house redecoration.
Option B: Labour Only
The customer supplies the paint. This reduces your quote total (which can help win price-sensitive jobs) but removes your material margin and creates a risk — if the customer buys cheap paint that does not cover properly, you spend longer on the job for the same money.
Trade Accounts
Open trade accounts with suppliers like Dulux Trade, Crown Trade, or your local decorating merchant. Trade prices are typically 30–50% below retail, giving you room to mark up and still undercut what the customer would pay at B&Q or Wickes. For more on managing your business finances, see our guide on growing your trade business in 2026.
6. What Are the Going Rates for Wallpapering?
Wallpapering is a specialist skill that commands higher rates than painting. Many decorators avoid it, which means those who do it well can charge a premium.
Wallpapering Prices
- Standard paste-the-wall paper (per roll hung): £80–£150
- Pattern-matched paper (per roll hung): £100–£180
- Designer or luxury paper (per roll hung): £120–£200+
- Feature wall (standard paper): £100–£200 labour
- Full room (8–10 rolls typical): £400–£800 labour
- Lining paper (cross-lined, per room): £150–£300
Always quote wallpapering separately from painting. It requires different skills, different timescales, and different risks. A roll of designer wallpaper can cost £80–£200, so a mistake is expensive. Price the responsibility accordingly.
Tip: If the customer is supplying expensive wallpaper, ask them to order 10–15% extra to account for pattern matching and waste. This protects both you and the customer from a stressful situation if a roll is damaged or a batch runs out.
7. How Do You Quote Commercial Decorating Work?
Commercial painting and decorating — offices, shops, restaurants, landlord redecorations — is a different market from domestic work. Jobs are larger, timescales are tighter, and clients often require you to work outside normal hours.
Commercial Pricing Considerations
- Out-of-hours working: Add 25–50% to your day rate for evenings and weekends. Commercial clients expect this and budget for it
- Speed requirements: Retail and hospitality clients often need a fast turnaround to minimise lost trading time. Factor in longer working days or additional labour
- Health and safety: Commercial sites may require CSCS cards, method statements, risk assessments, and public liability insurance of £5 million or more. Your pricing must cover these compliance costs
- Scale discounts: On large contracts (full office floors, entire blocks of flats), a small reduction in your per-room price is acceptable because the volume and guaranteed work compensates
- Payment terms: Commercial clients often pay on 30-day terms. Factor the cost of waiting for payment into your pricing, or offer a small discount for immediate payment
For tips on structuring professional quotes that win commercial work, read our guide on writing quotes that win jobs.
8. What Are the Most Common Pricing Mistakes Decorators Make?
- Underestimating prep time: The single biggest mistake. Painting is fast — preparation is not. A room that takes three hours to paint may need four hours of stripping, filling, sanding, and priming first. Always price the prep honestly
- Quoting over the phone: Without seeing the condition of the surfaces, you are guessing. A quick site visit takes 15 minutes and can save you from a £200 underquote. Learn from our signs you need quote software article about the importance of professional quoting
- Not pricing woodwork separately: A room with six doors, built-in wardrobes, and detailed coving takes far longer than an identical room with plain walls and a flat ceiling
- Forgetting access costs: Hallway, stairs, and landing (HSL) jobs are some of the most underpriced in decorating. The height, awkward angles, and constant repositioning of steps and platforms make HSL work 30–50% slower than room painting
- Absorbing rising material costs: Paint prices have risen significantly in recent years. Review your material costs every six months and adjust your quotes accordingly
- Not taking a deposit: A deposit of 20–30% is standard practice for decorating work over £500. It covers your materials and confirms the customer is committed. Use QuoteGuru's deposit tracking to manage this automatically
9. How Can QuoteGuru Help Painters Quote Faster?
Creating accurate, professional quotes is time-consuming — especially when every room in a house requires individual pricing for walls, ceiling, woodwork, and any extras. QuoteGuru is designed specifically for tradespeople like painters and decorators to solve this problem.
- Item library: Save all your standard items — small bedroom walls and ceiling, door both sides, skirting board per room, wallpaper stripping — with preset prices. Drop them into any quote with a tap
- Templates: Create reusable quote templates for common jobs like "Full house redecoration" or "Exterior repaint — semi-detached" with all the standard line items pre-loaded
- On-site quoting: Quote while you are standing in the customer's home after your site visit. Send a professional PDF quote before you have even left the driveway
- Quote tracking: See which quotes have been viewed, accepted, or are still pending. Follow up at the right time to win more work
- Multi-room breakdowns: Itemise every room individually so the customer can see exactly what they are paying for. Transparency builds trust and reduces price objections
Ready to start quoting decorating jobs in minutes instead of hours? Try QuoteGuru free and see how our templates and item libraries transform your quoting workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do painters and decorators charge per day in the UK?
Most painters and decorators in the UK charge between £150 and £250 per day in 2026, depending on experience, location, and the type of work. In London and the South East, day rates of £200–£300 are common, while in the Midlands and North rates tend to sit between £130 and £200. Specialist decorators handling heritage restoration or high-end finishes can charge £250–£350 or more per day.
How much should I charge to paint a room in the UK?
A standard single room (walls and ceiling) typically costs between £250 and £500 to paint, depending on the room size and condition of the surfaces. A small bedroom costs around £250–£350, a medium living room £350–£500, and a large open-plan room can cost £500–£800 or more. These prices include two coats of emulsion on walls and ceiling but exclude any woodwork or wallpaper stripping.
Should painters charge by the day or by the room?
Per-room or fixed-price quoting is generally better for both you and the customer. Customers prefer knowing the total cost upfront, and fixed pricing rewards efficiency — the faster and more experienced you become, the more you earn per hour. Day rates work better for ongoing or unpredictable work like large commercial redecorations or insurance restoration jobs where the scope may change.
How much do decorators charge for wallpapering in the UK?
Wallpaper hanging rates in the UK typically range from £80 to £150 per roll for standard paste-the-wall wallpaper, or £100–£200 per roll for pattern-matched or specialist papers. A feature wall with a standard paper costs around £100–£200 for labour, while papering an entire room (roughly 8–10 rolls) costs £400–£800 for labour alone. Always quote wallpapering separately from painting as it requires different skills and more time.
How much does exterior house painting cost in the UK?
Exterior painting prices vary widely based on the size and condition of the property. A small terraced house typically costs £1,000–£1,800, a semi-detached house £1,500–£3,000, and a large detached property £2,500–£5,000 or more. These prices include scaffolding hire, preparation work (scraping, sanding, filling), primer, and two coats of exterior masonry or wood paint. Always inspect the surfaces carefully before quoting as rotten wood, blown render, or extensive flaking can significantly increase prep time.
Conclusion
Pricing painting and decorating work successfully comes down to understanding your true costs, pricing preparation honestly, and presenting your quotes professionally. Whether you charge a day rate or price per room, the key is to be consistent, track your time, and review your pricing regularly as material costs and living expenses change.
The decorators who earn the most are not always the cheapest — they are the ones who quote accurately, present professionally, and deliver on time. A well-structured quote that clearly itemises each room, explains what is included, and looks polished will win more work than a scribbled price on the back of a business card every time.
Ready to create professional painting and decorating quotes in minutes? Try QuoteGuru free and use our templates, item libraries, and AI pricing assistant to quote every job with confidence.
For more pricing guidance, explore our plumbing pricing guide, read about electrician pricing, or check out the HVAC quoting guide.