How much should it cost to decorate your house?
How much should it cost to have your living room painted? Or perhaps what does it cost per square metre for wall papering? We have been collecting user feedback on home decorating costs and now show them in the table below.
The links on the left hand side of the table will take you to other pages on Whatprice that will give more specific examples of decorating prices. The prices are from user feedback, personal experience and research.
If you find this page useful or perhaps you think it inaccurate please have a look at the form below and see if you can contribute any prices from your own experience and help others pay the right decorating price.
| General description | Specific description | Average | Price Range | Units | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diy painting | House | £454 | £100-1200 | per house | 2013-01-09 |
| Diy painting | One room | £168 | £40-370 | per item/job | 2012-04-26 |
| Exterior painting | £170 | £170 | per day | 2008-07-08 | |
| Exterior painting | £849 | £300-2345 | per house | 2011-04-09 | |
| Exterior painting | £1621 | £120-6000 | per private | 2014-10-07 | |
| Exterior painting | Walls | £2584 | £320-9880 | per house | 2015-06-19 |
| Exterior painting | Walls | £28 | £20-35 | per m2 | 2006-07-02 |
| Exterior painting | Walls+Woodwork | £1340 | £180-2500 | per day | 2010-08-26 |
| Exterior painting | Walls+Woodwork | £1972 | £350-6215 | per house | 2015-05-11 |
| Exterior painting | Woodwork | £848 | £180-3100 | per house | 2015-08-18 |
| Interior & exterior painting | £571 | £100-3000 | per | 2015-07-12 | |
| Interior & exterior painting | £2250 | £2250 | per house | 2010-05-24 | |
| Interior & exterior painting | £700 | £700 | per item/job | 2009-01-12 | |
| Interior painting | £1136 | £250-2500 | per house | 2015-06-23 | |
| Interior painting | £1012 | £150-3200 | per item/job | 2015-03-24 | |
| Interior painting | £876 | £41-3600 | per private | 2014-11-30 | |
| Interior painting | House | £1642 | £500-6000 | per house | 2015-04-23 |
| Interior painting | House | £2245 | £150-10300 | per item/job | 2015-03-10 |
| Interior painting | One room | £364 | £40-2500 | per item/job | 2015-02-24 |
| Interior painting | Two rooms | £541 | £150-2083 | per item/job | 2013-03-28 |
| Paint whole house | £1513 | £500-3400 | per house | 2015-07-31 | |
| Paint whole house | £2266 | £400-10000 | per private | 2015-07-26 | |
| Painter | £700 | £700 | per | 2012-01-08 | |
| Painter | £484 | £100-1325 | per day | 2014-02-23 | |
| Painter | Daily Rate | £570 | £120-3850 | per day | 2015-03-22 |
| Painter | Hourly Rate | £206 | £10-950 | per hour | 2010-02-08 |
| Painter day rate | £163 | £40-1100 | per private | 2015-07-30 | |
| Painter hourly rate | £213 | £8-600 | per private | 2015-06-04 |
External house painting may seem expensive but the there is a very large surface to paint and this will take time.
"I've seen prices paid by people in my area for 3 bed semi - 2 coats weather shield, the usual prep work before painting, prices: £1700 the minimum paid to £4700"
bob
"I can't make head nor tail of your prices above, its a shambles."
Neil
"I don't think that you can get gardener for £8 with the tools, etc. Usually prices are between £18-£32 (Admin: Mostly true but depends on what you want doing. If its just cutting the lawn and a bit of tidying up then there are plenty of people who would do it for a bit of extra cash, but its not enough for a full-time career. I agree you are mostly looking at more than £18 (some charge £35 in my village)"
Darius
"I would suggest, based on my 25 years experience both on and off "the tools" that the prices quoted on this page are insultingly low and I would suggest that anyone who is considering have the exterior of their home painted should DOUBLE the silly prices posted on this site! Pay cheap and pay twice. Always choose a reputable painting contractor, one who has been around for years, and one who takes pride in their work, and one that uses the BEST paint or Wall coating materials available, and someone offers a guarantee."
Guy Alexander Bell. Bsc.(hons). Surveyor
"I had a great painter and decorator from Devongreat painter and decorator from Devon who did the best job ever!"
ANdy Fields
"I have been a operations & contracts manager for many years now i am also a QS i have to cost for tenders do take offs from plans, deal with quotes from sub contractors etc etc i monitor prices constantly and i agree that there is such a variant across the uk it is difficult to price any job or trade, having employed some few hundred tradesmen and sub contractors it is dis heartening that often what you get for your money is often substantially less than value for money. so my advice is put quality over cost and research the tradesmen or company more than the price because a quality job will last longer need less maintaining and pay for itself in the long run. Believe me in my experience (which is 35yrs) there are more bad jobs than poor prices and better prices than good tradesmen."
steve needham
"City and Guilds Certificates can be verified by a client by checking that the hologram is printed on the corner. Frequently genuine certificates are printed on specialist paper, which cannot be photocopied without the words "Copied" showing up. Certificates that don't do this when copied are not genuine. Do not accept qualifications at face value, as it is obvious that unqualified people are trading as qualified (as per comments!).
Qualified people - ensure that you are not undercut by unqualified people who are trading - Rogue Traders might be getting a call!"
B (College Lecturer)
"Many thanks for the info. I have just bought myself an HVLP sprayer, made up some city & guilds certificates on my PC etc and I'm about to set myself up as a painter & decorator - undercutting everyone by charging £12 per hour! "
Jon. E. Step
"Hmmn, We use £15 (based on my experience) an hour in the decorating costs calc I put together. Hardly anyone appears to submit hourly rates for trades - myself included! If you have any more feedback please contact us via email at webmaster@whatprice.co.uk"
Admin
"Your prices are way out you tell me how an experienced tradesman can run a van & pay taxes & men on £10.00 an hour cant be done sorry. That equates to £80.00 per day the minimunn today is £15.00 you ask any descent tradesman.Unless they are our unskilled foreign labour which is probably the case descent they will work for nothing, I know at first hand as I have run my own painting & decorating business for 45 years long before you or the internet decided to assume that tradesmen should work for that appaling rate of £10.00 insult "
M