Painting & Decorating London
Interior and exterior painters across London. Single rooms from £200, full 1-bed flat repaints from £900. Full prep, two-coat policy, trade Dulux / Crown / Farrow & Ball. £5m public liability, 12-month workmanship guarantee.
Ceiling spray, woodwork gloss, feature walls, end-of-tenancy white-outs and exterior masonry. Free same-week site survey.
Mobile? Call 07456 975436.
Painting and decorating in London ranges from £200 for a single bedroom to £3,200 for a full 3-bed house repaint. Every job includes full surface prep, a two-coat policy, and trade-grade Dulux, Crown or Farrow & Ball paint. Exterior masonry is priced from £45/sqm. Free same-week site survey, fixed quote within 24 hours.
What sets a proper painting job apart
A great paint job is 60% preparation and 40% paint. Anyone with a brush can put colour on a wall — what separates a finish that lasts five years from one that fails in twelve months is everything that happens before the first coat goes on. Filling, sanding, caulking, priming, masking, sheeting, dust extraction and surface degreasing all happen on prep day, and skipping any of them shows up under the first raking light from a winter window.
The second rule is the two-coat policy. Manufacturers spec their paint at a specific film thickness — typically 35–45 microns dry per coat for trade emulsion. A single coat hits 20 microns at best, which is why single-coated walls show patchy colour, inconsistent sheen and visible roller laps as soon as a side light hits them. Two coats laid wet-edge to wet-edge with the correct drying interval is the only way to deliver the durability and depth the can promises.
The third rule is trade paint. Retail emulsion is formulated to cover in two coats over a clean wall in a customer's living room. Trade emulsion is formulated for opacity, durability, washability, and the ability to take repeated cuts-in along a tight ceiling line. Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt, Crown Trade Clean Extreme, Johnstone's Aquaguard and Tikkurila Optiva are the workhorses. For heritage finishes — Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion, Little Greene Intelligent Matt and Edward Bulmer pigments — the prep has to be sharper still, because nothing forgives a flat sheen quite like a higher-VOC trade matt does.
What we cover
Interior and exterior. Domestic and commercial. Single rooms, full repaints, end-of-tenancy turnarounds and recurring landlord refresh cycles. Every booking gets the same prep discipline regardless of size.
- Full surface prep — fill, sand, caulk, dust off and prime bare patches
- Two-coat policy on every wall, ceiling and woodwork surface as standard
- Trade emulsion from Dulux Trade, Crown Trade, Farrow & Ball and Little Greene
- Woodwork in oil-based gloss, water-based satin or eggshell on skirting, frames and doors
- Airless spray ceilings for new-build, end-of-tenancy white-out and large open-plan rooms
- Feature walls — Farrow & Ball heritage palette, statement colours, micro-cement and wallpaper coordination
- Wallpaper stripping, lining paper hanging and repaper preparation
- Exterior masonry — Sandtex, Weathershield, mineral silicate paints, full algicide treatment
- Sash and casement window painting, decorative cornice and ceiling rose touch-ups
- Full dust-sheet protection, daily clean-down, snag-list walkthrough on completion
Pricing — fixed quote, no surprises
Pricing is by room or by whole-property package. Every quote includes prep, two coats throughout, trade paint at standard colours, dust sheets, daily clean-down and the final snag walk. Trade-paint upgrade to Farrow & Ball or Little Greene is a per-litre supplement quoted on the day.
| Job | What’s Covered | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Single bedroom | Walls + ceiling, two coats, full prep, sockets and switches masked. | £200–£400 |
| Living room / reception | Walls + ceiling, woodwork gloss/satin, radiator boxing-in retouched. | £300–£500 |
| Hallway, landing & stairs | Full vertical-drop emulsion, spindle painting, skirting, dado rails. | £400–£700 |
| 1-bed flat — full repaint | All walls, ceilings, woodwork, doors, frames. Two-coat policy throughout. | £900–£1,400 |
| 2-bed flat / house — full repaint | All rooms, hallway, stairs, kitchen ceiling, bathroom ceiling. | £1,400–£2,000 |
| 3-bed house — full repaint | Whole-house including stairwell, all woodwork, doors and frames. | £2,200–£3,200 |
| Exterior masonry painting | Pebbledash, render, brick. Fungicide wash, stabiliser, two top coats. | POA from £45/sqm |
* Prices include VAT, trade paint at standard colours, full prep and two-coat policy. Heritage paint upgrades quoted separately. Full pricing list on the pricing page.
How it works — four steps
Free quote — same-week site visit
A site survey is booked within 2–3 working days across London. The decorator measures every room, notes filler work, scaffolding or access tower needs, and writes a fixed price line by line. Quote is in your inbox within 24 hours of the visit — no obligation, no deposit asked at this stage.
Prep day — the hidden 60% of the job
Furniture is moved or sheeted, carpets covered, sockets and switches masked. Walls are filled with Toupret or Easi-Fill, sanded to flat, caulked at every wall/ceiling junction. Bare patches are spot-primed. Woodwork is sanded, knots sealed with shellac and primed. This is where the finish is made or lost.
Two-coat paint application
Mist coat on new plaster, full coat one, full coat two — never single-coated, never thinned past spec. Ceilings rolled or sprayed with low-VOC trade matt. Walls in vinyl matt or eggshell as agreed. Woodwork in oil gloss or water-based satin. Drying times respected between coats — no rushing.
Snag walk and clean down
Final inspection with the customer torch in hand — every wall checked at a raking angle, every line cut to skirting and ceiling reviewed. Snags are corrected on the same day. Floors hoovered, sheets pulled, sockets and switches refitted. Touch-up paint pots labelled and left for you.
Landlord, agent and end-of-tenancy work
A large slice of work is repeat landlord and letting agent bookings — quick white-outs between tenancies, scuff repaints after inventory disputes, and full strip-and-redecorate refreshes between long lets. Schedules are built around your check-out and check-in dates so the property handover is never delayed.
- • 1–2 day end-of-tenancy white-out on 1- and 2-bed flats using airless spray plus trade roller.
- • Coordination with end-of-tenancy decorating packages — cleaning, decorating and minor repair on one visit.
- • Portfolio discounts on three or more properties booked in the same calendar quarter.
- • Touch-up paint pots labelled per room and left with the property manager.
- • Combined visits with plastering and wallpaper hanging on the same trip.
- • Invoiced per property with VAT breakdown for managed-portfolio accounting.
Areas covered
Painting and decorating jobs are completed across every London borough. Highest volumes come from Camden, Westminster, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth and Wandsworth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does painting and decorating cost in London?
Do you do full prep or just paint over?
Which paint brands do you use?
Is two-coat policy really needed?
Can you do an end-of-tenancy white-out in 1–2 days?
Do you paint exterior masonry and render?
Can you spray ceilings without making a mess?
Do you do feature walls in Farrow & Ball colours?
How long does a full flat repaint take?
Are you insured and do you give a guarantee?
Book your free quote today
Site survey within 2–3 working days, fixed price in your inbox within 24 hours. Two-coat policy, full prep, £5m liability cover. Part of our wider redecorating service across London — interiors, exteriors and end-of-tenancy refreshes.
Fully insured • £5m public liability • VAT-registered • 12-month workmanship guarantee