A Six-Part Checklist
Hiring a Painter and Decorator
Hiring a decorator in Lincoln is easier when you know what to look for.
This page explains how to compare quotes, what a good quote includes, and which questions to ask before you say yes.
- How Do You Compare Decorating Quotes?
- What Should a Painter and Decorator Quote Include?
- What Happens If Something Needs Putting Right at the End?
Lincoln Decorators connects people in Lincoln with a trusted local decorator. Call 01522 457080 for a free quote.
Compare Quotes
How Do You Compare Decorating Quotes?
Check that each quote covers the same work before you look at the prices. Compare what is being painted, the preparation, the coats, the paint and what is left out.
Compare the totals last. The total on its own tells you very little.
Two decorators can price the same house and end up far apart, because each has priced a different job. Before you look at any price, check each quote against these five points:
- What is painted. Does each quote name the same rooms, walls and woodwork?
- Preparation. Does each allow for filling, sanding and sealing, or does one skip it?
- Coats. Does each state how many coats go on, and what they go over?
- Paint. Does each name the paint, or just say trade paint?
- What is left out. Does each say what is not included?
Once those five points match, the prices are worth comparing. Until then, you are comparing two different jobs.
What To Include
What Should a Painter and Decorator Quote Include?
A good quote puts eight things in writing. If any are missing, ask for them before you compare prices.
- What is painted. Every room, wall, ceiling and piece of woodwork, named
- Preparation. Filling, sanding and sealing, and how much of it
- Coats and paint. How many coats, what goes underneath, and which products
- Access. Ladders, towers or scaffolding for anything above head height
- Protection. Dust sheets over floors, furniture and fittings
- Timetable. The start date, the order of the rooms and the finish date
- Payments. What is due when, and what each payment depends on
- What is left out. Anything the price does not cover
A decorator who knows the job will fill the gaps straight away. If they cannot, that tells you something too.
Planning the whole inside of the house rather than one room? The whole-house decorating page shows what a whole-house quote should list.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose Us
A quote you can compare is a quote that puts the work in writing.
Work Named First
The quote names the rooms, walls, ceilings and woodwork so two quotes cover the same work.
Preparation Written Down
Filling, sanding and sealing are listed, and how much of it is allowed for.
Coats and Paint Stated
How many coats go on, what goes underneath, and which products are used.
Small Fixes Agreed Up Front
The quote says how small fixes at the end are found, written down and put right.
Start With a Free Quote
Send your rooms and surfaces for an itemised written quote
Preparation Questions
Which Questions Expose Missing Preparation?
Preparation is where a cheap quote cuts corners. Specific questions make a decorator explain the work before you pay anything.
Ask questions like these when you get a quote:
- How will you deal with the cracks above the bay window?
- How many coats go on the woodwork, and what goes underneath the topcoat?
- What will you seal the old patch of staining with before painting over it?
A decorator with a plan answers each one in detail. One without a plan just says prep and moves on. The first gives you a finish that lasts. The second may mean repainting in two years.
Lincoln Decorators connects readers in Lincoln who need a painter and decorator with a trusted local provider for a free quote.
Ask Lincoln Decorators to arrange a free site quote for your decorating project in Lincoln. Call 01522 457080.
Three Checks
How Do You Check Insurance, References and Who Does the Work?
Three checks tell you most of what you need to know before any money changes hands.
- Insurance. Your decorator carries public liability insurance. Ask to see the certificate and check the dates. A certificate is proof; a sticker on a van is not.
- References. Ask for two or three recent jobs like yours, and phone one. Ten minutes on the phone tells you more than any website.
- Who does the work. Ask whether the person who quotes will do the painting or send a team. Ask who will be in your house each day.
If an answer is vague, take note. Book the decorator who gives you a straight one.
Deposit And Payments
How Much Deposit Should a Decorator Ask For?
There is no standard deposit, and anyone who gives you one figure for every job is guessing. What matters is that the payments are agreed before work starts.
When you talk about payments, cover four things:
- What the deposit covers, and when the balance falls due
- Whether later payments follow the progress of the job, for example after each stage
- What happens if the timetable slips, in either direction
- Getting the whole payment plan in writing alongside the quote
Payments that follow the progress of the job protect both sides, and it is fair to ask for them. They also give you a natural point to check the work before you make the final payment.
Get My Free Quote
Ask about staged payments before you book your decorating job
Lincoln Property Mix
Does a Lincoln Home Need Anything Different?
Lincoln has everything from older houses on the hill to suburban semis and village homes. The walls and woodwork differ more than the prices suggest. A quote you can trust is based on your own house, not an average one.
Two local points are worth knowing about. Neither changes how the job is done.
Homes in a conservation area
The City Council publishes conservation-area material for the city. Named areas include the Cathedral and City Centre, Lindum and Arboretum, and West Parade and Brayford.
If your home is in one of them, ask about the area’s rules when you get the quote. Do that before you agree the finish for anything on the outside. A decorator is not a heritage specialist, and questions about permission are for the council, not the quote.
Older surfaces need different preparation from modern ones. The period property painting page covers what that means room by room.
Housing figures for the district
The Council’s housing pages carry a Housing Needs Assessment and a Housing Growth Strategy. They describe how much housing the district needs, and nothing more. They say nothing about the condition of your home. It is still worth asking for a room-by-room breakdown in your quote rather than one total.
For a painting and decorating company covering Lincoln, Lincoln Decorators arranges a free site quote.
Putting It Right
What Happens If Something Needs Putting Right at the End?
Almost every decorating job ends with a few small things to fix, such as a missed edge or a scuff. The quote should say how these small fixes will be found, written down and fixed before you make the final payment. That one line prevents more arguments than anything else in the quote.
Here is how it can work. You walk round the rooms together at the end. Anything to fix goes on a written list, saying who will fix it and by when. You pay the final amount once the list is done, not before.
You cannot judge any of this from a web page. Someone has to look at your rooms and quote for the work that is actually there.
Call 01522 457080 and discuss the next step with the decorator covering Lincoln.
FAQs
Painter and Decorator Hiring FAQs
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