What a Painting and Decorating Quote Should Include in a London Home

A painting and decorating quote for a London home should name the rooms and surfaces, list the preparation steps for each one, specify the coating system and the number of coats, describe protection and access, and state in writing what is excluded. Those five parts are the ones worth checking before you compare figures.

The rest of this guide breaks them down so you can read a quote line by line and ask about the gaps before work starts.

What a painting and decorating quote should contain

A usable quote names every room and surface, describes the preparation each surface needs, states the coating system and coat count, covers protection, access, and sequence, gives recoat and drying allowances, and lists exclusions in writing. It should also say who moves furniture, who fills and sands, and who is responsible for making good afterwards.

A quote may arrive as a room list with a single figure next to each room. That format is convenient, but it hides the decisions that determine what the finished room looks like. The sections below show what to ask for so the document describes the job rather than the address.

Start with the surfaces, not the rooms

"Hallway, stairs and landing" is a starting point, not a specification. Ask the quote to break the room into surfaces: walls, ceilings, cornice, ceiling rose, dado rail, picture rail, skirting, doors, door frames, architraves, window reveals, sash windows, radiators, pipework, banisters, spindles, and newel posts.

In period homes, the number of separate elements is worth counting before you compare figures. A hallway with a dado rail, a picture rail, a cornice, and six doors has far more edges and cut lines than its floor area suggests. A surface list makes it clear what each quote is actually covering.

If a room contains built-in cupboards, alcove shelving, or panelling, ask for those to be listed separately. Cabinetry and joinery refinishing is a different task from wall painting, with its own preparation and its own finish system.

Preparation, listed line by line

Preparation is the part of a quote that is easiest to compress into one word. Ask for it in steps, per surface:

• Protection of floors, furniture, and fittings, and what is used.
• Wallpaper removal where it applies, and what the wall is expected to need afterwards.
• Filling: which filler for plaster, which for timber, and which for movement gaps.
• Sanding: which surfaces are sanded, and in what sequence.
• Cleaning and degreasing on kitchen walls and ceilings.
• Stain blocking where damp marks, smoke residue, or tannin are present.
• Priming: which primer for plaster, which for bare timber, which for previously painted surfaces.
• Caulking and gap filling at joints between skirting, architrave, and wall.

If the quote says "prepare walls" and nothing else, ask what that means room by room. The answer tells you whether the person quoting has looked at the surfaces or only at the floor plan.

The coating system and the coat count

Ask for products by name: brand, product line, and sheen. Then ask for the number of coats on walls, on ceilings, and on woodwork separately, because these are usually different systems.

A quote should make clear whether it specifies a separate primer, undercoat, and topcoat, or a combined product that does two jobs. It should also say where each sheen is used. Matt, eggshell, satin, and gloss are the usual choices, and the quote should state which goes where rather than leaving it to the day.

Where a specialist finish is involved, the quote should name the finish and the substrate it is going onto. Limewash finishes depend on the surface they are applied to, and the quote should say which situation applies. Wallpaper hanging should state the paper, the adhesive type, and whether the walls need lining first.

Protection, access, and sequence

Ask how the work is protected and in what order it happens. Floors, stair carpets, handrails, and door furniture all need covering, and the quote should say what is used.

Sequence matters in a house that is still occupied. Ask the quote to state the order: which surfaces are done first, how finished work is protected while the rest of the room continues, and how the sequence changes in rooms that are in daily use. Ask which rooms are done first, how many rooms are open at once, and where tools and materials are stored between visits.

Access is part of this. Stairwells, high ceilings, and exterior work on upper floors need access equipment, and the quote should say whether that is included or arranged separately.

Drying time and the programme

Ask the quote to state the recoat interval for the products specified, and whether the programme allows for it. Water-based and solvent-based systems have different recoat intervals, and those intervals change with temperature, humidity, and airflow.

A programme that lists start and finish dates without recoat allowances is worth questioning. So is a programme that assumes every room can be finished in one visit. Ask how many working days are allowed per room, and what happens if a coat needs longer than planned.

What is excluded

Every quote should have a short section that says what is not included. Common exclusions to look for:

• Making good plaster or structural repairs.
• Replacing rotten timber, failed putty, or broken glazing.
• Removing furniture, pictures, or fitted items.
• Wallpaper removal where it was not surveyed.
• Work to surfaces discovered after the room is emptied.
• Exterior work above a certain height.

The exclusion list is not a warning sign. It is the part of the quote that tells you where the boundary sits, so that a later conversation about extra work starts from a shared position rather than a surprise.

Questions to ask before you accept

1. Which surfaces are included in each room, and which are not?
2. What preparation is specified for each surface?
3. Which products, sheens, and coat counts are specified?
4. How is protection handled, and who moves furniture?
5. What is the sequence, and how many rooms are open at once?
6. What recoat intervals apply, and how do they affect the dates?
7. What is excluded, and how are extras priced and agreed?
8. Who makes good after the work, and what does that cover?

If the answers are not in the document, ask for them in writing before you accept. Ask for amendments in writing too, so the document stays the reference point once work begins.

A checklist you can hold against any quote

• Rooms listed, and surfaces listed within each room.
• Preparation steps named per surface.
• Products, sheen, and coat counts stated.
• Protection and access described.
• Sequence and programme with recoat allowances.
• Exclusions written down.
• Extras process agreed.
• Making good responsibility stated.

Run the checklist against two quotes and the comparison becomes concrete. You are no longer comparing a number; you are comparing two descriptions of the same rooms.

Where the quote meets the property

The same room can need different work depending on what is already on the walls. A period hallway with original cornice, a dado rail, and six panel doors carries more preparation and more cut lines than a modern flat with square edges. A kitchen with grease on the walls needs a cleaning step before any coating goes on. A bathroom needs a system chosen for moisture.

Ask whether the quote was built from a site visit or from photographs. If you want to see how the work is approached across Central London, West London, South West London, and Surrey, the areas we cover page sets out where the studio works, the painting and decorating service page describes how preparation and finish decisions are handled, and the portfolio shows finished rooms at close range.

FAQ

Should a quote include the number of coats?

Yes. Coat count is one of the main variables between quotes, and it should be stated separately for walls, ceilings, and woodwork.

Should a quote list products by name?

Ask for brand, product line, and sheen. It makes the specification checkable and removes ambiguity about what is being applied.

Is a room-by-room price enough?

It is a useful summary, but ask for the surface list and preparation steps behind each figure so the quote describes the work.

What if the quote has no exclusions section?

Ask for one. A written boundary is easier to work with than an assumption about what is included.

Does the quote need to mention drying time?

Ask for recoat intervals and how they affect the programme. Drying conditions change with the room, the season, and the system.

Deciding whether to hire

If you are weighing up two quotes and the documents describe different amounts of preparation, the next useful step is a conversation about the surfaces rather than the price. Pulse N' Paint works on painting and decorating, limewash, wallpaper hanging, cabinetry and joinery refinishing, spray painting, and exterior painting across Central London, West London, South West London, and Surrey. Send the room list and the surfaces you want covered, and the specification can be built from there.