How to Quote Painting and Decorating Jobs UK (2026)

ByTradeStack HQ

Why Your Quoting Process Is Costing You Work

Learning how to quote painting and decorating jobs properly in the UK is one of the most impactful things a decorator can do for their business. Quote too high and you lose jobs. Quote too low and you work hard for margins that don't justify the effort. Quote too slowly and the customer has already agreed a price with someone else before yours lands in their inbox.

This guide covers how to quote decorating jobs the right way in 2026, from working out what a job actually costs to presenting quotes that win work at a price worth having.

The Quoting Problem Decorators Keep Running Into

In trade groups, decorators and builders raise the same quoting issue repeatedly. One post with 30 replies came from a tradesperson asking whether it was just him struggling to get quotes out quickly for smaller jobs. He admitted to texting customers a rough number rather than sending a proper quote and then hoping for the best. He wondered whether being slow on admin was costing him work to faster competitors.

Thirty people replied agreeing with him. The pattern is consistent across the trade: quoting takes too long, rough numbers get sent instead of proper documents, and jobs are lost not on price but on presentation and response speed.

Fix your quoting process and you fix your win rate. Here is how to do it.

What Goes Into a Painting and Decorating Quote

A solid decorating quote has four components. Get all four right on every job and your margins are protected. Miss one and you're either losing work or losing money.

1. Labour Costs

Calculate how many days the job will realistically take. Be honest about preparation time, which is consistently underestimated in decorating. Stripping wallpaper, filling, sanding, priming, and making good all add up before a brush touches the final coat. Factor in drying times on multi-coat work, especially on previously bare plaster or exterior work where coats need proper drying time between applications. Build contingency for the jobs where the customer shows you one room and then mentions another two once you're on site.

2. Materials Costs

Price materials from current supplier costs rather than from memory. Paint prices have moved significantly and a price you last checked six months ago may not reflect what you'll actually pay when you order. Calculate coverage accurately based on the surface area and the number of coats required. Add a materials markup of 15 to 20 percent to cover sourcing time, storage, waste, and the inconvenience of returns. That markup is standard and justified.

3. Overheads

Your van, fuel, insurance, tools, brushes and rollers, dust sheets, tape, platform hire where needed, phone, software, and other fixed business costs all need to be covered by the work you price. Calculate your monthly overhead figure and build a contribution into every quote rather than absorbing those costs silently out of your profit margin.

4. Profit Margin

Labour plus materials plus overheads gets you to break even. Profit is what you add on top. Aim for a minimum net profit margin of 15 to 20 percent on decorating work. Less than that leaves no buffer for anything going wrong and no reward for the risk of running your own business.

How to Work Out Your Day Rate as a Decorator

If you're not already pricing to a clear day rate, working one out is the starting point for accurate quoting. Take your target annual income, add your total annual business overheads, then divide by your realistic billable days for the year. Most sole trader decorators work around 200 to 220 billable days per year once you account for holidays, non-billable time, travel, and days spent quoting rather than working.

If you want to take home £40,000 and your overheads run to £10,000 a year, you need to generate £50,000 from around 210 billable days. That's a day rate of roughly £238 before profit. Add 20 percent for profit and your minimum viable day rate is around £286.

Experienced decorators in the UK typically charge between £180 and £300 per day depending on location and specialism. Commercial decorating, specialist finishes, and high-end residential work command higher rates. If your current rate sits well below that range, your quotes are likely underpriced.

How to Price Decorating Jobs by Room or Area

Many decorators prefer to price by room or by square metre rather than purely by day rate, particularly for domestic work where customers expect a fixed price. This approach works well as long as your room or area rates are built from your underlying day rate and materials costs rather than from a figure you've used for years without reviewing.

A common approach for domestic decorating is to calculate the total surface area to be painted, divide by your coverage rate for the specific paint being used, multiply by the number of coats, then add preparation time and any specialist work as separate line items. That method produces a consistent, defensible quote rather than a number pulled from experience that may no longer reflect your actual costs.

How to Present a Decorating Quote That Wins Work

Use Proper Quoting Software

A quote sent as a WhatsApp message or a rough figure texted to a customer does not build confidence. A professional branded PDF sent within a few hours of viewing the job does. Tools like Tradify let you build quotes from a saved price list, send them to clients with an online approval link, and convert approved quotes into live jobs automatically. For decorators doing a high volume of domestic work, that workflow removes the quoting bottleneck that currently loses jobs to faster competitors.

Try Tradify Free, Code PARTNER for 50% Off

Break the Quote Down Clearly

Separate preparation, materials, and labour clearly in your quote. Customers who can see what they're paying for are easier to work with and less likely to push back on the total. A clear breakdown also makes it much harder to negotiate the price down without the customer understanding what they're asking you to cut.

Specify Exactly What Is and Is Not Included

Scope creep is one of the most common margin killers in decorating. If the quote covers two coats of emulsion on the walls but not the ceiling, say so. If you're supplying paint but not specialist primer, say so. If moving furniture is not included, say so. A written scope of works on every quote protects you legally and removes ambiguity for the customer before the job starts rather than during it.

State Your Payment Terms Upfront

Include your payment terms in the quote itself. For any job lasting more than a day or two, include a deposit requirement. A deposit of 25 to 30 percent upfront is reasonable and standard for decorating work. It ensures you're not funding materials out of your own pocket and it filters out customers who weren't serious about proceeding.

Set a Quote Validity Period

Paint prices change. Your availability changes. Put a 30-day validity period on every quote. This protects you from customers who sit on a quote for months and then try to hold you to a price that no longer reflects your costs or your diary.

How to Follow Up on Outstanding Decorating Quotes

Most decorators send a quote and wait. The problem is that customers get distracted, get other quotes, or simply need a nudge to make a decision. Following up every outstanding quote within five to seven days is professional and expected. Most customers who haven't responded simply haven't got round to it rather than actively choosing someone else.

If you're using Tradify or Jobber, automated quote follow-ups handle this without you needing to think about it. The system sends a reminder to the client after a set number of days without a response. You never forget to follow up and you never lose a job because a quote sat unanswered while you were busy on site.

For more on winning work from your quotes see our guide on how to write a quote that wins jobs.

Common Quoting Mistakes Decorators Make

Underestimating Preparation Time

Preparation is consistently the most underestimated element of decorating quotes. Customers want to talk about finish colours and sheen levels. The hours of filling, sanding, priming, and masking that determine whether that finish actually looks good are less visible but equally important to price correctly.

Not Getting Current Paint Prices

Quoting paint costs from memory rather than from current supplier prices is a reliable way to lose margin. A quick check before building the quote takes five minutes and protects your materials costs on every job.

Quoting Without Seeing the Job

Quoting domestic decorating jobs without visiting the site first is risky. Surface conditions, access difficulties, furniture that needs moving, and areas the customer didn't mention in the initial conversation all affect the cost. If you must quote remotely, build a larger contingency into the price and make it clear in the quote that the figure is subject to a site visit before the work begins.

No Written Scope

Every quote should include a written scope of works. Disputes about what was and wasn't included are almost entirely avoidable with a clear written record upfront. Verbal agreements about scope are not worth arguing about when the customer says they thought the spare room was included.

The Best Tools for Quoting Decorating Jobs

Tradify is the most practical quoting tool for UK decorators because the quote connects directly to the job from the start. You build the quote, the client approves it digitally, and it becomes the job record automatically. Materials and labour are tracked against the original quote throughout the job so you can see exactly where you stand against your priced costs at any point.

For a full look at quoting software options see our guide to the best quoting software for UK tradespeople.

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The Verdict

Quoting decorating jobs well comes down to knowing your real costs, responding quickly with a professional document, and following up every quote you send. Most decorators who struggle to win work at good margins are not losing on price. They're losing on speed and presentation.

Know your day rate, build a proper price list, use software that gets quotes out fast, and follow up every single outstanding quote. Those four habits will improve your win rate and your average job margin more reliably than cutting your prices ever will.

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