How to Choose a Painter and Decorator in Nottingham

Shortlist decorators who do your kind of job

Match the decorator to the job before anything else. Repainting rooms, painting the outside of the house, hanging wallpaper and spraying kitchen cabinets or uPVC are different kinds of work, so shortlist three or four decorators who do yours.

Among the ten Nottingham decorators compared on memberships, guarantees and experience, Whites Decorators in Watnall removes old wall coverings and hangs wallpaper, and TopDec Decorating Contractors in Bilborough offers spray painting. For the outside of a house, the exterior work of Waters Colours Decorating Services in Woodthorpe includes render, brick painting, fascias, soffits and sash windows.

Check experience, reviews and past work

Choose an experienced decorator, read their reviews and ask for examples of previous work. A finished job like yours tells you the most, so ask to see an exterior if you are painting the outside, or a papered room if you are hanging wallpaper. Leon Shaw Painting & Decorating’s residential case studies, for example, include a Victorian exterior and luxury wallpaper.

Ask about training as well. Alan Bohan Painting in Arnold is qualified to City & Guilds advanced level and holds a current CSCS card and an IPAF card, and Whites Decorators is City & Guilds qualified.

Check Dulux Select, PDA and other memberships

Where you can, choose a decorator who belongs to a recognised national body such as the Painting and Decorating Association (PDA). Some paint brands run their own accredited schemes as well, including Dulux Select Decorators. Any membership a decorator claims should show up on that scheme’s own register, so look the decorator up before you book.

Scheme	Where to look a decorator up	What the register tells you
Dulux Select Decorators	The find a decorator search, by UK town or postcode	Each member’s listing shows a “Member since” date
Painting and Decorating Association	The Find a professional directory	Members the PDA says are vetted for quality workmanship, are fully insured and follow a strict code of practice
Which? Trusted Traders	The list of endorsed traders, by trade and town	Traders endorsed by Which?
TrustMark	The find a tradesperson search	Members of the government-endorsed quality scheme

A decorator who claims Dulux Select membership should appear in that search, and one who claims a Which? endorsement should appear in the Which? Trusted Traders list. Leon Shaw Painting & Decorating in Mapperley Park, for example, is endorsed by Which? Trusted Traders.

Get at least three free quotes

Ask at least three decorators for a free quote and compare them, and move on from any decorator who wants a fee just to quote, Checkatrade advises. All ten decorators on the Nottingham list give free quotes.

Give every decorator the same description of the job, so each quote prices the same work. Name the rooms and surfaces, the preparation, the number of coats and whether the paint is included.

Questions to ask a decorator before you book

Ask each decorator the same questions and write the answers down, so you can set the quotes side by side.

• How long will the job take?
• How much will it cost, and what does the price include?
• What hours do you work?
• Will you do the work yourself, or will others in your team?
• Do you need space to store equipment and materials, or will you take everything away each evening?
• What insurance do you have?
• Do you give a satisfaction guarantee or a warranty, and what does it cover?

Compare what each quote includes

Line the quotes up item by item before you compare the totals, and ask any decorator who sent a single figure for a breakdown of costs, so you can see what is included and what is extra. Checkatrade’s price guide says a decorator’s quote normally includes labour, materials, preparation and clean-up, though it is best to confirm, and that some decorators charge per hour while others price per room or per project.

Set a quoted day rate against what a painter and decorator charges across the UK, which on Checkatrade’s figures runs from £250 to £400 a day, averaging £325 plus the cost of paint. Checkatrade’s prices for whole jobs include regular trade paint, so set a quote that prices the whole job against those.

Check insurance, guarantees and warranties

Most reputable decorators have insurance, many offer a satisfaction guarantee and some give a limited-time warranty, Checkatrade says. ARD Decor in Rise Park, for example, provides a warranty on all jobs and offers a satisfaction guarantee. Ask for any guarantee or warranty in writing, with how long it lasts and what it covers.

If you are having kitchen cabinets sprayed, compare the guarantees as well as the prices, because some sprayers offer up to a 10-year guarantee that the paint will not flake, crack or peel, Checkatrade says.

Agree a written quote, not an estimate

A quote is a promise to do the work at an agreed price, while an estimate is only the decorator’s best guess at the cost, Citizens Advice explains. A decorator cannot charge more than a quote without a good reason, and a rise in their own costs since quoting does not count.

Once you give a decorator the go-ahead, you have a contract, even if nothing is written down, and anything you took into account before agreeing is part of it, Citizens Advice says. If the decorator passes some of the work to another business, you still take any problem up with the decorator who arranged it.

If the decorating has to be finished by a certain date, such as before you move in, say so and put the date in the quote. Unless you made that clear, a decorator who runs late has to be given a second chance to finish, Citizens Advice says.