How to write a painter and decorator quote that beats the cheaper price.

Why decorators lose to the cheaper quote.

A customer looking at two decorating quotes, one at £1,800 and one at £2,600, sees the same rooms and two different numbers. Nothing in front of them explains the gap, so they assume the expensive one is greedy.

The gap is almost always preparation. Filling, sanding, caulking, stain blocking, two coats instead of one, better paint. All of it invisible on the day and obvious after eighteen months.

Your quote is the only chance you get to make that visible before the decision is made. Write it so the customer can see what the cheaper price leaves out.

Cost the preparation, do not absorb it.

Most decorators fold preparation into a single figure. That is exactly what makes it invisible.

List it as its own priced line, and describe what it covers: filling and making good, sanding, caulking joints, cleaning down, masking and protection, stain blocking where needed, priming bare or repaired areas.

Two useful things happen. The customer understands where the money goes, and if they want to reduce the price they can drop a room, not your prep.

The paint schedule that sells the job.

This is the single strongest thing a decorator can put in a quote, and almost nobody does it. Set out, surface by surface, what you are applying.

For each surface state the product, the finish and the number of coats:

• Ceilings: [brand and product], matt, 2 coats
• Walls: [brand and product], [finish], 2 coats
• Woodwork: [primer if bare], [undercoat], [topcoat], [finish], 2 coats
• Radiators, metalwork: [product], [coats]

Now the customer comparing your quote with a cheaper one has something concrete to compare. If the other quote does not say, they will start asking why.

Measuring and coverage.

Price from measurements, not from a walk-round and a feeling. Take the wall and ceiling areas, note the number of doors, frames, skirting runs and windows, and note the condition of each surface.

Use the manufacturer's stated coverage for the products you are actually using, and allow for the fact that the first coat on bare, repaired or strongly coloured surfaces will cover less than the tin claims. Add a sensible allowance rather than discovering it on site.

Condition drives labour more than area does. A newly plastered room and a Victorian hallway with twenty years of gloss are not the same job at the same square metre rate, and your quote should show that.

Inclusions and exclusions.

Decorating disputes are nearly always about what was moved, what was covered and what was found underneath. Put it in writing:

• Moving and covering furniture: included, or the room to be cleared by the customer.
• Floor protection and daily clean down.
• Removal of existing wallpaper, and what happens if the plaster beneath is damaged.
• Repairs to plaster beyond minor filling, priced separately.
• Lead paint or damp, if found: work stops and is reported.
• Who supplies the paint, and what happens to leftovers.

Payment terms and materials.

On a full house, materials alone can be a serious outlay. Take a deposit that covers materials on acceptance, particularly where the customer has chosen specific or premium products that you cannot use elsewhere.

For longer jobs, an interim payment part way through is normal. State when the balance is due, in days, and whether you or the customer is supplying the paint. If they supply it, say plainly that you cannot guarantee the finish of a product you did not choose.

Common mistakes that lose decorating work.

• One number for the whole house. Nothing to compare, so it gets compared on price alone.
• Hiding the preparation. The main thing you are selling, made invisible.
• No paint schedule. The customer cannot tell your two coats from someone else's one.
• No condition note. You price a Victorian hallway like a new build and lose a day.
• No follow-up. Decorating decisions drift. A day 5 message wins jobs that had gone quiet.

Copy-paste decorating quote template.

What to do next.

Add a preparation line and a paint schedule to your next quote. Those two changes alone put you in a different category from the number scribbled on the back of a card.

Then follow it up at day 2, day 5 and day 10. Decorating decisions drift more than any other trade, and a polite nudge on day 5 wins work that had simply been forgotten about.