How to Price Interior Painting: Labour, Materials and Margin Guide

Quick Answer: Interior painting in the UK prices at £180-£320 per day for a skilled decorator, or roughly £4-£12/m² of wall/ceiling area for a straightforward repaint, with a typical 4x4m room (walls and ceiling, two coats) at £350-£650 and a whole 3-bed house at £3,000-£7,000. The cost is driven far more by preparation — filling, sanding, caulking, priming — than by the painting itself, and by the number of colours, the woodwork, and the access. Pricing per room or per day beats pricing per m² for anything but the simplest jobs.

Summary

Interior painting looks simple to price and is the job most often underquoted. The reason is that the visible work — rolling paint on a wall — is the smallest part of a quality job. The preparation (filling cracks and holes, sanding, caulking gaps, washing down, priming bare or stained areas) routinely takes as long as or longer than the painting, and it is what separates a decorator from someone with a roller. Customers compare quotes on the headline price and rarely understand that the cheap quote has cut the prep.

The second pricing reality is that per-m² rates are unreliable for anything beyond a plain repaint. Woodwork (skirting, architraves, doors, window boards) is slow, fiddly, multi-coat work charged separately. Ceilings, feature walls, dark-to-light colour changes (needing extra coats), and detailed cutting-in all change the labour disproportionately to the area. Experienced decorators price by the day or by the room, with prep assessed on inspection.

This guide separates the prep, the paint, the walls/ceilings, the woodwork, and the access/protection. It covers the day-rate vs m² question, paint quantities and coverage, the new-plaster mist-coat, and the common scope creep. For related decorating and surface work see exterior painting pricing guide, external render pricing guide and damp proofing pricing guide.

Key Facts

Paint and material costs

Labour and ancillary costs

Standards and good practice

Quick Reference Table

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Room / Scope Prep Level Typical Cost
Box room, walls + ceiling, light prep Low £200-£400
Double bedroom, walls + ceiling + woodwork Medium £400-£700
Living room, feature wall + woodwork Medium-high £500-£900
Hall, stairs & landing (high access) High £700-£1,400
Kitchen/bathroom (durable paint) Medium £400-£800
Whole 3-bed house Mixed £3,000-£7,000

Coverage rule of thumb: 1 litre of emulsion ≈ 10-14m² per coat. Two coats is standard; dark-to-light or strong colours may need three.

Detailed Guidance

Survey and the prep assessment

The quote stands or falls on the prep assessment. On survey, judge: the wall condition (cracks, holes, flaking, previous bad patching); whether there's wallpaper to strip; bare or new plaster needing priming; nicotine, water, or damp stains needing stain block; the state of the woodwork (sound and just needing a light sand, or flaking and needing stripping/filling); and the number and difficulty of colours. Walk the customer through what prep their walls need — it justifies your price against a cheaper quote that omits it.

Per day vs per m² — how to price

For a plain repaint of sound walls in one colour, a per-m² rate (£4-£12/m² of surface, two coats) is workable. For anything with significant prep, woodwork, multiple colours, or awkward access, price by the day or by the room — per-m² rates systematically underprice the slow work. Estimate the days realistically (including a full prep day where needed) and multiply by your day rate plus materials and a margin. The decorator who prices per m² on a heavy-prep job loses money on every one.

New plaster — the mist coat

Fresh plaster must not be painted with neat emulsion straight away — it would peel. The standard is a mist coat: emulsion thinned with water (commonly around 70:30 paint:water, or per the paint's new-plaster instructions) applied first to seal the porous surface, followed by two full topcoats once the plaster is fully dry. New plaster should be allowed to dry thoroughly (often weeks, depending on conditions) before painting. Quote new-plaster work with the mist coat and the extra drying allowance built in.

Walls and ceilings

Standard process: fill and sand defects, caulk gaps at edges and around woodwork, spot-prime bare or stained areas, then two coats of emulsion (cutting in edges first, then rolling). Ceilings are slower and messier (overhead working, more cutting-in around coving/fittings) and are often priced as a distinct element. Dark or strong colours, and dark-to-light changes, may need three coats or a tinted primer — flag this, as it adds materials and a coat of labour.

Woodwork — slow, separate, multi-coat

Skirting, architraves, doors, window boards, and stairs are charged separately because they are slow and multi-stage: sand/de-gloss, fill, prime/undercoat bare areas, then one or two topcoats of satinwood, eggshell, or gloss. A door alone (both sides, frame) can be an hour or more done properly. Modern water-based trim paints dry faster and yellow less than oil-based but may need an extra coat for coverage. Never bundle woodwork into a wall m² rate — it is a different job at a different speed.

Access and protection

Furniture must be moved or sheeted, floors protected, and fittings masked. Stairwells and double-height spaces need a tower or specialist access — a significant add (£80-£250) and a safety consideration. Protection and reinstatement (moving furniture back, removing masking, cleaning up) is real time that the customer doesn't "see" but pays for. Include it.

Hidden costs and margin

The five most-missed lines: (1) wallpaper stripping — slow and unpredictable, especially over multiple layers or onto poor plaster beneath; (2) damp/stain investigation — painting over a water stain without stain block (or without fixing the leak) guarantees a call-back; (3) extra coats for strong colours; (4) high access in stairwells; (5) making good plaster where filling reveals worse damage. Apply a contingency on older properties with unknown wall histories, and quote stripping and replastering as separate provisional sums.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are interior painting quotes so different?

Almost always because of prep. A cheap quote typically assumes minimal preparation — a quick wipe and two coats — while a higher quote includes filling, sanding, caulking, priming, and proper protection. On sound walls the difference is small; on tired walls it is the whole job. Ask each quote what preparation is included and you'll usually find the gap.

How much paint do I need for a room?

As a rule of thumb, 1 litre of emulsion covers 10-14m² per coat. Measure the wall and ceiling area, subtract large openings, multiply by the number of coats (usually two), and divide by the coverage. A typical double bedroom needs roughly 5-7.5 litres for two coats on walls and ceiling. Always allow extra for touch-ups and for the higher consumption on porous or textured surfaces.

Can you paint over wallpaper?

You can, but it's a compromise — seams and patterns can show through, and the paint's moisture can lift poorly stuck paper. For a quality finish, strip the paper, make good the plaster, and paint the bare wall. Painting over sound, well-stuck lining paper is acceptable; painting over old, multi-layered, or peeling paper is asking for a poor result and a call-back.

Do new plaster walls need special treatment?

Yes — fresh plaster must dry fully and then receive a mist coat (emulsion thinned with water) to seal the porous surface before two full topcoats. Painting new plaster with neat emulsion straight away causes peeling, and painting it before it has dried traps moisture. Build the drying time and the mist coat into the quote.

Regulations & Standards