All,

Just in the final throes of some building work which, while having gone well, has resulted in my builder blowing his cookies budgetwise. Mainly due to utter inefficiency and not setting and managing a programme. We were in a fixed price which has balooned slightly due to some scope changes which were all agreed.
The icing on todays cake are the quote to paint the new garage. Its 8m x 6m, bare block, 2.12M high of block work. 2 coats of white paint and paint the floor in basic grey.
Any painters care to suggest what would be reasonable for that work ? Its an empty shell by the way.

So that’s 90m2 of surface, which will be a PITA to do?

I’ll take a wild punt at £750+VAT (including paint). Would be fascinated to know what the actual cost is 🙂

I budgeted 1k + VAT. Quote is 2.5k….bearing in mind they are at least 15k over budget due to delays (caused by them – didn’t order steel, didn’t get brickies onsite on time, didn’t get roofing contractor in and had to wait for 4 weeks etc etc.) you could work it backwards and using a rough day rate (which they have told me is 250 a day for the lacky by the way …) works out almost exactly the same amount.
P1ssed off ? Me ? No….

Not a painter but just painted my new shed, outside and floor.

If you want to save costs and get it functional by doing it yourself, paint for the floor would be about £25 (Teamac). Sold by the Paint Shed in Slateford

It will take a fair bit longer to dry with current temperatures.

Material cost could very quite widely depending on paint spec. Two quick coats with a roller covering the outside surface of blocks (assuming concrete blocks here) is a lot quicker than getting 100% coverage. Does it include any floor prep?

Edit, but 2.5k does sound like they are taking the urine.

Maybe they’ve already committed to other work and would rather be getting on with that so they’ve priced the quote on the high side to put you off

Just over 101m2, suppose it depends whereabouts in the UK you are, I’ll go with £900 plus materials +vat. Getting the floor done at the same time ? If so, Aldi have it on offer today. Their paints are generally very very good.
https://www.aldi.co.uk/light-grey-garage-floor-paint—2-5l/p/069844028311301

Some wild estimates of the quants here – 8m x 6 m = 28m perimeter x 2.12 m high = 59.16m2

Two coats ain’t gonna look at bare blockwork for a decent finish. It’ll soak up paint like a sponge.

What are you painting the floor with? Floor paint can be horrifically expensive.

If I was pricing this up I’d allow £675.

If I were you I’d be painting it my own self

Blimey. Its chucking paint at walls FFS It isn’t a skilled thing to do a garage in whitewash. £250 a day is really taking the mickey. I bet you could get someone on here to do it for 1/3 that and be thankful of the work

wow. I hate painting but if that’s what I can get for painting some brick walls I think I should become a overpriced painter.

Why train to be a doctor or a surgeon, when you can earn twice as much as a builder eh 🙂

For whatever reason the builder has lost money on this job and he just wants to be away to the next.
If this new work is sprung upon him just as he’s ready to go it’s hardly surprising his quote is a bit on the high side.

I’ll come and do it for £2k 😉

“I budgeted 1k + VAT. Quote is 2.5k….bearing in mind they are at least 15k over budget due to delays (caused by them – didn’t order steel, didn’t get brickies onsite on time, didn’t get roofing contractor in and had to wait for 4 weeks etc etc.) you could work it backwards and using a rough day rate (which they have told me is 250 a day for the lacky by the way …) works out almost exactly the same amount.
P1ssed off ? Me ? No….”

Fortunately, you don’t have to pay them until the work is completed. £250 a day for a labourer? In whose world? £100-150 absolute max. Even skilled tradesmen shouldn’t be costing £250 a day. That’s into highly skilled craftsmen territory. Any delays caused by them have to be covered by them. Not your problem.

We had a firm in to do some work recently. Fortunately, we also had a friend in doing other works, so he saw just how shit they were, and reported this back to us. They then tried to bullshit us, which didn’t work. Some of the work had to be redone by other tradesmen. The first firm failed to clear up after themselves, then tried to claim that wasn’t part of their job. Bollocks it isn’t. Then there was the decking; they used much cheaper timbers than had been quoted for, left massive (12mm+) gaps between boards, piss poor quality all round. That all had to be removed and done again (by yet another firm). The catalogue of mistakes, poor quality and bodging was unreal. Then the last straw was when they just didn’t bother ringing the scaffolders (who were ok) to remove the scaffolding at the end of the job (several days over with the scaffolding firm charging by the day).

They didn’t get anywhere near the quoted amount. We subtracted the cost of fixing their **** ups, and a ‘day rate’ of extra time it took. And told them to take it or leave it. TBH they were lucky to get anything at all. Utter shysters.

Stand firm and don’t be intimidated. Work has to be done to an acceptable standard, and if you’re not pleased, then don’t pay. Too many cowboys out there exploiting people who don’t/can’t stand up for themselves.

Regardless of the over running and additional costs, although the quote does suspiciously look like he’s trying to claw back the over run costs.

I just had a look on Screwfix. Cheapest wall paint, £16 for 10ltrs. Should cover two coats, but if it’s fresh block work, 3 of 4 coats. Floor paint is £35 for 5ltrs. Again should cover in 2 coats. At best that’s £51 for paint, no tools.

It’s 1.5 days work minimum. You can’t paint the walls once the floor is down, etc.

How much is anyone here prepared to work for? Minimum wage? £10 / hour? Got to pay your tax remember. £15? Oh, you need to run a van. £20? We’re getting there. Also time to fetch the paint, clean up. 2 days work at £25 / hour.

Cheap materials, tools, and 2 days, very cheap labour. £600 + VAT?

So £1000 for someone tidy using good materials?

DIY.

Too late, they had already done it while i was away despite not agreeing to it !

Anyway, just had ‘the chat’. Agreed to pay 1K (inc vat) for it including some other painting. It’s basically clawing back the overruns which precisely none were caused by us.

I used to be a painter many years ago to trade.
A couple of thousand is probably not that far off the mark for a proper company to do it right.
A job like that could take up to a week to do because of drying times.
You will probably be about £500 + just for paint depending on your spec. It’ll probably take more than two coats to do the walls right and the floor will need sealed, undercoated and then a finishing coat.
It’s costing so much because it’s a small job with a lot of traveling back and forward, if it was being done as part of say doing your whole house it would be a lot cheaper.
If i mind right you’re in Edinburgh, so you,ve the living in Edinburgh tax to pay.
If you can find a local one man band, i reckon it could be easily done for your budget.
best thing to do is DIY it really isn’t that hard.

Just a quick question, is there any reason why the paint couldn’t be sprayed on the walls? That would take a fraction of the time.

No reason at all.
Next thing I need to do is get someone to paint the harling on the outside. I expect spraying that would be mega efficient once the masking was all done and it wasn’t a windy day.
Anyone who knows a good painter in Edinburgh who doesn’t apply a Colinton tax would be most welcome to contact me !

Once i get home i can get you a contact for a painter on your side of the river. he usually works by himself or with one other, proper small buisness as well if you need paperwork. i’m sure he could give you a quote.

FWIW, around here (Berks/Surrey border) £200+VAT seems to be the minimum day rate for anything so I’m not surprised at £250/day.

yes I agree with above – Kingston rates seem to be 250 per day regardless. I just painted a 2 bed flat there & it cost me 500 in materials (jonstones paint with a 25% discount) & my imported spanish labour….still cost me 1000 gbp all in. Local quotes came in at c 3k.

Thinking about it after it was parking, congestion, the actual work, picking up materials.

I can recommend Bruce Clark (From an interior point of view)

http://www.bcdecoration.com/

If you’re painting the bare block on the inside, it’s worth giving it a cement wash first. It makes the subsequent painting *much* quicker, uses a lot less paint, and gives a cleaner finish.

Ok back home.
Try Stuart Dickson painter and decorator.
0131 665 927 or 07792 029 792
Email stuartdickson57 at dot Yahoo dot com dot UK.
Tell him son of Anne Hadley recommended him.

If he’s still around – for interior work definitely – happy to give Tom Thomson (& son, you couldn’t make it up) in Bonnyrigg. Not sure of their number, been away from Edinburgh for a while, but he’;s good, quick. Not the cheapest though..

I’d expect Gainsborough for 2.5k.