Painting and decorating is preparing and finishing the surfaces of a home, including filling, sanding, priming and painting walls, ceilings and woodwork, hanging wallpaper and painting exterior walls and joinery, to protect them and refresh how rooms look.
Addresses across AB10, AB11, AB15 and AB16 fall within our coverage for painting and decorating, so if your home is in Aberdeen we can arrange a survey on a day that works for you. We inspect the existing building, discuss materials and layout, and then price the agreed specification in writing. Expect a guide range of £1,150–£2,900 including VAT before that visit.
- Guide price
- £1,150–£2,900 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 1–2 days per room; 3–7 days for a house exterior
- Postcodes
- AB10, AB11, AB15, AB16 and AB24
- Planning rules
- Scotland
- Local area
- Aberdeen City
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
What should you budget for painting and decorating in Aberdeen?
Here is how the guide price for painting and decorating breaks down in Aberdeen. We start from national figures and adjust for Scotland, which comes out about 4% below the national guide. The resulting range, VAT included, is £1,150–£2,900, and a survey, at no cost to you, firms it up.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in Aberdeen |
|---|---|---|
| Single room | Walls, ceiling and woodwork in one average bedroom or living room. | £350–£850 |
| House exterior | Masonry and joinery on a typical semi, including access equipment. | £2,400–£5,800 |
| Whole interior of a 3-bed house | Every room, hallway, stairs and landing, including woodwork. | £2,900–£6,200 |
Expect these to shape the final quote:
- Number and size of rooms, including ceiling height
- Whether woodwork, doors and wallpaper are included
- Paint quality, colour changes and number of coats
- Exterior access, scaffolding and the condition of surfaces
What does the job include in Aberdeen?
- Survey of each surface and agreed colours and finishes
- Floors, furniture and fittings protected with dust sheets and masking
- Mist coat on new plaster before finishing coats
- Woodwork sanded, primed where bare, and painted
- Wallpaper stripped or hung where included
- Furniture replaced, waste removed and a final tidy-up
Local housing and painting and decorating
Aberdeen is built largely of grey granite, from tenements and terraces to granite villas in the West End, with post-war council housing and newer estates on the outskirts. Across Aberdeenshire, harled stone cottages, fishing-town terraces in Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and modern developments in commuter towns such as Westhill and Ellon are common.
Granite walls need repointing with a mortar matched to the stone, and slate roofs often want attention after hard winters. Harled cottages need breathable finishes, while newer estates commonly add extensions, garage conversions and driveways.
For painting and decorating in Aberdeen, this means checking things like wall construction, roof structure and existing services before we put a figure on paper.
Permissions for painting and decorating in Aberdeen
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each handle planning a little differently. Aberdeen comes under Scotland, covered below, and we raise any questions with the council before your quote is finalised.
Internal improvements do not need planning permission in Scotland unless the building is listed.
Like-for-like kitchen and bathroom replacements do not normally need a building warrant, but structural changes and some drainage or heating alterations do, and electrical work must meet the building standards.
Rules change and every property is different, so we check the planning history and constraints for your address before we quote.
The four stages
Free site survey
Book a visit and we'll come to you. The survey covers measurements, the state of what's there now and any obvious constraints, so the price that follows is based on your actual home, not an average.
Your fixed price
The quote arrives in writing, not over the phone. It covers the full scope, the finishes you've chosen, any exclusions and the payment schedule, with a fixed price tied to that specification.
Plan and prepare
With the quote agreed, we book the work in and handle preparation: permissions where needed, building control notifications, material orders and access arrangements for your Aberdeen property.
Finish and handover
On site, the agreed plan is followed and any change is put in writing first. At completion we do a final clean, go through the snagging list with you and leave you with the relevant documents.
What you can expect from us
Common questions
Do I need to move my furniture?
You only need to remove small items, ornaments, pictures and anything fragile. We move larger furniture to the middle of the room and cover it, or into another room where agreed. Please empty bookshelves and cabinets that need moving. Let us know about anything very heavy, valuable or awkward, such as pianos or large wardrobes, so we can plan around it.
How long does it take to decorate a room?
Decorating an average room usually takes one to two days, allowing time for preparation, a mist coat or primer where needed and two finishing coats. Hallways, stairs and landings take longer because of the height and the amount of woodwork. Wallpapering adds time for stripping and lining. We give you a schedule so you know which rooms will be out of use and when.
Can I stay at home during the work?
In most cases, yes. Most people can live at home throughout, and we plan the work to keep disruption down by protecting floors, agreeing working hours and keeping access routes clear. Bigger jobs affecting kitchens, bathrooms or heating may mean a short spell with reduced facilities, and we talk this through with you at the survey.
Which postcodes in Aberdeen do you cover?
We cover AB10, AB11, AB15 and AB16, along with the rest of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. If your postcode is not listed, get in touch anyway: our coverage is UK-wide, and we can usually arrange a survey wherever you live. Enter your postcode in the guide-price tool or contact form and we will confirm.
How much does it cost to decorate a room?
Decorating an average room costs roughly £350–£900, covering walls, ceiling and woodwork, while three rooms typically come to £1,150–£2,900. Large living rooms, high ceilings, stairwells and wallpapering cost more, and so do rooms needing a lot of filling and sanding. Strong colour changes may need an extra coat. We confirm a fixed price for the agreed rooms after the survey.
Nearby towns
We cover every part of Aberdeen, including AB10, AB11, AB15 and AB16, and nearby Nigg, Inverurie and Peterhead. Wherever you are within that patch, the survey is free and the quote comes to you in writing.