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.
We take on painting and decorating throughout St Andrews and the surrounding KY16 postcodes, as well as in Dundee, Carnoustie and Glenrothes. The guide range for this work in Scotland is £1,150–£2,900 including VAT; where your project falls depends on its size, the materials you pick and how easy the site is to reach. A free survey turns that range into a fixed figure.
- Guide price
- £1,150–£2,900 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 1–2 days per room; 3–7 days for a house exterior
- Postcodes
- KY16
- Planning rules
- Scotland
- Local area
- Fife
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
What should you budget for painting and decorating in St Andrews?
What should you budget for painting and decorating in St Andrews? Use the figures below as a starting point. Prices in Scotland sit about 4% below the national guide, so the range here is £1,150–£2,900 including VAT. Your fixed price comes in writing once we've surveyed the property, at no charge.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in St Andrews |
|---|---|---|
| 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
- Amount of preparation, filling and repairs needed
- Whether woodwork, doors and wallpaper are included
- Paint quality, colour changes and number of coats
What’s included?
- 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
Building in St Andrews
Fife's East Neuk fishing villages are known for pantiled roofs and crow-stepped gables, and St Andrews has historic stone streets. Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline have Victorian sandstone housing and interwar estates, Glenrothes was built as a post-war new town, and former mining towns in central Fife have rows of cottages and post-war council housing.
The coast faces cold easterly winds and salt from the North Sea, and frost is common inland through the winter.
None of this holds for every street in St Andrews, which is why we look at your actual house before pricing painting and decorating rather than assuming from its age alone.
Planning and building rules in St Andrews
Because St Andrews falls under Scotland's rules, the guidance below is the version relevant to you. Before sending a price, we check your property's position with the council.
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.
From survey to handover
Free site survey
It starts with a survey at the property, free of charge. We check condition, access and services, ask how you want the finished result to look, and answer any questions you have about painting and decorating.
Quote in writing
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.
Booking the work
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 St Andrews property.
Build and hand over
Work goes ahead as scheduled and you deal with one contact throughout. When the last trade leaves, we clear and clean the site, talk you through what has been done and pass on any certificates and care instructions.
What you can expect from us
Common questions
Can you paint over wallpaper?
Painting over wallpaper is possible if it is firmly stuck, but it often leads to bubbles and visible seams, and makes future stripping harder. In most cases, stripping the paper, filling and lining the walls, or skimming them, gives a better and longer-lasting finish. We check how well the paper is bonded during the survey and explain the options and costs.
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.
What paint finish should I choose?
Matt emulsion hides imperfections and gives a soft look, which suits ceilings and living rooms. Eggshell or soft sheen finishes are more washable, so they suit kitchens, hallways and children's rooms. For woodwork, satin gives a modern low-shine look, while gloss is harder-wearing and more traditional. Bathrooms benefit from paints made to resist moisture and mould.
Which postcodes in St Andrews do you cover?
We cover KY16, along with the rest of Fife. 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.
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.
Near St Andrews
Homes across KY16 in St Andrews are within our coverage, as are those in Dundee, Carnoustie and Glenrothes. If you are just outside these areas, ask anyway, because we work right across the UK.