Yes, we do. Generally speaking, most professional painters will prefer to supply and use their own paint and we are no different. Depending on the job we tend to stick to certain manufacturers and brands for specific tasks based on our experience of using them and how they perform during and after application - especially when using spray applicators. Unfortunately, cheap paints can often be a false economy where more coats may need applying and even then the finish is not as even or durable as the paints we would choose. We are generally able to find a suitable match for most colour choices.

Yes we will, although this is not our preference for the reasons mentioned above. Most of our experience has seen homeowners, in particular, choose a paint just for a particular colour or one which is cheap which they believe will keep costs down. Certain paints we know will need more applications and therefore what you may save in paint will be more than lost by paying someone to apply more of it, so please be mindful of this. If you have a particular paint or shade in mind we would suggest speaking about this with us before you purchase the paint so we can advise accordingly.

This will largely be influenced by the size of the house and the current walls condition. If the existing walls are dirty, crumbling and have flaking paint in many sections the wall will need prepping, which could require a combination of gentle pressure washing, wire brushing, acid washing and patch repairing - even before any paint is applied. Exterior house painting is one painting job which can vary immensely and we therefore always try to visit and inspect the walls before trying to give an estimate of how much it will cost to paint it properly.

This links in very closely to the question relating to the cost of painting the outside of a house. We time our work from beginning of the process to the end as painting and decorating work. So time spent preparing the walls properly will be time saved during the actual paint application but only accounting for the painting part of the jobs time will make cost vs. time an unfair reflection of the total decorating time spent. We price on a complete job basis so I for whatever reason the weather outdoors means that we need to hold of working we won't charge you for this time either.

Well, if you want a top quality professionally done painting and decorating job this is what you will get with us. With regards to other companies or handymen, this will depend on the quality of finish you want and to be honest it will depend on the specific handyman. Most handymen start from having expertise in one particular trade and through that have gained experience of several others to get them to a stage of being a good generalist of several trades. As a general piece of advice, ask your handyman what his original trade and training were in - if he does say painting and decorating then there is a good chance that he or she will follow all the best practices of our profession. If on the other hand, they were originally a plumber, carpenter, fitter or plasterer they are unlikely to follow all steps and therefore their pricing will reflect this. Prepping of a surface is something professional painters and decorators will do. It is part of a professional decorators training and will be much more cost effective in the long run but initial pricing will reflect this. A handyman will generally be happy to put any old paint on the top of an existing surface with no preping and this will be reflected in the pricing.

Yes, we do. With our years of experience, we have a good eye for knowing what colours or colour combinations can work to increase the perspective size of a room or decrease it. As a general rule lighter increases the size and darker decreases but too light can often make a room look, and therefore subliminally feel colder.  Having a feature wall or walls in a different colour of wall papered is often a great way to balance size, warmth and style.