Horror stories from Coventry homeowners who hired the wrong decorator are more common than anyone in the trade likes to admit. Cash deposits taken, work abandoned halfway, or finishes so poor the rooms need completely redoing. Knowing what to look for protects you.
What a Trustworthy Decorator Should Have
Before booking anyone, ask for the following. Any professional decorator will have these without hesitation:
Public liability insurance — this covers damage to your property during the job. Without it, any accident comes out of your own pocket or theirs if they don't have assets to claim against. Ask for the certificate and check the policy is current.
A DBS check — especially relevant if you're leaving a decorator in your home unsupervised. A Disclosure and Barring Service certificate shows they've passed a background check. Not every decorator has one, but family-run businesses that work regularly in residential properties increasingly carry them as standard.
References or verifiable reviews — Google reviews, Checkatrade profiles, and Facebook recommendations are all useful. Look for patterns in what customers say, not just the overall score. You can read our own client feedback on our customer testimonials page and reviews page.
A written quote — any professional will put the scope of work, materials, and total price in writing before starting. Verbal quotes with vague terms lead to disputes. Citizens Advice has a useful guide on what should be in a written estimate and what to do if a tradesperson doesn't deliver what was agreed.
Trade body membership (optional but reassuring) — bodies such as the Painting and Decorating Association set codes of practice for members, which can be a useful extra signal alongside insurance and DBS documentation, though plenty of excellent independent decorators operate outside formal membership.
Red Flags to Watch For
- Quote dramatically lower than everyone else. Cheap quotes usually mean cutting corners on prep, using low-quality paint, or planning to add costs mid-job.
- Asking for a large cash deposit upfront. Reasonable to pay something to secure dates, but 50%+ upfront with someone you've never worked with before is high risk.
- No fixed address or way to contact them other than a mobile number. If something goes wrong, tracing a sole trader with no paper trail is very difficult.
- Unwilling to provide insurance documentation. This is a non-negotiable.
- Rushing the prep. The fastest way to spot a poor decorator is how long they spend on preparation vs painting. Professional prep takes time. If someone is painting within hours of arriving on day one, corners are being cut — whether that's an interior repaint, an exterior job, or wallpaper installation.
- Vague on paint brands and product names. A decorator who can't or won't tell you which paint they're using, and why, is worth questioning further.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Book
- What preparation will you do before painting? (Good answer: fill, sand, clean, prime as needed)
- What paint brands do you use and why?
- How long have you been operating and do you have local references?
- Do you have public liability insurance and can I see the certificate?
- Will you provide a written quote with the full scope of work?
- Are you VAT registered? (Relevant for commercial clients)
- What happens if I'm unhappy with the finish?
- How do you handle weather-dependent work, if the job is exterior painting?
- Will the same person or team be on site for the whole job, or will it rotate?
What Good Preparation Actually Looks Like
A decorator who takes prep seriously will typically:
- Fill and sand all holes, cracks, and imperfections
- Wash walls to remove grease and dust
- Apply a primer or undercoat where needed
- Mask up skirting boards, ceilings, and floors before starting
- Use dust sheets that actually cover furniture and flooring
If you're having woodwork done, expect proper sanding, a flexible filler on any splits, an undercoat, and at least one gloss or eggshell topcoat. Two topcoats is the mark of quality woodwork. Our interior paint guide goes into more depth on finishes and prep for walls and woodwork specifically, and our exterior painting guide covers the render and masonry side of preparation.
Pricing: What to Expect in Coventry in 2025–2026
These are labour estimates only and exclude materials. A quote that comes in significantly below these ranges should raise questions, not excitement.
What to Expect on the Day
A well-run job usually starts with a walkthrough confirming scope, followed by furniture moving and dust sheeting, then prep (filling, sanding, cleaning, masking), and only then painting or hanging. For a single room, that sequence might all happen within one day; for a whole-house job, prep and painting are often staged room by room so you retain use of most of the house throughout. Ask your decorator to talk you through this sequence before booking — a clear, confident answer is itself a good sign.
Why Family-Run Businesses Often Deliver Better Results
Large painting companies juggle multiple jobs simultaneously and rotate teams. A family-run operation like Brookes tends to have one team or individual who sees the job through from start to finish and has a direct reputational stake in every room they leave behind. Since 2005, our work in Coventry and the surrounding areas has been built almost entirely on referrals — something that only happens when the finish and the service both hold up. You can read more about our background on our about us page.
After the Job: What a Good Aftercare Policy Looks Like
Ask what happens if you spot an issue a few weeks after completion — a hairline crack that reappears, a patch that needs touching up. A decorator confident in their work will usually offer to come back and address genuine defects within a reasonable window, and many will leave you the exact paint name and colour code so you can touch up minor marks yourself in future without repainting a whole wall.
What Should Be in a Written Quote
A proper written quote should go beyond a single total figure. Look for: a room-by-room or job-by-job breakdown, the number of coats included, which surfaces are covered (walls, ceilings, woodwork, or all three), what preparation is included versus charged as an extra, the paint brand and finish specified, an estimated timeframe, and payment terms including any deposit. A one-line text message quoting "£450 for the living room" isn't a quote in any meaningful sense — it's a guess that leaves both sides exposed if the job turns out to need more prep than expected once walls are inspected properly.
If Something Goes Wrong
Most decorating disputes come down to scope disagreements — the customer expected two coats, the decorator priced for one — which is exactly why a detailed written quote matters more than trust alone. If a dispute does arise, Citizens Advice sets out the formal steps for raising a complaint about substandard work, including small claims routes if a resolution can't be reached directly. In our experience, the vast majority of issues are resolved without ever reaching that stage, simply by having a clear written scope to refer back to.
A Real Example: What a Bad Quote Looked Like
We were called in to fix a job in Leamington Spa where the original decorator had quoted verbally, started painting on day one with almost no prep, and left after two coats that were visibly patchy over unfilled hairline cracks. The homeowner had no written record of what was agreed, no insurance certificate on file, and no way to trace the tradesperson once he stopped responding to calls. The remedial work — full strip-back, proper filling and sanding, a mist coat, and two full coats — cost more than the entire original job would have cost done properly first time. Every red flag in this guide was present from the outset: no written quote, minimal prep time, and no verifiable insurance. It's a pattern worth recognising before you book, not after.
Commercial and Landlord Jobs
Landlords and letting agents managing multiple properties across Coventry often have slightly different priorities from homeowners — durability and fast turnaround between tenancies matter more than premium finishes. A decorator experienced with rental turnarounds will typically recommend hard-wearing, easy-to-maintain finishes (durable matt or eggshell, neutral colours that suit a wide range of tenants) and should be able to work to a compressed timeline between one tenancy ending and the next beginning, since void periods cost landlords money every day a property sits empty.
FAQ
Q: Should I supply my own paint or let the decorator supply it? A: Either works. If you supply paint, make sure you have enough — running out mid-wall with a different batch can cause colour variation. If the decorator supplies paint, ask for the product name and colour code so you have it for touch-ups later.
Q: How long should I wait after painting before replacing furniture? A: Most emulsions are touch-dry within 2–4 hours but take up to 2 weeks to fully cure. Don't push heavy furniture against freshly painted walls for at least a week.
Q: Do you work in evenings or weekends? A: Many local decorators in Coventry are flexible, particularly for smaller jobs. Worth asking when booking.
Q: Do I need to move furniture before the decorator arrives? A: Move small items and personal belongings. A professional decorator will move larger furniture as needed and cover everything with dust sheets.
Q: What's the difference between a quote and an estimate? A: A quote is a fixed price for defined work; an estimate is an approximate figure that can change once the job starts. Always clarify which one you've been given in writing before booking.
Brookes Painting & Decorating has been working in Coventry and the surrounding area since 2005. We carry full public liability insurance, hold a current DBS certificate, and offer free no-obligation quotes. Browse recent projects on our photos page, read our interior, exterior, and wallpaper guides for more detail on specific jobs, or get in touch on our contact page or by calling 07531509261.
Family-run since 2005. Fully insured. DBS checked. Covering Coventry, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Warwick, Meriden, and Balsall Common.