As a self employed decorator how much per day do you earn?

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by dvddvd, Nov 28, 2020.

  1. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    Funnily enough a couple of months ago I fixed two large rooms of skirting for a couple in their 70's on a Saturday, knew and liked them from years previous so didn't quote what I normally would i.e. less than a normal days pay plus I knew it would be a long day 10hours or so, i was actually there nearly 11 hours but got it all done. We were chatting about cooking whilst I was there and the lady gave me a bag of cooking apples to take with me to make apple pie. When I finally got home and checked the money there was £40 more than what I'd asked for originally, I text the gentleman saying he'd overpaid and his reply was for me and my other half to go out for some food with it. That's the best tip I've ever had (and the most appreciated) and I had a bag of apples on top, just for a days work. I will point out though that this lovely couple are the exception in niceness, rather than the norm.
     
  2. chillimonster

    chillimonster Screwfix Select

    should really be a " decorators' arms " like on the sparkies' forum, just for the trade.
     
  3. dvddvd

    dvddvd Well-Known Member

    Thanks ive sold more of the first one the "POW" https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224114223054
    its really bright and the photos dont do it justice it does look great.
    I make the boards up and then spray them white, laquer them. Then using some perforated steel sheet as a stencil i spray them again to give the dots effect. Then add the 6 layer vinyl which gives it a 3D effect and finally the LED neon.

    im working on a different idea at the moment "retro music themed signs"

    Basically I get some 50mm x 50mm steel angle, mitre it and weld it so its a picture frame. Polish it up and then distress it, easiest way ive found is spray it with water based laquer and automaticaly some parts turn to a rusty pitted look.
    Then a MDF back board with a raised edge running around it, fit some LED lighting and then a piece of opal perspex on the front so it like a box sign.
    Then its a matter of getting the correct fonts and logos of the original, cutting the vinyl lettering/logo out and you end up with an aged/distressed looking sign.

    They are normally 900mm x 600mm

    I want them to be music venues/related etc signage

    So done a " Marquee" iconic london venue sign also "100 club" sign (where sex pistols played in 1970s) Star club in Hamburg ( where Beatles played) an Abbey road road recording studio sign.

    Also been experimenting with RGB LED lights which can be controlled with an app on your phone, cheap to buy £11.99 for 5m. So done a Sex pistols concert poster from 1976 and when it was printed it was in various colours so with the RGB lights you can change the colour of the lights behind the lettering.

    Theres still is a big market for Pistols related stuff, Jamie Reed who did a lot of their artwork still makes a living on producing prints from his originals after 43 years !

    Its just having time to do stuff!
     
    Noopets and Jord86 like this.
  4. Okoak

    Okoak Active Member

    I'm sorry but £120 a day is lunacy! If you feel the need to be a philanthropist and offer good work to the local elderly community for next to nothing like an unofficial charity then I'm sure your place in Heaven is guaranteed, however if you want to run a healthy sustainable business that will continue to offer a professional service without killing yourself for nothing, then you need to be adding at least £80 a day to that.
    Undercharging like this is a long slow descent to ruin, and does nobody any good in the long run.... OK a few people get some painting done at below market value, but in the meantime you are depriving yourself of a decent income, depriving yourself and your family of the spare time to spend as you wish, and arguably damaging your health by working non stop and feeling fed up about it all.
    You'd be better off driving your van delivering parcels.
    It doesn't matter what anyone else charges, it doesn't matter what you perceive to be "a fair wage", it doesn't matter if some of your customers find someone else to do the painting because you'll be working less for more money.
    Do you want to be "that painter who is bloody cheap" or "that painter who offers a really good professional service that we feel is well worth paying for"???
    There's a semi retired plasterer up the road from me who's 73 and charges £160 a day cash for gods sake!
    You are a skilled tradesmen running a business, not a charity, charge properly and live a better life.
     
    Wayners likes this.
  5. Okoak

    Okoak Active Member

    Do the maths.... Charge £120 a day and work your **** off for 5 days for £600, or charge £200 a day, have Fridays off to order/invoice/play golf/go fishing /sleep/take up playing the guitar etc etc for £800.
    The only thing stopping this from happening is inside your head.
    Here's a few examples from my own recent experience of what people charge..... Solicitor charges £200 plus vat per hour and £35 for a bloody email!
    Local planning officer visit cost me £160 for ten minutes.
    Had my car re mapped, it takes an hour and cost me £514.00.
    Young lad I know just got a job in a food warehouse for £14 an hour.
    I had a small property valued, it took the bloke an hour and cost me £350.
    Its commercial reality.
     
    Nanook likes this.
  6. Nanook

    Nanook Active Member

    As a customer and a DIY-er, I thought you were joking when you said £120 a day... I thought it was banter. I’ve not paid anyone money that low for a very long time as I’ve not heard of anyone charging so little. I don’t see how anyone can survive on this either though. I’m down south.

    What a crying shame, I’m paying a minimum of £180 per day for work that isn’t always very good and here you are obviously really artistic and bothered about your work and earning peanuts.
     
    JayCee2020, Wayners and Okoak like this.
  7. Okoak

    Okoak Active Member

    If you think people won't pay more, then you are wrong.
    If you have people say that you are too expensive, then they are not your customers, find others.
    If you believe that your local area is so deprived that it can only support a service industry that operates at below market value, then go find work in a more affluent area where they can afford to pay properly.
    If you feel sorry for people, charge more, work less and go offer your help to a charity a couple of days a month if it makes you feel better.
    Operating profitably is not a crime, its the key element to a free market and mutually supportive society.
     
    JayCee2020 likes this.
  8. Nanook

    Nanook Active Member

    Good customers expect to pay for good work. What gets my biscuit is when I’m paying good money for tripe. I don’t think you are one of those people though, in my experience, those who are artistic/creative are normally fairly perfectionist about what they make and make the best tradespeople because they care about how their work looks. They get a kick out of it. I think you’ve got a self-esteem issue and not a workmanship issue.
     
    JayCee2020 likes this.
  9. JayCee2020

    JayCee2020 Active Member

    This. Last time I hired a decorator, I checked them out, looked at reviews, discussed what I needed doing (My entrance way including door/internal door). We agreed on a price and I was sat at my desk watching the CCTV when I was horrified to see that he got out the paint I had purchased (I had also purchased all other materials including sand paper/block, sugar soap, wood filler, undercoat and top coats) and he began applying gloss. I went out to talk to him, he said he knew what he was doing and to let him get on with it. He hadn't done any prep work, no undercoating, etc.. just went straight in with the gloss and hadn't masked anything up so he got it all over my windows, too.. I gave him £50 for bothering to come out and wished him well. Previous to him, I've paid a minimum of £180 a day up this way (down south far more) or they've priced it up per job and done a cracking job. Sometimes I'll give them extra if I feel they've priced themselves too low and it's been clear they've been conscientious, applied great care and done a cracking job. dvddvd is not alone in under-pricing himself. As a customer, what I wouldn't expect is for a decorator to start talking to me in terms of application of coats. One coat is clearly not going to be enough, so take that into consideration when quoting in the first instance.
     
  10. Noopets

    Noopets Member

    great thread but you’ve just given us all the info how to make these....
     
  11. Red Star Boats

    Red Star Boats Active Member

    If you’re that way out, you could copy dvddvd’s work, probably says more about you than the op who has openly shared this in the spirit of generosity to those of us who are genuinely interested in what he does. Alternatively you would need a cnc vinyl cutter to do the images and I would imagine anyone who owns one of these would know what to do anyway, but thanks for bringing it to our attention.
     
    JayCee2020 likes this.
  12. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

  13. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    @JayCee2020 What was the type of paint he painted all over the windows?
     
  14. dvddvd

    dvddvd Well-Known Member

    Van Gough used paint brushes, paint and an easel does not make you as good as him?

    I also have a City and Guilds 2240 level 3 in electronic servicing too.....
     
    JayCee2020 likes this.
  15. JayCee2020

    JayCee2020 Active Member

    It was gloss, Astramax. Feature/side windows, too and because of height of the top ones/stippling in the surface of the windows, it's nigh on impossible to remove - as they're incredibly old and one of the side ones has a crack in it, I can't apply any pressure (the actual glass cannot be replaced as the middle door surrounds were originally two pieces and the glass was inserted before they were put together and are an original feature of the entranceway). Had the windows not been stippled, I'd have used a blade to remove it but alas, that's not an option.
     
  16. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Isn’t that statement pretty much the basis for this entire forum though ?

    A diy’er (generally) asks for advice on how to complete a job and receives advice, tips, method, best choice of materials, etc, so that the OP can then complete the job themselves - thus doing a ‘pro’ out of a job

    That’s life though really and the opportunities are there for anyone to take if they wish

    If we need any further info as to how to complete any job, build an object or complete a project, well, apart from this mighty forum, then there’s alway the lesser known internet based searches such as YouTube and Google for this information

    All sounds easy really but in reality ,,,,,,, probably a bit more to it than that

    Anyway, I’m currently researching how to build a space rocket as I’ve always fancied a trip to the moon. Couple of tutorials on line and then I’m off to my garage to start construction ,,,, I mean - how hard can it be :)
     
  17. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    @JayCee2020 I meant type of paint as in acrylic water base oil base etc.
     
  18. JayCee2020

    JayCee2020 Active Member

    Silly me! Oil based, Astramax.
     
  19. Noopets

    Noopets Member

    I’m not knocking them at all - they’re brilliant. Being from a signage background I can understand the work that goes into them.

    Might be purchasing one off you myself
     
  20. dvddvd

    dvddvd Well-Known Member

    Thanks for all the advice over the last few days from everyone..

    I went to see a job on Saturday a little empty cottage, worked out it would take 15 days. So instead of quoting 15 x £120 I quoted it at 16 days @ £150. So instead of £1800 the quote was £2400....she was happy and accepted....so an increase of £600 what I would have priced at....so I owe everybody a pint......damn pubs are shut
    ..
    . thanks again
     

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