Questions and Answers
You can instantly cancel any time
Many other painters and decorators tie you into a contract for having the work done. Their customers have to continue whether they are happy or not.
With James Fairbrass we want you to be happy, so you can cancel at any time. You only need to give us one working day's notice and pay for whatever work we have done.
(A working day is Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.) We can often stop sooner than that we can organise starting with the customer after you more quickly.
We also break down your job into stages. The painter will go over the work with you at the end of each stage so you can go over it together and see that it was done properly.
Please note this only covers labour, if you get us to buy materials for you such as paint we cannot take it back as there is nothing else we can use it for.
We want you to be happy with the painter and decorator, so have this transparent step by step job process where you can:
- Clearly see how things are going.
- Check you are happy with the work.
- Are never committed if you do not want to continue, please see section on how to cancel
Jobs are itemised and broken down into stages.
Lets say a job is £900.
It might be broken down into two stages, the first is £450 and the second is £450.
All quotes have the prices broken down with a price by each item, so you can see the cost of what has been done and so what else will be done for the remaining amount of money.
If a job is £300 or less then it will probably be done in one stage, as otherwise it gets too complicated
The stages are for labour, it does not include materials. If you would like us to get materials for you, then we have to get them in advance and there is nothing we can do with them if you decide not to use them. You can of course use them and they are yours.
Payments
Payments are made the same day the amount of work for each payment stage is completed, or by 1pm next day if the stage was completed after 6pm.
We do this so all your money goes into providing a great service and not the cost of reminding other customers to pay.
As a result, all quotes include a discount for this prompt payment.
Jobs are broken down into stages, as in their payment schedule.
You can cancel at any time during each stage by giving just one working day's notice. Please see cancellation section for details.
For example the stages might be:
- Plastering and sanding
- First coat of paint
- Second coat of paint
Each quote comes with a price breakdown for each bit of work, so you can see what each bit of money covers.
Customers are more than welcome to pay for more than one stage in advance if they find making so many payments onerous. This is especially on much larger jobs.
Unless you ask otherwise, so the job is not slowed down, if some areas are ready to be done while others need more drying time, the painter may start with some parts of the next stage before the first is completed. For example if one area needs time for the plaster to set and another area can be painted straight away.
Jobs of £300 or less
If it is a smaller job such as £300 or less for labour, then it is all one stage, as we find breaking it down into stages is too onerous for the customer.
Please note that this section is referring to labour, please see the paint and materials section for those.
You are welcome to get the paint and materials yourself, or have have us to get the materials for you; whichever you prefer.
Unlike for labour where you pay as we go along and you can cancel at any time, for materials we buy need to but them in advance and receive payment for us to buy them.
We also cannot take them back unless the supplier will, or we can find another customer who wants them.
If you choose us to get them for you, we will buy them before the start of the project.
This is to:
- Reduce the administration and organisation cost of buying them.
- Reduce possible delays from waiting for things to be delivered.
- Ensure the project is not held up by a specific brand having a paint colour and finishes out of stock, which can happen from time to time.
Paint and materials
Our estimates of the amounts of materials needed, come from the large amount of data built up on the platform from the many jobs that have been done.
We always go about 20% below the manufacturer’s ‘up to’ square metres per litre. This is because:
The manufactures state the area the paint will cover as 'up to'. So the paint may not reach this full coverage area. The roughness, porosity, finish and so on of the wall surface being painted determines how much is really needed.
Details like patterns on covings and fittings will use up more paint.
The painters and decorators do proper coats to give you a quality finish that will last as long as possible and stay looking good. They don’t just try to get away with doing the thinnest coats possible.
Larger paint can sizes are much cheaper per litre, so if there is a 2.5 Litre can and the painter then finds another 1 litre is needed, this 1 litre can purchase will make the total price worse value than just having bought a 5 litre can in the first place.
If another can is needed, the time needed to go and get it or wait for a delivery can hugely slow down the job. This can be made worse if that specific paint is then out of stock and there is a wait for it to be ordered or in stock again.
Option 1: You buy the paint and materials yourself
Some customers like to get the paint and other materials themselves. We of course pass this saving onto you because we are not having do to that work.
Likewise some customers like us to get the paint and other materials themselves and so we have to pass that cost on.
We ask customers to buy water based paints and not oil/solvent based, this is because
- Water based paints are much better for the environment
- Solvent/oil based paints are much more toxic Health and Safety Excecutive, solvents
- Solvent/oil based paints need white spirit to clean them instead of water, this is an extra cost. Also, as the painters do not use them often they may need a seperate set of brushes and rollers that they will have to charge you for.
Option 2: Us buy them for you
There are two ways of doing this:
a: Us getting the paint and materials as part of the quote
If you get the quote online and choose for us to get the paint for you, the paint costs incudes the admin cost of us getting it for you.
By default we get you the paint we have found is best, without it having the extra cost of being a brand.
Our current favourite is Leyland Trade, we find it just as good as the mainstream brands but without the cost of advertising on tv and so on that the branded products do.
We find Dulux just as good but more expensive as you are paying for their tv advertising etc. Nonetheless it very good paint, many customers are reassured by it like us to use it, but we have to pass this extra cost on. Please tell us if you would like us to get it for you instead.
b: Buying the specific brand and can sizes you tell us to get
At the time of writing it costs us £50 to get the paint and other materials for the customer (please check with us for the current cost), this comes from:
- £15 calculating the quantities needed (even if the customer requests the quantities, we still need to verify and calculate the quantities required ourselves to ensure there will be no project delays due to any issues such as there not being enough for the job)
- £15 administrative time doing the order and organising the purchase
- £10 which is the average for the communications and discussions needed with the customer about the process
- £5 Problem solving such as if there are any problems with the supplier
This is the same cost as used to calculate the online quoting option above of us providing the paint.
Please note that if you add more paint to your requirements at a later stage in the job, such as if you ask us to do another room. we have to charge this administrative cost again.
These upmarket paints create a lovely finish, we love working with them and are very popular. However we have found they usually need a third coat.
As a result we will have to adjust your quote for this extra work.
All quotes come with a price breakdown for doing 2 coats, so if we have to do 3 coats then it will cost 50% more.
Eg. If in the price breakdown for the quote it shows the cost is £100 for us to paint a wall with 2 coats of paint, then that is £50 per coat. So doing 3 coats is £50 x 3 = £150
Please let us know in advance if you would like us to use one of these handcrafted paint products.
If you would like us to quote for just 2 coats
Once we are told the paint is Farrow and Ball, by default we will requote for 3 coats. However some clients prefer the painter just to do 2 coats which is the quote we provide when painting with normal paints. Then the customer chooses after the painter has applied 2 coats, if they would like us to do a third.
We can do this if you would like, but please note that if you then decide we should do a third coat and the paint has not been purchased, this could lead to:
- A delay in the project due to the wait for the delivery of the paint. On some occasions there can be a longer delay if the same paint colour and finish used for the first two coats, is currently out of stock in the can size needed.
- As buying for a third coat is a smaller can size than for two or three coats in one can, it can be much more expensive per litre as the bigger cans are so much cheaper than the smaller ones
- Needing to reschedule when the painter is available as they may not be able to wait around doing nothing while they wait for they delivery date, or have committed to starting their next job