How long does it take to paint a house interior UK?
One of the most common questions people ask before booking a decorator or starting a DIY project is how long the work will take. The answer depends on several variables: the size of the rooms, the condition of the walls, whether woodwork is included, and how many coats are needed. Vague estimates are unhelpful, so this article gives specific figures based on typical UK homes.
The timings below assume two coats of emulsion on walls and ceiling, and two coats of gloss or satinwood on woodwork (skirting, architrave, window frames, and door). They also assume walls are in reasonable condition and do not need extensive repair work.
Room-by-room time estimates
These are professional decorator timescales, working alone with proper tools:
- Small bedroom (3m x 3m): 1 to 1.5 days
- Standard double bedroom (3.5m x 3.5m): 1.5 to 2 days
- Large bedroom or master suite: 2 to 3 days
- Living room (standard size, 5m x 4m): 2 to 3 days
- Kitchen walls only (no units): 1 day
- Hallway, stairs, and landing: 2 to 3 days (often the most time-consuming area per square metre due to access)
- Bathroom walls and woodwork: 1 to 1.5 days
A complete three-bedroom semi-detached house done to a good standard typically takes a professional decorator 8 to 12 working days. That figure increases significantly if the property needs skimming, extensive filling, or stripping of old wallpaper.
What adds time to a decorating job?
Poor wall condition
Walls with significant cracking, multiple coats of old gloss, or layers of woodchip wallpaper add days to any job. Stripping a room of old wallpaper alone can take half a day to a full day, and the walls usually need overnight drying time before they can be painted. If a room has been papered multiple times, expect to find damaged plasterwork underneath that needs skim repairs.
Woodwork included
Painting skirting boards, architrave, doors, and window frames is time-intensive relative to the area involved. A decorator painting a standard room with full woodwork will spend almost as much time on the wood as on the walls. Glossing takes preparation (sanding, priming bare patches, cutting in carefully), and each coat needs adequate drying time.
High ceilings
Properties with ceilings above 2.7m require scaffold boards or a hop-up rather than just an extension pole, which slows the process down. Victorian terraces with 3m ceilings can add a third to the time of equivalent modern rooms.
Number of colour changes
If each room is a different colour, there is additional time for brush cleaning, reloading trays, and being careful around edges where colours meet. A whole house in one neutral colour is faster than seven rooms in seven different shades.
How does DIY compare to professional timescales?
DIY timescales are typically two to three times longer than professional ones, for three reasons:
- Less experience with techniques like cutting in and maintaining a wet edge means more time per metre of wall
- Drying time is the same regardless of who is doing the job, but a professional uses that downtime in a different room; a solo DIYer on a weekend cannot
- Most people do not own an extension pole, a full set of good brushes, and proper dust sheets, so setup and cleanup take longer
A realistic expectation for a DIYer doing a standard bedroom on a weekend is the whole weekend, start to finish, including prep. This is not a criticism; it is simply the reality of fitting a two-day professional task around limited hours and unfamiliar tools.
How drying time affects the schedule
Paint drying time is the constraint that most affects how quickly a room can be completed. Standard Dulux or Crown emulsion is touch-dry in one to two hours but needs four hours minimum before recoating. In winter, or in a poorly ventilated room, that stretches to six hours or more.
Oil-based gloss or satinwood is slower still: four to six hours between coats is standard, and some products recommend overnight drying. Water-based alternatives (Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood, for example) dry in two to four hours and are increasingly preferred by decorators working to tight schedules.
Rushing coats is the most common cause of a poor finish. A room that looks slightly patchy on a Monday night will look significantly better after a proper overnight dry than after a second coat applied too soon.
Getting a realistic quote from a decorator
When getting quotes, ask decorators to specify how many days they are pricing for, not just a lump-sum figure. A quote of £800 for a living room covering one and a half days is very different from one covering three days. The difference usually comes down to how thoroughly they plan to prepare the surfaces and how many coats are included.
Always check whether the quote includes paint or whether you are supplying it yourself. Many decorators prefer to source their own, which is fine, but you should know whether that cost is built in or added on top.
