Professional House Painters in London — Interior & Exterior
London homeowners have a particular problem with decorators. The city is full of them — but finding one who actually shows up on time, preps the surfaces properly, uses decent paint, and leaves the house as clean as they found it takes more effort than it should.
Prima Decor has been painting houses across London since 2009. Our founder Roman Pelykh personally oversees every project from first visit to final sign-off. We're qualified to NVQ Level 3 in Painting and Decorating, registered with the Painting and Decorating Association (PDA), and insured to £2 million. Every project gets a written, itemised quote before a brush touches anything — and we don't start work until you've agreed exactly what's included.
Whether you need a single room refreshed, a full whole-house repaint, an exterior done before the weather turns, or specialist work on a period property, we handle it properly from start to finish.
House Painting Services We Offer in London
We cover the full range of residential painting work. Here's what we regularly handle:
Interior House Painting in London
The quality of an interior repaint depends almost entirely on what happens before the first coat goes on. Filling, sanding, priming — these steps take time, and they're the stages where corners most often get cut. We don't cut them.
- Full surface preparation: filling hairline cracks and holes, sanding back, priming
- Walls and ceilings painted in any finish — matt, silk, eggshell, or specialist
- Woodwork: skirting boards, architraves, door frames, window sills
- Doors: both sides, all edges, handles masked properly
- Feature walls, colour blocking, and decorative finishes
- Furniture and floors fully covered throughout — left clean on completion
- Low-VOC paint options available for families with young children or sensitivities
See our full domestic interior painting service for more detail.
How Long Does It Take to Paint a House Interior in London?
A full interior repaint of an average three-bedroom London house — including proper prep, priming, and two coats on walls and woodwork — takes around 5 to 10 working days. Individual rooms take one to two days each. Period properties or homes needing significant surface preparation will take longer, and we'll tell you that upfront rather than underquoting and rushing.
Exterior House Painting in London
Exterior painting done badly costs more than exterior painting done right. The wrong paint on a damp render, primer skipped to save a day, two coats applied in unsuitable weather — any of these and you're repainting in two years instead of seven. We specify the right product for each surface and condition, and we don't start external work when the weather makes the application unreliable.
- Masonry and rendered facades — correct masonry paint system applied in the right conditions
- Timber window frames, fascias, and soffits — properly sanded, primed, and topcoated
- Metal railings and ironwork — rust-treated where needed before painting
- Front doors — properly prepped for a finish that doesn't peel inside six months
- Scaffolding or access equipment arranged where required
If your exterior is in a conservation area, the UK Planning Portal has guidance on what external changes may need permission. We're experienced in working with period properties in London conservation areas and can advise on what's typically required.
What Happens If You Delay External Repainting?
Cracked exterior paint lets moisture into the substrate. On masonry or render, that causes spalling and damp over winter. On timber, it accelerates rot. Waiting until the damage is visible usually means the repair bill is bigger than the repaint would have been. Most London homes need an exterior repaint every 5–8 years depending on aspect and conditions — south-facing and exposed elevations wear faster.
Painting Period and Victorian Properties in London
A significant part of our residential work is in London's older housing stock — Victorian terraces, Edwardian semis, Georgian townhouses, and 1930s semis. These properties have characteristics that require a different approach to a modern flat.
Original cornicing and ceiling roses need patience to paint cleanly — tape and roll won't do it. Older plaster moves and cracks differently from modern surfaces and needs flexible fillers. Sash windows require careful masking and the right undercoat to avoid the frames sticking. Cast iron radiators need specialist paint and proper preparation. We've worked in period properties across Richmond, Twickenham, Fulham, Chelsea, Islington, and Wandsworth for over a decade, and we're not thrown by what older homes involve.
What Makes a Good London House Painter — Honest Comparison
| Factor | What to expect from Prima Decor | Common red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Quoting method | Written, itemised, after site visit | Phone or WhatsApp estimates without seeing the work |
| Prep work | Included in scope, done before painting starts | Not mentioned, charged as extras later |
| Paint quality | Dulux Trade, Farrow & Ball, Little Greene | No-name trade emulsion or watered-down retail paint |
| Qualifications | NVQ Level 3, PDA registered | No industry affiliation |
| Insurance | £2M public liability, certificate available | Unverified or not offered upfront |
| Project oversight | Founder personally oversees each project | Subcontracted without notice |
Wallpapering Services for London Homes
Wallpapering is one of those skills that looks simple but reveals itself quickly when it's done wrong — misaligned patterns, bubbles that appear a week later, cuts that don't follow the architrave. We hang lining paper, standard wallpapers, premium designer wallcoverings, and feature wall murals. Pattern matching on London walls that aren't perfectly plumb takes experience, and that's what we bring to it.
More detail on our wallpapering service for homes.
Which Areas of London Do We Cover?
We work across all of Greater London. Our most active areas for house painting include:
If your area isn't listed, call us — we cover a wide area from our Twickenham base and will confirm coverage straight away.
