PDS Painting Birmingham carries out interior painting and decorating across Birmingham, from one tired bedroom to every room in a family house. As an established painter and decorator in Birmingham, we paint walls, ceilings, woodwork and stairwells in occupied homes and empty ones.
A finish only lasts as long as the surface underneath it, so preparation takes up a large share of every job. Your quote lists each surface, the preparation it needs, the products we’ll use and the finish, so you can compare it fairly with anyone else’s.
What Our Interior Painting Covers
Most interior jobs fall into one or more of four areas: walls and ceilings, woodwork and staircases, full-house redecoration, and feature walls or wallpaper.
Walls and Ceilings
Walls normally get two coats of emulsion, with clean cutting-in along every corner, ceiling line and skirting and an even finish without patchy areas. Ceilings are rolled in strips working away from the window light, which is how we paint ceilings without leaving lines.
High ceilings and stairwells are reached with proper access equipment rather than a ladder balanced on the stairs. Where a room has cornices or coving, we can have coving fitted and painted as part of the same job.
Doors, Skirting Boards, Architraves and Staircases
Woodwork is keyed with abrasive, filled, and caulked where it meets the wall, then given an undercoat and topcoat. You choose the sheen: satin for a soft shine, eggshell for a flatter look or gloss for a traditional finish.
Banisters and spindles are brushed one at a time, and our timber door painting covers internal doors as well as front doors.
If you’d like to tackle some of the trim yourself, our guide to painting skirting boards, woodwork and radiators sets out the method step by step.
Full-House Redecoration and Move-In Refreshes
For a whole-house repaint we work room by room, finishing and clearing each one before moving on, so you’re never without a bedroom or kitchen for long. Hallways and stairs usually come last, once heavy furniture has stopped passing through. We agree the order of rooms with you before we start, so you know which ones are out of action each day.
If you’ve just bought a property, painting it while it’s empty is quicker and cleaner than working around furniture later, and you move into finished rooms.
Feature Walls and Wallpaper
A single feature wall can be papered or painted in a bold colour, and we also paper whole rooms, hang lining paper and strip old paper first. Full detail is on our page about wallpaper hanging in Birmingham.
Preparation Decides How Long the Finish Lasts
Most paint failures - peeling, flashing, cracks reappearing a few weeks after the decorator has gone - come from preparation that was skipped or rushed. Before any topcoat goes on, we:
- fill dents, screw holes and fine cracks
- sand every repair flush so it disappears under the paint
- caulk the gaps where skirting boards and architraves meet the wall
- use stain block for water and smoke stains and nicotine marks, so they can’t bleed back through
- apply a mist coat on new plaster so the paint grips instead of peeling
- degrease kitchen walls, especially around the cooker
Some problems need sorting before decorating starts. Active damp will push paint off whatever we use, so we’ll point it out rather than paint over it. Plaster repairs beyond filling are a job for a plasterer, and we’ll tell you if you need one.
For the whole process, including which filler suits which crack, read our guide to preparing walls for painting.
Choosing the Right Paint and Finish for Each Room
Each room has its own demands, and the right finish is the one that copes with them.
| Room | Recommended finish | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Living rooms and bedrooms | Matt emulsion | Soft, low-sheen look that plays down small wall imperfections |
| Hallways and stairs | Durable or scrubbable matt | Survives bags, coats and hands brushing the walls every day |
| Kitchens | Kitchen paint or eggshell | Grease splashes and steam marks wipe off without leaving a shiny patch |
| Bathrooms | Moisture- and mould-resistant paint | Built for steam and damp air - see the note below |
| Ceilings | Flat matt | No sheen to pick up roller marks or uneven plaster |
| Woodwork | Satin, eggshell or gloss | Hard-wearing surface that takes knocks and cleaning |
Mould-resistant paint helps in a bathroom, but only good ventilation stops the condensation that feeds mould. Our guide to anti-mould paint for bathrooms covers both sides of the problem.
We use trade-quality paints, and your quote names the product for each surface. If you’ve already picked a colour from a particular range, tell us at the visit and we’ll quote for it. For the difference between sheens, see paint finishes explained.
How We Protect Your Home While We Work
Before we open a tin, floors are covered with dust sheets and furniture is moved to the middle of the room, or into another room, and covered. Sockets, switches, window glass and any edges not being painted are masked.
At the end of each day we tidy up, so rooms can be used in the evening. If you have children or pets, we agree which rooms are out of bounds and keep the doors to wet-paint areas shut. Windows are opened where possible to keep fresh air moving while the paint dries.
If there’s something you’d rather we didn’t move, such as a piano or a heavy dresser, we’ll work around it and protect it where it stands.
How Long Does Interior Painting Take?
A single room, a hallway and stairs, and a full three-bed interior are very different jobs, and no two houses take quite the same time. What changes the timescale is how much preparation the walls and woodwork need, how many coats a colour change takes, drying time between coats and how much furniture has to be moved.
We’ll give you a realistic timescale with your quote once we’ve seen the rooms. Our guide to how long it takes to paint a room or a house explains the factors in more detail.
What Affects the Cost of Interior Painting in Birmingham?
The price of an interior job comes down to:
- the size of each room and the height of its ceiling
- the condition of the walls and how much filling and sanding they need
- the number of coats and the quality of paint
- whether skirting boards, doors and frames are included
- whether the rooms are empty or furnished
- access, particularly for tall stairwells
Booking several rooms together is usually more efficient than doing them one at a time, because protection and setting up only happen once. Every interior quote is fixed in writing after a visit. For more on how prices are worked out, see our Birmingham painter and decorator price guide.
Want to see finished rooms before you decide? See more of our work from homes around the city.
Interior Painting for Landlords and Letting Agents
Between tenancies we repaint rental properties to a fixed move-in date, sealing stains and using hard-wearing, wipeable finishes that stand up to the next tenancy. Our page on end of tenancy and landlord painting explains how we work with landlords and agents.
Areas We Cover for Interior Painting
We decorate homes throughout Birmingham city, including Sutton Coldfield. Four parts of the city have their own pages:
Elsewhere in Birmingham? You’ll find your neighbourhood on our list of all areas, grouped by postcode.
Interior Painting Questions
How much does it cost to paint a room in Birmingham?
It depends on the size of the room and the height of the ceiling, the state of the walls, whether the ceiling and woodwork are included and how many coats the colour needs. We price each room after seeing it, and the quote is fixed in writing. Our painter and decorator price guide explains what pushes the cost up or down.
How much does it cost to paint the interior of a 3-bedroom house?
A full 3-bed interior usually means the walls and ceilings in every room plus the woodwork - skirting boards, doors, frames and the staircase. The price depends on condition, colour changes and whether the house is furnished. We list everything that's included in a written quote after a visit, and our price guide explains the factors.
Do I need to move my furniture before you start?
No need to shift the big pieces - we move and cover sofas, beds, tables and other furniture ourselves. We'd ask you to clear ornaments, photos, valuables and anything fragile from shelves and windowsills before we arrive. That way nothing precious gets handled, and we can get the room protected and started straight away.
Can you paint new plaster?
Yes, once it has dried right out. New plaster changes from dark pink to an even pale colour all over, which usually takes a few weeks. The first coat is a mist coat - thinned emulsion that soaks in and seals the surface - followed by full-strength coats. Our guide to mist coats on new plaster explains why it matters.
How many coats of paint will my walls need?
Usually two topcoats over a sound wall that's been painted before. A strong colour change, going light over dark, or new plaster after its mist coat can need a third. The number of coats is written into your quote. Our guide to paint drying times and coats has more on why.
Can you paint over wallpaper?
Sometimes, but we usually recommend stripping it. Water-based paint can soften the paste so seams lift and bubbles appear, and any pattern or texture tends to show through. If the paper is well stuck and in good condition, painting can work. Our guide on whether to paint over or strip wallpaper weighs up both options.
Can you work while we're living in the house?
Yes - most of our interior work is in occupied homes. We sequence the rooms so you always have somewhere to sleep, cook and wash, keep rooms with wet paint closed off, and tidy up at the end of each day so the house is usable in the evenings.