DIY Painting or Hiring a Painter: What Is Smart?

The rule of thumb: the less a mistake costs and the lower the work, the better you can do it yourself. A wall that does not turn out well you simply paint over. A window frame where the paint starts to flake or water creeps behind it is another story, because then you pay twice later.

Add to that what you can manage yourself. Do you have time, patience and a good ladder? Then a lot is possible. If you have a job, children and only two weekends for a whole facade, it often goes differently. A half-finished facade going into winter does the timber more harm than waiting a year longer for the exterior painter.

This table is a rule of thumb and depends on your experience, your tools and the condition of the surface. If you are unsure about a ceiling, first read how to get a ceiling without streaks.

Not in the painting itself, but in everything before it. Anyone who paints on a greasy, unsanded door sees the first flakes after a season. Anyone who finishes a window frame that is still damp from the morning dew seals the moisture in under a closed coat. Sealing and filling are also often skipped, because they seem to add little.

Then in Friesland there is the weather. Outside you apply paint, as a rule of thumb, between 5 and 30 degrees, at a humidity of no more than 85 percent, on dry timber and preferably not in strong wind. Those are fewer days than you think: see painting weather in Friesland. If you can only do Saturdays, the chance that the day cooperates too is small.

In older houses the paint under the top layers may contain lead. White lead has been banned indoors since 1939, outdoors since 2009. You do not want that dust in the house or the garden, so if in doubt do not sand dry. How to handle it is on our page about old paint with lead.

The second risk is height. Standing on a ladder at a top gable, with a brush in one hand and a tin in the other and some wind around you, is the classic. A fall costs more than any painter. For fascia boards and barge boards scaffolding or a cherry picker is needed. With that you work stably, can use both hands and reach everywhere.

Doing it yourself saves labour costs, but not everything. As a national market indication a painter starts from €30 per hour indoors and from €40 per hour outdoors. Exterior painting starts from €35 per m2 and walls from €15 per m2. With us you get a fixed price after the site visit.

Set against that, honestly, what costs you: paint, primer, brushes, sandpaper, sealant and timber repair, plus a rented scaffold or lift from €50 per day. Those days keep running if it rains. On top of that, a painter on a home that is two years old or older charges 9 percent Dutch VAT. And how many evenings and weekends will you lose yourself?

You do not have to choose between all or nothing. What often works well: you paint the walls yourself and leave window frames, doors and staircase to the painter. Or you empty the rooms and take out the old floor covering or wallpaper yourself, so fewer hours go on the quote.

At the site visit tell us what you want to do yourself, and we will adjust the work and the quote will state what is and is not included. For exterior work the order counts. Have wood rot repaired or replaced first before anyone starts painting, whoever does the painting.

If you want to know what you can do yourself and what not, send us a few things. You will get an honest answer, even if it means you can simply do it yourself:

• photos of the room or the facade, and up close
• dimensions or the number of doors and window frames
• the year of construction and the last paint job
• which part, if any, you want to take on yourself

We then discuss it at the site visit: looking at the surface, choosing colours and agreeing the work. That way you know where you stand before you have bought a tin of paint or booked an appointment.

Customers who come to us have sometimes tried something themselves first, or been let down by someone else. One of them had a house that had gone ten years without maintenance, with a lot of wood rot as a result. That is no shame, but it is a reason not to wait another year.

We work from Mirns across Friesland, with a fixed quote and our own scaffolding. On Google we are rated 4.8 from 25 reviews. Send your photos through the quote page or WhatsApp, and you will hear what we think is smartest for your house, even if the answer is that you can do it yourself.