Painter or Decorator? What the Difference Means for Your Job

Two words people use interchangeably

If you've been searching for someone to decorate a room, you'll have seen both words used as if they mean the same thing. Mostly they do, in the sense that anyone advertising as a painter and decorator will do the lot. But there's a real distinction underneath, and understanding it tells you what to actually look for when you're choosing who to let into your house.

I'm Jon, and I run JPL Paint Services from Huddlestones Wharf in Newark-on-Trent.

---

The short version

A painter applies paint. Walls, ceilings, woodwork, the outside of the house.

A decorator does all of that, plus everything that happens before the paint comes out — filling, caulking, sanding, keying old gloss, priming bare timber, mist-coating new plaster, masking, sheeting down. On most jobs that preparation takes longer than the painting does.

That's the bit that matters to you as a customer, because preparation is almost entirely what decides whether the finish still looks right in five years or starts letting go after one.

---

Why preparation is the thing worth asking about

When people ring round for quotes, the questions are usually about price and how soon someone can start. The more useful question is: what are you going to do to it before you paint it?

Here's what should happen on a normal interior job:

• Cracks and holes in walls and ceilings filled, then sanded back flush
• Existing woodwork washed down and rubbed back so the new coat has something to key into
• Chips and dents in skirtings and architraves filled
• Bare timber primed before anything else goes on
• New plaster given a mist coat before full emulsion — skipping this is one of the most common reasons paint peels later
• Floors, carpets and furniture sheeted down, edges masked

None of that shows up in the finished room. All of it decides how the finished room looks.

Louise Ellison had woodwork done through her living room and hall, stairs and landing, and picked out exactly the part that comes from preparation rather than painting:

Thank you for doing a great job of refreshing and glossing the woodwork in the living room and hall/stairs/landing. Work done in no time, with no splashes or damage to floor and carpets.

No splashes and no damage isn't luck. It's what sheeting down and masking properly buys you.

---

What that looks like on different jobs

Interior rooms. Walls and ceilings are the easy part. The woodwork is what lifts a room — skirtings, architraves, window boards and doors, finished in gloss, satin or eggshell. It's the thing you notice when it's done well and notice far more when it isn't.

Halls, stairs and landings. The most-used surfaces in any house and usually the most neglected, partly because getting at the wall above a stairwell safely needs proper access equipment rather than a ladder propped on a step.

Kitchens. Grease and condensation residue mean surfaces need degreasing before anything will stick. It's a preparation problem more than a painting one.

Outside. Nottinghamshire weather is hard on paintwork. Scraping back, sanding, filling and priming is most of the work; the topcoat is the quick bit. It also needs the right weather — there's no point putting paint on damp or freezing masonry.

---

What to ask any decorator before you book

Worth asking whoever you're speaking to:

• How will you protect my floors, carpets and furniture?
• What preparation does this particular room need, and is that included?
• Will you tidy up at the end of each day, or at the end of the job?
• Are you insured?
• Who will actually be doing the work?

That last one matters more than people expect. With me you get the same person from start to finish — there's no crew that changes day to day and no subcontractor turning up instead. Luke Brown summed up the part most people care about:

jon is very friendly, on time and does a great job. he is also very respectful of your home.

JPL Paint Services is fully insured.

---

Common questions

So which do I actually need, a painter or a decorator?

For almost any job in a home, a decorator. If the surfaces need any filling, sanding or priming — and they usually do — the preparation is the job.

Does more preparation mean a longer job?

Sometimes, yes. A room that's been decorated recently and is in good condition goes quicker than one where the woodwork hasn't been touched in years. I'll tell you honestly which one you've got when I come and look at it.

Can I just have the woodwork done and leave the walls?

Absolutely. Plenty of jobs are woodwork only, and it often makes more difference than people expect. No job too big or too small.

How do I get a price?

Ring me and I'll come and have a look at the actual room. A figure given over the phone is guesswork — a ceiling with a crack in it or fifteen years of built-up gloss on the skirtings changes the job completely.

---

Across Newark and the villages

I work across Newark-on-Trent and the villages around it — Balderton, Farndon, Coddington, Fernwood, Winthorpe, Collingham, Hawton, Elston, Averham and Kelham among them. Terraced houses in town, newer builds, period properties; the approach doesn't change.

If you want a decorator who'll prepare properly and leave your house as tidy as he found it, give me a ring on 07845 176906.