How to Prepare Your Home for Professional Painting: A Homeowner's Checklist
A homeowner checklist to prepare your property before painters arrive and keep the project on track.
Most avoidable delays happen before decorators start. This checklist helps homeowners in London prepare correctly when booking professional painting services. In this area we usually handle everything from listed homes to modern developments, where managing access, parking and timelines without compromising finish is a recurring issue.
What to Do 7 Days Before the Painters Arrive
London sits within Greater London, and the building stock is mixed. That means one-size-fits-all estimates usually fail. We separate labour into preparation, application, and protection/cleanup so clients can see exactly where time is spent and where quality comes from.
- Moisture and substrate checks before primer selection.
- Repair strategy for cracks, unstable filler and old caulk lines.
- Paint system matched to use level, ventilation and cleaning frequency.
- Daily site protection with clear end-of-day reset standards.
What to Prepare the Day Before Start
Preparation by the homeowner materially affects project speed and finish quality. A clear pre-start checklist reduces downtime and keeps the team focused on technical work.
- Confirm colour codes, sheens and final sign-off list.
- Move valuables and clear wall-mounted accessories.
- Provide parking/access details in writing.
- Agree a daily start-end schedule and contact route.
Our crews use a repeatable sequence: isolate and protect, prep surfaces to standard, spot-prime repairs, apply full coats under manufacturer spread rates, then complete snagging under natural and artificial light. This removes the biggest cause of callbacks: rushing prep to meet arbitrary timelines.
If your project is in London or nearby all London zones, we recommend a short pre-start walk-through to confirm access, parking, furniture movement, and drying windows. That one step usually prevents avoidable delays.
What to Verify at Handover
For planning purposes, most jobs are priced by real scope rather than room count. We provide optioned quotes so you can compare “essential” versus “full finish” outcomes with transparent trade-offs. This is especially useful when balancing budget and finish level.
You can see a related local project here: view portfolio example. For service details, see our painting and decorating services. When you're ready, request a free quote with photos and preferred dates.
