How we chose
We built the candidate list from Google Places listings across Telford, Companies House records and each firm's own website, then checked claimed memberships against the Painting and Decorating Association listings and the TrustMark register [1][2][6]. Before we score anyone, we check that each business is who it says it is, is trading today and can actually be reached, and that any claimed registration checks out. We then score every eligible business against our scoring system, which looks at the things you care about when hiring: what customers say, the qualifications and registrations that matter for this trade, how the business responded when we contacted it, how long it has traded, insurance and safeguards, how clearly it prices, and how useful its website is. Anything we cannot verify stays neutral rather than counting against a business. Each ranking carries its evidence date so you can see how fresh every check is.
How to hire
Match the decorator to the finish. A general painter and decorator suits emulsion, woodwork gloss and satin, and standard wallpapering in Telford homes. Spray finishing, hand-painted kitchens, limewash on older cottages, exterior masonry coatings and hanging wide-width or hand-printed papers each need a specialist: ask how many of that exact finish they completed last year and go and see one. If walls need skimming first, agree whether they arrange the plasterer or you do, and whose guarantee covers the join between the two jobs.
Decorating has no statutory register, so memberships and method carry the weight. Check claimed membership of the Painting and Decorating Association on its own listings rather than trusting a logo [1]. Look for TrustMark registration as evidence of assessed standards and a dispute route [2]. Check limited companies on Companies House for active status and a matching trading name [6]. Ask to see public liability insurance, and ask for two recent local jobs at a similar scale: look at cutting-in lines, the finish on woodwork, and wallpaper seams and pattern matching, where hurried work always shows.
Get three itemised written quotes that name the preparation steps (wash-down, sanding, filling, priming, knot treatment), the paint brand and range, the number of coats on each surface, protection for floors and furniture, and VAT [3]. Confirm who supplies paint and paper, who moves and stores furniture, working hours, and a day-by-day plan that allows drying between coats. For exteriors, confirm what is rubbed back to bare wood, which filler and primer system is used, and how weather delays are handled. Put the scope, the price and the dates in writing before a brush is lifted.
Stay observant while the job runs. Preparation should take a visible share of the time: a decorator who starts top-coating on the first morning has skipped the work you are paying for. Dust from sanding travels, so agree extraction or sealed doors around soft furnishings and electronics, and confirm any pre-1980 coatings are tested before abrasion rather than sanded blind [5]. Wash water and solvent waste must be handled lawfully, never tipped down the drain. Inspect each room in daylight before the final payment, and record snags with photos.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford guides look like this. Painting a medium bedroom with sound walls commonly falls between £320 and £600 including standard trade paint; adding wallpaper to a feature wall often adds £150 to £300 for hanging plus the paper itself; a full exterior repaint of a semi-detached house frequently lands between £1,200 and £2,800 depending on access and repair work [4][3]. Hand-painted kitchens and spray finishes are usually quoted per door or per day and run higher.
Preparation moves the price most: stripping failed paper, repairing cracked plaster, rubbing back flaking gloss and treating knots all add days. Paint quality, the number of coats, scaffolding or tower hire outside, and parking and access on tighter Telford streets shift the total too. Get the brand and range, the coats per surface, the VAT position and the touch-up terms in writing, and treat any figure set without seeing the rooms as a guess, not a price [3].
Red flags
Quotes from a phone description alone, without seeing the walls, testing what is already on them or measuring the woodwork.
Starts top-coating on the first morning, with no visible washing down, sanding, filling or priming before the colour goes on.
Cannot name the paint system, offers one coat throughout, or plans to put standard emulsion over bare plaster or stained wood.
Sands pre-1980 textured coatings without a word about testing, or tips wash water and solvents where they should not go [5].
Asks for full payment before you have inspected the finish in daylight, or offers no written touch-up promise for early defects.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.