Get quotes to paint your bathroom

HaMuch is Excellent
By Emily Rivers
Last updated 4th May 2023

Average Cost to Paint a Bathroom in the UK

Painting your bathroom is an easy way to refresh its look without spending thousands on a new bathroom suite. Keeping up with the latest bathroom colour trends can add value to your home, and choosing the right colours can create a peaceful atmosphere.

Take a look at our guide to find out the average cost to paint a bathroom so you can plan your budget.

How much should it cost to paint a bathroom?

How much it costs to paint a bathroom will depend on the size of your bathroom, how much prep work is required and where you live, but expect an average bathroom to cost £300 to paint, excluding the paint itself.

Job

Average cost

Painting an average-sized UK bathroom

£250-£350

Painting bathroom walls

£8-£16 per square metre of floor space

Painting bathroom ceilings

£7-£10 per square metre

Painting and decorating day rate

£250-£400

Painting woodwork

£10-£15 per square metre

Bathroom paint

£8-£10 per litre

Woodwork paint

£25 per litre

These rates are UK averages. For a more accurate idea of how much labour will cost to paint your bathroom in your area, check the tables below. We've compiled hourly and daily rates from painters and decorators across the UK.

Cost to paint a bathroom

What affects the cost of painting my bathroom?

Size of your bathroom

The size of your bathroom will have the biggest impact on the cost to paint it. The bigger your bathroom is, the longer it will take the decorator to paint – so you’ll pay more in labour costs.

The average bathroom in the UK is 2.3m x 2.7m. It will take around a day for a decorator to paint a bathroom of this size, assuming you only have a small tiled area and don’t want that painted.

Condition of your bathroom walls

The condition of your bathroom walls will affect the cost of painting your bathroom. The longer your painter and decorator has to spend on preparing the walls and ceiling ready to paint, the more you’ll pay.

To save money on labour costs, you could prep the walls for your decorator. Wash your walls with sugar soap solution and then rinse with warm water to remove any traces of dirt. If you have any flaking paint, use sandpaper to sand down the walls until you have a smooth surface for your decorator to paint on.

Quality of paint

While you may think that buying a cheap paint is a good way to save money, it may cost you more in the long run. A cheap bathroom paint may be low quality and require more coats to achieve the desired finish, costing you more in painter and decorator costs.

We’d recommend choosing a well-known brand like Dulux, Leyland or Armstead for your bathroom paint. These brands usually only cost around £8-£10 per litre.

If you choose a more premium brand like Farrow & Ball, this can cost anywhere between £20-£25 per litre.

Where you live

Where you live can have a big impact on the average cost to paint a bathroom. Expect to pay more for your painter and decorator if you live in London, the south east or another major city, but less in more rural towns and villages.

How long does it take to paint an average bathroom?

It will generally only take a day or two to paint an average bathroom. Most bathrooms in the UK are relatively small, so they don't take long to paint.

It may take longer if you want your decorator to paint your tiles too. Tiling is expensive, so you can update the look of your bathroom by refreshing them with a new lick of paint instead. This is a trickier job to get right, so your decorator may charge you more.

Tile paint from a brand like Ronseal or Johnstone's will cost between £20-£30 per litre.

Do you need special paint to paint a bathroom?

Yes, you do need a special paint to paint a bathroom – don't use the same emulsion that you'd use in other rooms of your home. Make sure you buy a moisture- and mould-resistant paint.

Your bathroom is subject to a lot of moisture, so without the correct paint your walls and ceilings could start to peel or flake off from your very first shower.

It's also worth buying a good bathroom primer for your walls and ceiling. Priming your walls before painting will further protect them from mould. You might see these types of primer with names like ‘damp seal’, ‘damp block’ or ‘peel stop.’

These bathroom primers usually cost around £10-£20 per litre.

Does bathroom paint need 2 coats?

Your decorator will always recommend that you use two coats of paint in your bathroom. This ensures that you get a nice even finish.

Some bathroom paints claim to be one-coat, but you'll find that most painters and decorators will still advise that they do two coats.

Can I paint my bathroom myself?

Yes, of course you can paint your bathroom yourself – but consider whether you will get the finish you want.

While it isn't necessarily difficult to paint a room and do a good job, it's hard to do a perfect job if you're not trained. That's why painters and decorators charge what they do because it takes a long time to master the technique.

If you paint your bathroom yourself, it will take you longer than it would for a professional to do it, and it's unlikely that you'd get the same finish.

A good way to work out whether hiring a decorator to paint your bathroom for you is to consider how much it would cost if you took time off work to do it yourself – you may find it's cheaper to get a decorator to do it.

How soon after painting a bathroom can you shower?

It's recommended that you wait at least 24 hours after painting a bathroom before you shower. While modern water-based paints dry quickly and may be dry within a couple of hours, the steam from the shower could still affect the paint if it's still tacky.

Leaving the paint overnight before showering is certainly worth it to make sure you keep your bathroom looking perfect for years to come.

Now you know the average cost to paint a bathroom, post your job on HaMuch to get accurate quotes for your project from reliable painters and decorators in your area.


Estimates for common painter & decorator jobs;

Rates for other trades

Paint a bathroom cost in the UK
Paint a bathroom cost in the UK (excluding VAT or callout charges)
Location in UKPaint a bathroom cost
Paint a bathroom near Aberdeen£348
Paint a bathroom near Amber Valley£328
Paint a bathroom near Arun£400
Paint a bathroom near Ashfield£338
Paint a bathroom near Aylesbury Vale£408
Paint a bathroom near Barnsley£318
Paint a bathroom near Basildon£370
Paint a bathroom near Basingstoke & Deane£394
Paint a bathroom near Bassetlaw£324
Paint a bathroom near Bath & North East Somerset£356
Paint a bathroom near Bedford£438
Paint a bathroom near Belfast£284
Paint a bathroom near Birmingham£328
Paint a bathroom near Blackburn£298
Paint a bathroom near Blackpool£294
Paint a bathroom near Bolton£326
Paint a bathroom near Bournemouth£338
Paint a bathroom near Bracknell Forest£406
Paint a bathroom near Bradford£316
Paint a bathroom near Braintree£358
Paint a bathroom near Breckland£306
Paint a bathroom near Bridgend£338
Paint a bathroom near Brighton£396
Paint a bathroom near Bristol£358
Paint a bathroom near Broadland£306
Paint a bathroom near Broxtowe£330
Paint a bathroom near Bury£328
Paint a bathroom near Caerphilly£346
Paint a bathroom near Calderdale£312
Paint a bathroom near Cambridge£386
Paint a bathroom near Canterbury£302
Paint a bathroom near Cardiff£344
Paint a bathroom near Carmarthenshire£248
Paint a bathroom near Charnwood£324
Paint a bathroom near Chelmsford£356
Paint a bathroom near Cheltenham£372
Paint a bathroom near Cherwell£420
Paint a bathroom near Chester£296
Paint a bathroom near Colchester£334
Paint a bathroom near Conway£272
Paint a bathroom near Coventry£324
Paint a bathroom near Crewe & Nantwich£312
Paint a bathroom near Dacorum£404
Paint a bathroom near Derby£326
Paint a bathroom near Doncaster£298
Paint a bathroom near Dover£316
Paint a bathroom near Dudley£324
Paint a bathroom near Dundee£256
Paint a bathroom near East Ayrshire£338
Paint a bathroom near East Devon£310
Paint a bathroom near East Dunbartonshire£348
Paint a bathroom near East Hampshire£354
Paint a bathroom near East Hertfordshire£388
Paint a bathroom near East Lindsey£300
Paint a bathroom near East Riding£400
Paint a bathroom near Eastleigh£358
Paint a bathroom near Edinburgh£368
Paint a bathroom near Elmbridge£402
Paint a bathroom near Epping Forest£402
Paint a bathroom near Erewash£326
Paint a bathroom near Exeter£344
Paint a bathroom near Falkirk£314
Paint a bathroom near Fife£364
Paint a bathroom near Flintshire£288
Paint a bathroom near Gateshead£318
Paint a bathroom near Gedling£338
Paint a bathroom near Glasgow£346
Paint a bathroom near Gloucester£370
Paint a bathroom near Guildford£386
Paint a bathroom near Gwynedd£340
Paint a bathroom near Halton£304
Paint a bathroom near Harrogate£316
Paint a bathroom near Havant & Waterloo£344
Paint a bathroom near Highland£320
Paint a bathroom near Horsham£362
Paint a bathroom near Huntingdonshire£452
Paint a bathroom near Ipswich£302
Paint a bathroom near Isle of Wight£344
Paint a bathroom near Kings Lynn & West Norfolk£358
Paint a bathroom near Kingston-upon-Hull£374
Paint a bathroom near Kirklees£320
Paint a bathroom near Knowsley£312
Paint a bathroom near Lancaster£312
Paint a bathroom near Leeds£324
Paint a bathroom near Leicester£340
Paint a bathroom near Lisburn£288
Paint a bathroom near Liverpool£312
Paint a bathroom near London£396
Paint a bathroom near Luton£400
Paint a bathroom near Macclesfield£342
Paint a bathroom near Maidstone£352
Paint a bathroom near Manchester£334
Paint a bathroom near Mid Bedfordshire£412
Paint a bathroom near Mid Sussex£370
Paint a bathroom near Middlesbrough£344
Paint a bathroom near Milton Keynes£430
Paint a bathroom near Neath Port Talbot£326
Paint a bathroom near New Forest£342
Paint a bathroom near Newbury£378
Paint a bathroom near Newcastle-under-Lyme£320
Paint a bathroom near Newcastle-upon-Tyne£320
Paint a bathroom near Newport£340
Paint a bathroom near North Ayrshire£326
Paint a bathroom near North East Lincolnshire£300
Paint a bathroom near North Hertfordshire£392
Paint a bathroom near North Lanarkshire£324
Paint a bathroom near North Lincolnshire£352
Paint a bathroom near North Somerset£356
Paint a bathroom near North Tyneside£322
Paint a bathroom near North Wiltshire£328
Paint a bathroom near Northampton£442
Paint a bathroom near Norwich£312
Paint a bathroom near Nottingham£336
Paint a bathroom near Nuneaton & Bedworth£330
Paint a bathroom near Oldham£332
Paint a bathroom near Oxford£426
Paint a bathroom near Perth & Kinross£632
Paint a bathroom near Peterborough£458
Paint a bathroom near Plymouth£364
Paint a bathroom near Poole£338
Paint a bathroom near Portsmouth£342
Paint a bathroom near Powys£240
Paint a bathroom near Preston£296
Paint a bathroom near Reading£398
Paint a bathroom near Redcar & Cleveland£332
Paint a bathroom near Reigate & Banstead£390
Paint a bathroom near Renfrewshire£368
Paint a bathroom near Rhondda, Cynon, Taff£330
Paint a bathroom near Rochdale£328
Paint a bathroom near Rotherham£304
Paint a bathroom near Salford£332
Paint a bathroom near Salisbury£356
Paint a bathroom near Sandwell£324
Paint a bathroom near Scarborough£340
Paint a bathroom near Scottish Borders£320
Paint a bathroom near Sefton£306
Paint a bathroom near Sevenoaks£374
Paint a bathroom near Sheffield£300
Paint a bathroom near Slough£402
Paint a bathroom near Solihull£320
Paint a bathroom near South Ayrshire£346
Paint a bathroom near South Bedfordshire£438
Paint a bathroom near South Cambridgeshire£382
Paint a bathroom near South Gloucestershire£358
Paint a bathroom near South Kesteven£316
Paint a bathroom near South Lanarkshire£312
Paint a bathroom near South Oxfordshire£414
Paint a bathroom near South Somerset£300
Paint a bathroom near South Tyneside£320
Paint a bathroom near Southampton£354
Paint a bathroom near Southend-on-Sea£352
Paint a bathroom near St Albans£394
Paint a bathroom near St Helens£312
Paint a bathroom near Stafford£342
Paint a bathroom near Stockport£342
Paint a bathroom near Stockton-on-Tees£336
Paint a bathroom near Stoke-on-Trent£322
Paint a bathroom near Stratford-on-Avon£320
Paint a bathroom near Stroud£372
Paint a bathroom near Suffolk Coastal£298
Paint a bathroom near Sunderland£312
Paint a bathroom near Swale£350
Paint a bathroom near Swansea£300
Paint a bathroom near Tameside£336
Paint a bathroom near Teignbridge£334
Paint a bathroom near Tendring£318
Paint a bathroom near Test Valley£358
Paint a bathroom near Thamesdown£334
Paint a bathroom near Thanet£298
Paint a bathroom near The Wrekin£304
Paint a bathroom near Thurrock£372
Paint a bathroom near Torbay£344
Paint a bathroom near Trafford£330
Paint a bathroom near Vale of Glamorgan£356
Paint a bathroom near Vale of White Horse£400
Paint a bathroom near Vale Royal£284
Paint a bathroom near Wakefield£320
Paint a bathroom near Walsall£328
Paint a bathroom near Warrington£332
Paint a bathroom near Warwick£320
Paint a bathroom near Waveney£310
Paint a bathroom near Waverley£398
Paint a bathroom near Wealden£370
Paint a bathroom near West Lancashire£310
Paint a bathroom near West Lothian£348
Paint a bathroom near West Wiltshire£328
Paint a bathroom near Wigan£310
Paint a bathroom near Windsor & Maidenhead£404
Paint a bathroom near Wirral£306
Paint a bathroom near Wokingham£408
Paint a bathroom near Wolverhampton£324
Paint a bathroom near Wrexham Maelor£284
Paint a bathroom near Wychavon£312
Paint a bathroom near Wycombe£430
Paint a bathroom near York£320