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.

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.

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 and decorator jobs;

Rates for other trades