What should you ask a decorator before booking?
Ask about the surfaces first, not the colour. In older homes, the useful questions are about what is already on the wall, how the substrate behaves, and what preparation the job needs before any finish goes on. A consultation that starts with the room and its existing surface gives you something concrete to compare between quotes.
This matters to anyone weighing up work on a period, Victorian, Edwardian, or Georgian property, because the same room can need very different preparation depending on what previous owners left behind.
Start with the room and the existing surface
A consultation should begin with a walk-through, room by room, looking at what is actually there. Plaster that has been patched, woodwork that has been overpainted several times, and joinery that has been repaired all change the specification. The finish you choose follows from those conditions.
For a homeowner, the practical question is simple: what is on this surface now, and what will it accept? A useful consultation will separate the rooms that are straightforward from the rooms that need more thought. That separation is what turns a vague quote into a specification you can actually compare.
Preparation is the part that decides the outcome
Preparation is where most of the real work sits, and it is the part worth asking about in detail. Wallpaper removal and the preparation after it, filling and sanding, priming bare or repaired areas, and treating woodwork before painting all sit underneath the visible finish. If those steps are vague in a quote, the finish on top is the thing that suffers.
Ask what happens after wallpaper comes off. Old walls often need time and attention before they are ready for paint, and the answer tells you whether the decorator has done this in period homes before. The same applies to joinery: hand-painted kitchens and joinery painting depend on how the surface is prepared and how the coating is applied, not just on the colour chosen.
For sash windows, the questions are slightly different again. Sash window painting involves working around moving parts and existing paint build-up, so it is worth asking how the decorator approaches the frame, the sashes, and the surrounding woodwork.
Finish choice follows the surface, not the trend
Once the surfaces are understood, the finish conversation becomes much more grounded. Limewash finishes suit some walls and not others, depending on what is already on the surface and how the room is used. Wallpaper hanging depends on the wall being sound and the paste and paper being matched to the room. Specialist finishes and spray painting each have their own preparation requirements.
A decorator should be able to explain why a particular finish suits a particular room, and what would need to change if it did not. That is more useful than a list of options. It also gives you a way to compare quotes: two decorators may propose different finishes for the same wall, and the reasoning behind each proposal is what you are really assessing.
Exterior painting follows the same logic. The condition of the exterior surface, the exposure of the elevation, and the existing coating all shape what is specified. A consultation that covers these points is doing its job.
What a good consultation looks like in practice
A good consultation is a conversation about constraints. It should cover the rooms you want decorated, the surfaces in each room, the preparation each surface needs, and the finish that follows from that. It should also cover the areas you are unsure about, because those are often where the specification changes.
If you are comparing decorators, ask each one the same questions and see how specific the answers are. A decorator who talks about substrate behaviour, preparation steps, and finish suitability is giving you something you can compare. A decorator who talks only about colour is not.
For homeowners in Central London, West London, South West London, and Surrey, the practical next step is to book a consultation and walk through the rooms together. That is where the specification is built. If you would like to start that conversation, you can reach Painter & decorator in Acton. and see Areas we cover across London and Surrey..
Deciding whether to hire
If the preparation questions are answered clearly and the finish reasoning makes sense for your rooms, you have enough to decide. If they are not, ask again before you book. The consultation is the right place to test whether a decorator understands the surfaces in your home, because that understanding is what the finished work depends on.