Painting and decorating

Interior painting

Painting rooms, halls and stairwells, including filling and preparation.

Post a task Interior painting by county

Whether this needs a licence in Ireland

Ireland

No licence required

Taken from the statute below; not yet reviewed by a lawyer

Irelandwww.cru.ieChecked 14/10/2026

Interior painting: what the job involves

Painting the inside of a home — walls, ceilings, woodwork, doors and radiators — including the filling, sanding and protecting that make the paint last. Most of a good interior job is preparation.

Also asked for as: painter and decorator · interior painter · house painter · painting a room · painting walls and ceilings

How the job is usually done

Walk the rooms, agree colours and finishes, and note cracks, stains and damp marks that need treating first
Move furniture to the centre, cover it and the floors with dust sheets, and mask switches, sockets and glass
Fill cracks and holes, sand back, caulk gaps along skirting and architrave, and spot-prime stains and bare filler
Mist-coat any new plaster with diluted emulsion so the finish coats bond
Paint ceilings first, then cut in and roll two coats on walls
Sand, prime where needed and paint woodwork, doors and radiators in gloss, satin or eggshell
Lift the masking, touch up, put furniture back and clean up

Interior painting: what is included

Usually included

Filling and sanding small cracks and nail holes
Protecting floors, furniture and fittings
Two coats on walls and ceilings
Clearing away dust sheets and empty tins

Usually not included — agree it separately

Skimming or replastering badly cracked or blown walls
Stripping wallpaper, unless agreed
Treating the cause of damp or mould — the painter can only cover the mark
Moving heavy furniture such as pianos or full wardrobes
Woodwork, doors and radiators, unless listed in the offer

Materials and who supplies them

Emulsion for walls and ceilings — supplied by the painter at trade rates, or by you if you have a particular brand and colour
Water-based or oil-based paint for woodwork: satinwood, eggshell or gloss
Filler, caulk, sandpaper, masking tape and stain-block primer — normally the painter’s
Dust sheets, rollers, brushes and a step ladder or small platform — the painter’s

How long it takes

A typical bedroom takes a day, or two with woodwork; a whole house interior is usually one to two weeks, longer where there is a lot of filling, high ceilings or a strong colour change.

When to book

Interior painting can be done all year, but paint dries slowly in a cold, unheated house, so keep the heating on during winter work.

Interior painting: the rules in Ireland

What the official sources say, checked against them on the date shown. A summary, not legal advice — follow the link to read the rule itself.

Most older houses contain some lead-based paint. Anyone disturbing it at work must assess the risk first and control the dust — sealing off the area rather than dry-sanding or burning it off in an occupied room.
Applies to: the painter, as an employer or self-employed person
Health and Safety Authority — Safety with Lead at Work · hsa.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
Textured coatings such as Artex on ceilings and walls commonly contained chrysotile asbestos until their supply was banned in the late 1980s. Buildings built or refurbished before 2000 should be assumed to contain asbestos until a survey or test says otherwise, and asbestos-containing material must not be sanded, scraped or drilled without the controls the asbestos regulations require.
Applies to: the tradesperson, and the homeowner who commissions the work
Health and Safety Authority — asbestos regulations (S.I. 386 of 2006, as amended) · hsa.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
Work that would materially affect the character of a protected structure needs planning permission, and that can include repainting in a different colour or finish, inside or out. In an Architectural Conservation Area the usual exemptions may not apply to the exterior. The council can issue a declaration (Section 57) saying which works it considers exempt.
Applies to: the owner of a protected structure or a house in an Architectural Conservation Area
Planning and Development Act — protected structures; the county or city council · citizensinformation.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
Repair, maintenance and redecoration of a home is charged at the reduced rate of VAT (13.5%) by a VAT-registered business, subject to Revenue’s two-thirds rule: if the materials come to more than two-thirds of the price, the goods rate applies to the whole job.
Applies to: the painter or decorator, if VAT-registered
Revenue — Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, Schedule 3 · revenue.ie · Checked 9 October 2026

What interior painting costs, and why

What jobs on Talqero came to

Not enough comparable jobs yet to publish a range here. Talqero shows a price range only once at least five comparable jobs, agreed prices or offers exist — a range from fewer would describe a handful of jobs, not the market. Post your job and compare the offers you get.

What affects the price

Preparation needed: cracks, stains, peeling paint, wallpaper to strip
Number and size of rooms, ceiling heights and stairwells
Woodwork, doors, windows and radiators included or not
Colour changes and dark colours that need extra coats
Whether the rooms are empty or furnished
Paint quality, and whether the painter or you supply it
VAT: building work on a home is charged at the reduced rate of 13.5% by a VAT-registered business — unless the materials come to more than two-thirds of the price, when Revenue’s two-thirds rule applies the goods rate to the whole job. Ask whether a quote includes VAT.

Paperwork to ask for at the end

A written note of the paint brand, colour names or codes and finish used in each room, for touch-ups
A VAT receipt if the painter is VAT-registered

Safety

Keep windows open while painting and for a day after; ask for low-VOC water-based paints for bedrooms and nurseries
Paint in a house built before the 1970s may contain lead: it should be wet-sanded or chemically stripped, never burnt off or dry-sanded in a lived-in room
Do not let anyone sand or scrape a textured (Artex-type) ceiling in a pre-2000 house before it has been tested for asbestos
Keep children and pets out of rooms with open tins and wet paint

Interior painting: before you hire

Questions to ask a tradesperson

What preparation is included, and how many coats on walls and woodwork?
Which paint brand and finish will you use?
Are ceilings, woodwork and radiators included?
How will you protect floors and furniture?
Is VAT included in the price?

What you can do yourself

Repainting a sound wall in a similar colour is a reasonable DIY job; leave stairwells, lead paint in older houses and textured ceilings to a professional.

What to put in your task

How many rooms need painting?
What needs painting?
What condition are the walls in?
Are you changing colour a lot, for example dark to light?
Are any ceilings higher than normal, or is the hall and stairs included?
Who will supply the paint?

Photos that help

Each room from a corner, showing walls and ceiling
Close-ups of cracks, stains, peeling paint or damp marks
The stairwell from the bottom, if included
Doors, skirting and radiators if they are to be painted

Painting and decorating

Need interior painting? Describe the job.

Post it once, free. Professionals near you reply with their own price and when they could start. You choose, and pay them directly.

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Questions about interior painting

Does interior painting need a licence in Ireland?

No licence is required for this work in Ireland (source: www.cru.ie). Ask instead for references and photographs of similar jobs.

How long after plastering can I paint?

New skim plaster usually needs one to two weeks to dry, depending on the thickness, the weather and the heating. It turns from dark to an even pale pink when it is ready. The first coat should be a mist coat — emulsion thinned with water — so the paint soaks in rather than peeling later.

Will painting over mould fix it?

No. Black mould on Irish walls is usually condensation, and it comes back through paint. Clean it with a fungicidal wash, fix the ventilation or the leak, and then paint with a stain-block or anti-mould paint.

Why do quotes for the same rooms differ so much?

Mostly because of preparation and woodwork. A lower quote may leave out filling, sanding, a mist coat or the doors and skirting. Ask each painter to list what is included and how many coats.

Do I need to empty the rooms?

Small items, pictures and anything fragile should come out. Most painters will move larger furniture to the middle of the room and cover it, but ask before the day so the time is allowed for.

Often booked with interior painting

Painters and decorators