OddsyncSide Hustles

Painting & Decorating

Rooms, doors, fences and feature walls
5
Setup steps
3
AI prompts
5
Tools & links

What it is

Painting rooms, woodwork, doors and fences for homeowners, landlords and estate agents. Skilled decorators are booked weeks ahead, and landlords turning over a flat give you repeat work.

Watch this first

How to get work as a painter and decorator (UK)

Step by step

  1. 1

    Practise on your own place first

    Cutting in cleanly, filling, sanding and getting a smooth finish takes practice. Photograph every room you do: before and after shots are your portfolio.

  2. 2

    Buy the right basics

    Good brushes and rollers, dust sheets, filler, sandpaper, masking tape and a stepladder (£100–£200). Do not skimp on brushes.

  3. 3

    Quote by the room

    Work out days of labour plus paint. Always visit before quoting, and agree what is and is not included (prep, ceilings, skirting, two coats).

  4. 4

    Get insured and put it in writing

    Public liability cover and a simple written quote with start date, price, payment terms and what happens if the job grows.

  5. 5

    Work with landlords and agents

    Email local letting agents offering a fast, reliable end of tenancy repaint. One agent can feed you a job a month.

AI prompts to try

Copy one of these into ChatGPT, Claude or your AI tool of choice and adapt it to your situation.

Quote
“Write a clear quote for painting a 3 metre by 4 metre bedroom (walls, ceiling and woodwork, two coats) in [AREA]. Include the prep work, what is included, payment terms and a start date. Leave the price blank.”
Paint estimate
“Help me estimate how much paint I need for a room that is 4m x 3.5m with 2.4m ceilings, 1 door and 1 window, using standard emulsion coverage of 12 square metres per litre for two coats. Show your working.”
Agent email
“Write a short email to a local letting agent offering end of tenancy repainting, a 3 day turnaround and a photo of the finished flat. Ask for a quick chat. Under 100 words.”

Get help setting it up

Hand the fiddly setup to a freelancer on Fiverr and start earning sooner.

Useful links

Dulux Trade↗Simply Business (insurance)↗Checkatrade↗Bark↗Rated People↗
Started? Run it from one place

A free OddSync account gives you a booking page, quotes and invoices sent as a link, and a running tax estimate for your side hustle.

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