Watcha, is it true that some decorators won't work for poeple who want to supply their own paint? I've been told that some will only use their own paint. I don't understand this.

Most tradesmen have brands they trust and this includes painters with paint. There is absolutely nothing worse than quoting for a job only to get into confusion and bother when the customer wants to provide materials.
Lets say (for example) the decorator allows for 2 coats of emulsion with a decent quality paint when he quotes. The customer stipulates they will provide the paint but on day 1 they produce something that they percieve as being decent but it is not quite what was originally discussed and is not capable of the coverage /finish that the decorator required. So the paint goes on badly and it needs 3 coats - the customer thinks the decorator has misjudged how many coats was needed in the first place so does not want to pay extra for the extra time worked and argy bargy ensues....all unnecassary bother, its just easier to let the pros be pros and trust that they know best when it comes to materials. If the tradesman wants to provide materials then this should be respected and if the job turns out to be not up to standard then the fault is 100% clearly with the tradesman.
I suspect that as a customer you are wary that this particular tradesman is making a profit on the materials as he is allowing more for materials than you think you could buy the same stuff for at B&Q - I very much doubt this is the case. Decent trade paint is expensive but the extra couple of quid per room that you might spend is easily outweighed by the superior coverage that many trade brands give and this is reflected in reduced number of coats and shorter time on the job!!- to the customers benefit!!

Molly

In my humble opinion Scotty as put the point over very well.

Hypothetically let’s put the boot on the other foot shall we?

I don’t know how you earn your daily crust. Let’s presume you make celebration cakes and you have an outstanding reputation that you want to preserve.

A would be client knocks on your door and asked for a price for a wedding cake but to keep the price down stats she will supply all the ingredients she wants you to use. Now put your hand on your heart and give an honest answer remembering that your reputation is on the line and you don’t know the quality of ingredients that would be supplied. Would you accept the client’s ingredients?

Both of the above make good points and a good analogy there from village. The DIY stores will argue that their paint is just as good because its made by Crown, however there are many ingredients that go into paint, the quality, amount and mixtures are variable, for example dulux trade has far better pigment than there own of the shelf products. I have seen and heard time and time again stories of the cheaper paints failing to cover, they are a false economy, stear clear of them and stear clear of a painter that turns up with a tin of B&Q gloss.

Ok, i suppose that makes sense, i hadn't really thought of it like that. Thanks