Quoting app for painters and decorators.A decorating quote that does not look like everyone else's.
Short answer
Upheld is a quoting app for UK painters and decorators. Walk the rooms and talk through the prep and finish, it prices the job by room, area and day rate from your own rates, and your customer gets a branded video quote with the written quotation and an accept button.
Prep is invisible
Filling, sanding and caulking are what make the finish, and the customer cannot see them in a total.
Everyone quotes by the day
If your quote is a day rate times a number, the customer compares day rates. Show them the work instead.
Lots of small quotes
Decorators send a lot of quotes. Upheld takes the evening work out of each one.
How a quote gets made in Upheld
- Walk the job and talk it through on your phone, the way you would explain it to a mate. Add a few photos.
- Upheld turns it into priced lines from your own price list, your markup and your day rate. Anything it cannot price is flagged for you.
- You check every line and press send. Nothing reaches a customer until you have.
- Your customer gets one link by text, WhatsApp or email: a short video quote in your name, the written quotation, and buttons to accept, ask for a change or pay the deposit.
- You see when they open it and how much they watch. When someone keeps coming back to it, Upheld tells you to ring them.
An example quote
Illustrative prices. Yours come from your own price list, markup and day rate.
Hallway, stairs and landing, full redecoration
| Item | Qty | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Prep: fill, sand and caulk walls and woodwork | 1 | £420.00 |
| Walls and ceilings, mist coat and two coats | 1 | £780.00 |
| Woodwork, spindles and doors, undercoat and gloss | 1 | £640.00 |
| Materials, trade emulsion and satinwood | 1 | £260.00 |
- Subtotal
- £2,100.00
- VAT
- £0.00 (not VAT registered)
- Total
- £2,100.00
- Deposit to book
- £300.00
How to write a quote for a painting job
- Quote by room or area, and say how many coats and which finish
- List the prep, because that is what separates a good decorator from a cheap one
- Say who supplies the paint, and the brand and range if you do
- Say what is excluded, such as moving furniture or repairing plaster
- Show whether you charge VAT, the total, and how long the price stands
Questions trades ask
Is Upheld worth it for decorating jobs?
It works best on jobs above about £1,000, where the customer is comparing two or three quotes. Whole house and exterior jobs are a good fit.
I am not VAT registered. Does that matter?
No. Tell Upheld your VAT status once and your quotes show the right totals.
Can I quote by the day?
Yes. Set your day rate and Upheld can price labour by the day, alongside materials.
Can the customer pick a start date?
Yes. Connect your calendar and they can choose a day you are free when they accept.
Read next
Free quote template for tradesmen (UK)
A free quote template for UK tradesmen and builders. Copy the layout, the wording and the terms, or let Upheld fill it in from a two minute voice note.
How to price a job as a tradesman or contractor (UK)
How to price a job properly: materials, markup, labour, overheads, profit and VAT. A worked example for UK trades and contractors, and how to price faster.
How to follow up on a quote (with email and text examples)
When and how to follow up on a quote you have sent, with example texts and emails for trades. Plus how to know when the customer is actually looking at it.
Send your next quote from the driveway.
Free for eight weeks. Then Starter at £79 or Pro at £179 a month, plus VAT. Cancel any time.