You ask three trades to price the same job and get three numbers that do not look like they describe the same work. That is the most common thing people tell us, so here is what is behind it, how we set our prices, and the honest reasons ours go up or down.
Why can two quotes for the same job be hundreds of pounds apart?
Because they are rarely for the same job. One quote includes the materials, one does not. One assumes a solid door, one a hollow one. One has the room sheeted up and the rubbish taken away, the other leaves both to you. A quote that says “fit door, £120” and a quote that says “supply and fit solid core door, new hinges, latch and handles, adjust, sand edges ready for paint, £215” can be for the same opening, but they are not the same job.
The second reason is how the trade works out the number. Some price by the hour and guess the hours. Some price by the job and know what it takes because they have done it many times. The second kind is usually higher on paper and cheaper by the time the job is finished, because nothing gets added on the day.
How does Mendwell set a price?
We visit, then we price the job, not the hours. Every job type we do has a written method behind it: what is involved, what materials it takes, what protects your home while it happens, and what it should cost at the standard of a reputable, insured local trade. The figure on your quote is that method applied to your house. It is fixed in writing before we start, and it does not move unless we find something on the day that could not have been seen at the visit. If that happens we stop, tell you, and agree it before carrying on.
We deliberately do not price to be the cheapest. We price to do the job once, properly, and to still be here when you need something else doing.
Why do you visit before quoting instead of pricing from a photo?
Because the photo does not show the things that decide the price. It shows the style of a door, not whether the frame is square. It shows a fence, not whether the posts are soft at the ground line. A visit takes about half an hour, and it is the difference between a fixed price and an estimate that grows.
What is the service rate, and why do you steer people away from it?
The service rate is £80, and it exists for the small, mixed jobs that cannot be priced ahead: a list of odd things around the house, a fault we need to open up to understand. We are honest that it is not the cheap option. It also means turning up without a plan, without the right materials in the van, and guessing how long things take. A priced, planned job is nearly always better value, which is why we will always try to give you a fixed price first.
What makes a job cost more than the headline figure?
- Materials that are better than the cheapest option. We fit solid core doors, not hollow ones. Three hinges, not two. That is part of the price and part of why it lasts.
- Access. First-floor windows, a loft hatch, a narrow side passage, no parking nearby. Anything that adds carrying, ladders or time.
- What is found when the old thing comes out. A rotten frame behind a door, a broken post behind a panel. This is the variation we tell you about before doing anything.
- Protecting your home. Sheeting the floor and the furniture, taping off, cleaning up. It is in every price and it is not free.
- Waste removal. Taking the old door, the old fence, the rubble away is never included by default. It is a priced line on the quote if you want it, so you can compare like with like.
- Managed trades. Where a job needs an electrician or a plumber, we bring one in and manage it. You get one quote and one point of contact, and that management is in the figure.
What makes a job cost less?
- Bundling. Several small jobs on one visit are cheaper than three separate visits, because the set-up and the travel are paid once.
- Clear access. The area cleared, the car moved, the key arranged if you are out.
- Doing the finishing yourself. Our doors come primed. Plenty of people paint them.
- Booking ahead. Weather-driven work booked six to eight weeks early is easier and cheaper than the same work in a January storm.
Why do your prices change over time?
Three reasons, and we will always say which one it is.
Materials move. Timber, hardware and paint prices change through the year. When a supplier price moves enough to change what a job costs, our published figures move with it, and the date at the bottom of every cost guide tells you when the figure was last checked.
We learn the job better. Every job we do teaches us something about how long it really takes and what goes wrong. When that changes the method, the price changes to match, sometimes down.
The standard goes up. When we add something to every job of a type, say sheeting the windows on a flooring day because we should have done it last time, the price carries it.
What does not change a price is who is asking. Every customer gets the same method and the same figure for the same work.
Do you take a deposit, and when do I pay?
Where a job needs materials worth more than about £60, we ask for a deposit of 40% before we order them, so the materials are bought for your job and not a guess. The balance is paid on completion, by bank transfer, against an invoice. The price on the quote is the total you pay. Nothing is added on top.
Why is the cheapest quote often the most expensive?
Because the number you are shown is not the number you end up paying. A cheap quote is usually cheap because something is missing: the materials, the protection, the second coat, the third hinge, the rubbish, or the return visit when the door drops. You pay for those later, either to the same trade as extras or to a second trade to put it right.
We would rather you had the honest figure at the start. If that means we are not the cheapest, that is fine, and we will say so.
Want a proper price?
Book a visit at mendwell.co.uk/book. About half an hour, and you get a fixed price in writing.
Mendwell is property maintenance for homes and businesses, based in Nuneaton and working across Warwickshire for people who want a job done properly rather than quickly. If you are outside the towns you see us mention, ask anyway.
Prices and policies on this page reviewed September 2026.