I'm looking for someone/people to paint my apartment. I'm living in an old building where the walls are a bit crumbly and moldy, so I'd like to cover up the mess. I'm not looking for anything fancy or expensive (lead free paint would be nice), as I'm only renting the apartment and just want to cut down on the lovely dank aroma. It's 36 m2 one-bedroom apartment near the Yunnan Daxue.

Anyone have an idea of:

1) how to find some local painters/carpenters?

2) what would be a reasonable price for their services?

Honestly, I would do it myself.
Local handymen generally do a pretty poor job, and will usually do other damage, that they will then blame on something else. The quality of work can easily be matched by an enthusiatic amatuer.
Local guy will also buy cheapest paint and charge you for dearest, fiddle quantities, and overcharge.

You may want to get the landlord's permission and he may pay towards materials or he may not. Your landlord may also know a guy.

It is likely that once you start you will uncover other problems. Don't try and fix it, just cover it up.

Mold can be fixed with special mold cleaners, or diluted bleach. Splash it on, let it soak in for at least 2 hours. Then rinse, and repeat. Follow with a good airing, you can do this now the sun has arrived. I doubt you will completely kill the smell as it will be in the woodwork etc., but you can knock it back.

Paint and mold cleaner you will get in B&Q. If a latex paint will stick to the surface, use that. These are water based and cover stains well. Use one of the imported brands of paint. Nippon may be the cheapest of these import brands. Prepare for a shock, paint seems very expensive in China (about 500 for 5 litre tin).

If you do use a local handyman, buy all materials yourself. Trust no one.

Tiger tiger is correct on all accounts..

Note:
The construction business is a real scam in China...

Automotive / car paint is much cheaper

I dont advise using it because of the health issues from fumes/ flammability / explosive nature in contained rooms.

The base primer 4 L is 90 rmb, primer can be used as regular paint, I use it on my jeep tinted beige. Spray or roller/ brush.

All other colours would cost aprox 200 rmb...

You would also need 5 liters of reducer 80 rmb

, therefore the reduced paint total cost for aprox 6 to 7 liters would be under 280 rmb.

In North america this is aprox 10 times higher if not 15 x..

Wow, I never would have expected paint to be so expensive. Bizarre.

tigertiger: I guess that's to be expected. I don't even want to deal with my landlord, as I just want to cover up the crumbling moldy walls as quickly as possible. Frankly, I'd rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. I don't really want to do the painting myself, but I would if I had to. I can buy the paint, but really have no idea what rate a local handyman would charge. If it's a lot, then I can do it myself, but I'm a bit clueless on labor costs. What's the Hanzi for latex paint? Google translate gives me 乳胶漆, but I don't know if that's the common term.

Mike4g_air: So the base primer you are talking about is actually house primer, right? Or are those prices also for automotive paint? Do you know the Hanzi for those primer and reducer? I've never been to B&Q before and don't know if they would be displayed in English or not.

Thanks!

Also, regarding the imported paint: How likely is it that the imported brand is going to be manufactured in China anyway, and thus subject to the same toxicity risks?

Looking at B&Q's Chinese website I only see Nippon and Colours listed as paint brands (I'm presume they have more at the store). Colours brand is also available on B&Q's British site, so I presume it's an imported brand too.

Eyeball Kid, I was in the painting business for many years in different capacities. Tiger Tiger is right that you need to kill the mildew or mold with a mild household bleach solution. Then i would use a good interior stain blocking primer to cover those spots to stop the stains from bleeding through your finish coat. The preferable top coat would be a good interior acrylic latex paint. I see Nippon paint being used everywhere in Kunming. Good interior paints in USA run in the range of $20-40 per gallon.

Yes, I'm definitely going to tackle the mold with diluted bleach tonight, to see how that helps. The walls are a mess and clearly haven't been painted in ages, so nothing I do could make them worse. I don't need it to look nice. I'm only concerned about breathing better for the next several months, and just want to cover up the mold and crumbles. My landlord will probably be a jerk and take my deposit anyway. Might as well have cleaner air.

The Nippon and Dulux are manufactured in China, but have full QC, and so no nasty surprises. The formulas are the same as back home. Probably the Colours range is the same.

You can get paint that has been imported (not manf. in china).The imported product is about 1000+ per 5 lt.

They mix the colors same as back home, add tints to a base.

The Nippon and Dulux do a 5 in 1 paint. Washable, and mold resistant. The household paint tins are bilingual.

The decorator could charge anything up to 50rmb.sqm. If you have 100sqm of wall, he will try and bill you for 150m and add the ceiling and floor if he can. He will also charge you 10 rmb, for each 1rmb paint brush he uses. He will buy the 100rmb/tin toxic local paint, and charge you 500/tin. He won't use any primer.
There is painter's/masking tape on the market, but he won't use it unless you stand over the guy.
What he will do at no extra cost is paint the edges of your carpet, shower fittings, doors and the edges of your ceiling.

Don't forget the light switches and electrical sockets.

I'm having the same problem. I rent a place with walls that have not been painted. Every time you bump against the wall some white dust (which I presume is plaster) rubs off. I figured buying a few buckets of paint, brushers and rollers would be no big deal...until I saw the price. Why is paint here so bloody expensive?