Dean paints the outside of homes in Blisworth, NN7, a stone village 4.6 miles south-west of Northampton, close to M1 junction 15. In the historic core that mostly means timber windows, plank doors and bargeboards on unpainted limestone, while the 1930s brick terraces and post-war cul-de-sacs take a fuller exterior scheme.
Where the paint actually goes on a Blisworth house
Walk the length of High Street and Stoke Road and most of what you see is bare coursed limestone with darker ironstone bands, quoins and window surrounds. That walling is meant to stay unpainted. So on the older houses the exterior job is the timber: casements set under timber lintels, plank doors, eyebrow dormers on the thatched cottages, porches and bargeboards. The Grafton estate cottages add pointed arched windows and decorative bargeboards to that list.
The picture changes once you reach the brick. Greenway Terrace on Courteenhall Road, Coronation Cottages on Little Lane, Courteenhall Way and the 1960s and 70s cul-de-sacs to the north-west and east are conventional masonry and joinery, so walls, roofline, doors and garden timber can all be part of one visit. Our Blisworth area page covers the village’s building types in more depth.
Timber casements and plank doors in the conservation area
The Blisworth Conservation Area appraisal, adopted in 2015, singles out replacement windows and doors and PVCu as among the biggest threats to the village’s character. That makes repairing and repainting the existing timber the better choice for most owners in the core, and it is where we put most of the preparation time:
- Old casements are scraped back to sound paint, with soft corners and sills cut back to sound wood and rebuilt with a resin repair before priming.
- Plank doors, often at the side or back of a terraced cottage rather than on the street, are eased so they still close after painting.
- Sills and the bottom rails of doors get extra attention, because water sits there longest.
- Glazing putty is checked and made good before the top coats go on.
With so many listed buildings in the conservation area, like-for-like repainting in the existing colour is the safe default. If you are thinking about a new colour on a listed house, or on one of the Article 4 houses at 8 to 14 Stoke Road or 13 to 19 Courteenhall Road, check with West Northamptonshire Council first.
Pavement-edge cottages and traffic grime
Many High Street cottages sit hard against the pavement with no rear access and very little parking, so the front elevation is worked from the footway beside a busy road. The 1991 A43 bypass did not empty the old main road of through traffic, and the footway near the two main junctions has bus stops and crossing lights for the school. Before we start, we plan where the van can stop, how ladders are footed and kept clear of people walking past, and which hours are quietest.
That traffic also leaves a film of road grime on front doors and window frames. Paint will not grip it, so washing down and letting the timber dry is the first stage on any street-facing elevation here, not an optional extra.
Higher ground, trees and the canal
The village climbs from the Grand Union Canal up to High Street, and houses south-west of High Street stand on noticeably higher ground, so their joinery takes more wind and driven rain. At the Blisworth House entrance three beeches, and at the cemetery gate five limes, carry group Tree Preservation Orders; joinery under them collects sap and leaves, and ladders and towers have to be placed around the trunks and roots. Down by the canal, the mill apartments and brick canal buildings sit in damper air, where timber needs to be fully dry before primer goes on. Each of these affects when we book the work, and our guide on when to book exterior painting explains the weather side.
Estate houses and the wider scope
On the 1930s terraces and the post-war cul-de-sacs, off-road space makes setting up much easier, and the work can cover painted brick or render, fascias, soffits, doors and fences together. The full list of surfaces and the order we tackle them in is on our main exterior painting page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
