DH Painter & Decorator covers Boothville from our Northampton base, about 3 miles north-east of the town centre in postcode NN3. Dean, with over 30 years in the trade, paints and decorates the area's bungalows, bay-fronted semis, detached houses, maisonettes and small shops.
Where Boothville is
Boothville is an established residential district on the north-east side of Northampton, in the Boothville & Parklands ward and the Northampton North constituency. It is laid out around Booth Lane North, Booth Rise and the small shopping parade at Boothville Green. To the east are the 1970s Development Corporation estates of Lumbertubs and Thorplands, built after Northampton became a New Town in 1968; to the south-west are Spinney Hill and the Kettering Road. Neighbouring areas include Parklands, Moulton Leys, Little Billing and Weston Favell.
Parts of Boothville predate the Development Corporation estates next door. The Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record notes that finds from a possible Roman villa, including painted plaster and tessellated pavement, were made in back gardens on the east side of Booth Rise from 1938 onwards, so houses with gardens already stood there by the late 1930s. Moulton Lodge, a Grade II listed building of squared rubble with a tiled roof, falls inside the Boothville ward, although its address is Moulton Leys.
The houses, type by type
Boothville is a mix rather than one estate built in one go, and each type of house brings different decorating work:
- Bungalows, semi-detached and detached, in quiet cul-de-sacs such as Bibury Crescent and on roads like Woodside Avenue. Many have been extended, some with loft rooms, and most have a bay window to the lounge and a detached single garage.
- Bay-fronted semis, including 1930s double bay-fronted houses on the Kettering Road edge and mature semis on Lumbertubs Lane, some substantially extended over three floors.
- Detached family houses, from double bay-fronted homes on generous plots along Booth Lane North to individually built houses on Chartwell Avenue and four-bed corner-plot houses with conservatories at Yewtree Court.
- Maisonettes and some terraces, including first-floor maisonettes with their own entrances at Yewtree Court.
Outside: fascias, garage doors and fences rather than windows
Most Boothville windows are already uPVC double glazing, so exterior work here is mostly about everything around them: fascias, soffits and bargeboards, front doors, bay boards, garage doors and any painted walls. On the bungalows the eaves are at single-storey height, which means short ladders or a low platform rather than scaffolding, and that keeps fascia and soffit painting a fairly quick job. The boards on bay roofs and over garages are usually the first to fail.
Detached single garages fronted by metal up-and-over doors turn up again and again in Boothville sales listings. Those need rust treated and a metal primer applied before they are repainted, or the corrosion lifts through the new coat within a season. Front gardens are often enclosed by brick walls, which we leave as bare brick unless they have already been painted, while rear gardens are fenced with wood panels that fade quickly in full sun and suit regular fence and gate staining.
A few local conditions shape the prep. The district sits on raised, open ground on Northampton Sands, about 104 metres above sea level, so south-facing paintwork and timber dry out and fade faster; UV-stable, microporous finishes last longer. Mature trees and shrubs in front gardens shade frontages and drop leaves, so cleaning and a biocide wash come before painting. Corner plots, common in local listings, have a second exposed side, roughly doubling the wall and fascia area. Homes facing Kettering Road or Lumbertubs Way collect traffic film and are washed down first. Wall finishes vary from house to house, so Dean checks each one on site. More on the outside is on our exterior painting page.
Inside: loft rooms, extensions and sunny rooms
A converted bungalow loft or a new kitchen extension usually means fresh plaster, and fresh plaster needs a diluted mist coat before the finish, which our new plaster and extension painting service covers. In the extended three-floor semis near Kettering Road, old and new plaster meet on halls, stairs and landings, and the tall stairwells need proper staging. Bungalow interiors are simpler to plan: rooms open off one central hall, the lounge usually has a bay, and an extended bungalow’s dining room often doubles as a third bedroom.
Conservatories off kitchens, as at Yewtree Court, give bright, sun-filled rooms where colours look very different from the chart, which is where colour and finish advice earns its keep. The larger detached houses, with several reception rooms, suit panelling or feature finishes in halls and dining rooms.
Planning, leases and letting
We found no conservation area covering Boothville, and the council’s heritage Article 4 directions in Northampton (Abington Park, Barrack Road, Billing Road, Derngate, Kingsley and St Giles) do not reach it. Freehold owners can choose exterior colours freely. Two rules still matter. Leasehold maisonettes may need the freeholder’s agreement before exterior colours or shared finishes change. And the HMO Article 4 direction covers the whole former Northampton borough, so turning a family house into a small shared house needs planning permission. We found no lettings data for Boothville; if you do let a property here, our landlord decorating page explains how we handle turnarounds between tenancies.
Shops and other premises
Boothville’s commercial buildings are small. Around Boothville Green the parade mixes everyday retail with food: takeaways and a restaurant sit beside a newsagent, a hairdresser, a bike shop and a business fixing TVs and PCs, while a short row on Booth Lane North adds a greengrocer and an off-licence. Work on these single-unit frontages is planned around opening times, including evening takeaway trade, and areas near kitchens need wipeable finishes that cope with grease. The other non-domestic buildings are Boothville Community Centre, which also hosts Boothville Community Church, Boothville Primary School and Leys Residential Home on Booth Rise, where work is phased around the people using them. See our shopfront painting page for parade work.
Getting to your property
Access in Boothville is usually easy. Driveways, garages and space for several cars come up again and again in local listings, so we can normally park at the property. Cul-de-sacs like Bibury Crescent and the no-through road on Chartwell Avenue are quiet to work in. Booth Lane North is busy at school drop-off and pick-up, so we plan arrivals around it. Dean comes out to look at the job and gives a written quote before anything is booked. If you are comparing decorators, our guide to choosing a painter and decorator lists what to ask.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
