DH Painter & Decorator paints commercial frontages in Dallington, NN5, about 1.3 miles north-west of Northampton town centre. There is no shopping parade, so the work here means pub, club and surgery frontages, planned around opening hours and listed building rules.
A village with no shopping parade
Dallington does not have a row of shops. The commercial frontages in the area are few and individual: the Wheatsheaf pub at 126 Dallington Road, the Spencer Club, and Harlestone Road Surgery at 117 Harlestone Road. Shops are planned for later phases of the Dallington Grange development on the north-western edge, but they are not there yet. So this page is really about painting the front of a pub, club or surgery, and the rules that come with each.
Listed frontages: stone, thatch and leaded glass
Two of those premises are listed. The Wheatsheaf is an 18th-century, Grade II building of sandstone ashlar under a thatched roof, with leaded metal casements and a sash. The Spencer Club is a Grade II, 17th-century building. That makes a repaint very different from freshening up a modern shop unit:
- No heat near thatch. Blowlamps and heat guns are out. Old paint on doors, frames and boards is lifted by hand or with chemical strippers.
- The stone stays bare. Sandstone ashlar should not be coated in masonry paint, so painting is limited to joinery, metalwork and signage boards.
- Consent for change. A new colour or finish on a listed building needs listed building consent. Like-for-like repainting is the simple route; anything else starts with the conservation officer.
- Delicate glazing. Leaded metal casements are prepared by hand around the lead, then primed with a metal primer.
The church of St Mary stands opposite the Wheatsheaf, and the whole group around the green is what the conservation area exists to protect. That is another reason to keep frontage colours traditional and to treat any change as something to agree with the council rather than decide on the day.
Signage is a separate matter. New or changed signs on a listed frontage may need their own consent, so sort that out before booking the paint.
Working around opening hours
A pub and a surgery both have people coming and going through the front door while they are open. Exterior work therefore needs a plan that keeps the entrance usable and wet paint away from customers. Typically that means:
- doing the noisy or dusty prep at quieter times agreed with the business;
- painting the entrance door at the start or end of the day, with wet paint signs and a clear route in;
- leaving the frontage clean and safe at every handover.
The setting adds one more constraint. The Wheatsheaf stands in the old village in the Dallington Brook valley, among mature trees, so its joinery dries slowly and settled weather matters. We agree a window with the business and watch the forecast, rather than forcing a coat on during a damp week. How we schedule commercial jobs elsewhere in town is covered on our main shopfront painting page.
Unlisted premises and the future Grange shops
An unlisted frontage outside the conservation area, such as a surgery building on Harlestone Road, is usually a more conventional job: wash down, repair, prime and finish the fascia board, frames and doors in durable exterior coatings, without the listed building rules. When shop units open at Dallington Grange, those new frontages will need a first repaint once the builder’s finish starts to wear. For wider commercial work inside buildings, see our commercial painting service, and for the local picture, our Dallington area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
