Dean decorates hallways, staircases and landings throughout Duston, on Northampton's western side, 2.1 miles from the centre. The village mixes three-storey Victorian houses, small ironstone cottages, 1950s semis and Radburn-layout flats, so the access equipment and finish change from one staircase to the next.
High stairwells in the Main Road houses
North-west along Main Road, towards Peveril Road and Sycamore Road, the 19th century villas and red brick town houses are where the high stair voids are. The group at 26-30 Main Road rises to three storeys, and houses of that era often have a half landing with a window, a deep wall over the lower flight and a cornice or picture rail high above the treads. Reaching that safely takes a proper stair platform or staging, set up so the stairs stay usable while we work. Our hallway, stairs and landing decorating page explains the equipment we use.
These houses also tend to have original features in the hall: moulded skirtings, panelled doors, sometimes a turned balustrade. Plaster on walls this age is often lime, with hairline cracks that open and close. We rake and fill those with a flexible filler and choose a breathable emulsion where the plaster is still lime, so moisture is not trapped behind the paint.
Cottage stairs that turn in a tight box
Duston’s oldest cottages, some of them thatched, date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Their stairs are often steep, narrow and boxed in between walls, sometimes winding through a quarter turn. There is little room for a platform, so we work from small steps and short boards, one section at a time. Walls are rarely flat; we prefer to follow their curves with a soft, matt finish rather than try to sand them straight.
- Lining paper can steady crazed or patchy surfaces before painting.
- On listed cottages, changes that affect character, such as removing old boarding or panelling, may need listed building consent.
- Low ceilings at the stair head make lighter colours on the ceiling worth considering.
Communal stairways in flats
Duston has two kinds of shared staircase. The Newton Road area, built in the 1960s and 70s on a Radburn layout, includes apartments with communal entrances, and many of those homes are council owned. Separately, many Village Centre shops on Main Road have flats above, and how each stair is reached varies, so we check it at the quote.
Shared stairs bring their own constraints. Residents still need a clear route in and out, so we keep one side of the stair free, sign wet paint and work flight by flight. Finishes need to be scrubbable at hand height, which usually means a durable matt or eggshell on walls and a hard satin on handrails and spindles. In Newton Road, vehicles park in rear courts and the fronts are footpaths only, so dust sheets, steps and boards are carried in on foot, and we plan that route before the start date. Above the Main Road shops, limited parking means we arrange where the van goes ahead of time.
Halls in the 1920s-30s and 1950s semis
Kerrfield, and the later Limehurst and Eastfield and Chiltern Way streets, are mostly semi-detached houses with a straight flight rising from the front door. The hall is narrow, the stair wall is usually only two storeys high and the main problem is wear: scuffed skirtings, marked walls by the coat hooks and a handrail worn through to bare wood. Here the job is quicker to set up, and more of the time goes into filling, sanding and choosing a wall finish that can be wiped clean. A darker or mid-tone dado colour below a rail is one way to hide marks in a family hallway.
Questions about cost are answered in our painter and decorator cost guide, and the wider picture of Duston is on our Duston page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
