DH Painter & Decorator paints timber fascias, soffits, gutters and downpipes on houses across Far Cotton, about 0.9 miles south of Northampton town centre. Dean checks the boards for rot, plans ladder access front and back, and quotes free of charge.
The back roofline is the hard part on a terrace
On Far Cotton’s terraced streets, the front fascia is usually simple to reach from the pavement. The rear is a different matter. Many of these terraces back onto alleys kept locked through the community council’s key scheme. Before a ladder can go up against the back fascia, we need to know three things: who holds the gate key, how wide the alley is at your house, and whether a neighbour’s yard gives a better footing.
We sort these out before quoting. If the alley cannot be opened, the ladder goes through the house and out of the back door, which means extra protection for hall floors and more time on the job. Either way, it is far better to know beforehand than to find out on the day. Rear fascias are also where neglect tends to show, because nobody sees them from the street, so soft timber and leaking gutter joints are often found here first.
Rooflines on the riverside estates at 15 to 25 years
The houses and flats built in the 2000s at Riverside Wharf, Cotton End and Southbridge have rooflines that are now around 15 to 25 years old. Their trims were finished at the factory or by the builder, and they are reaching their first or second full repaint. Some estate boards may be plastic rather than timber, and those need a different primer or none at all if they are sound, so we check what each board is made of first.
Where boards are painted timber, the common faults at this age are flaking along the bottom edge, where drips sit, and bare end grain at joints that were never sealed. Both are straightforward to put right if caught before the wood goes soft. On cul-de-sacs like Leah Bank and Harvester Way, where houses sit close together, we also check where a ladder can stand without blocking a neighbour’s drive.
Leasehold flats and shared rooflines
Flats such as River View and Mill House are leasehold. The fascias, soffits and gutters on blocks like these normally belong to the building rather than any single flat, so the work goes through the management company. If you are a leaseholder wondering why your roofline looks tired, the first step is a conversation with them, and we can quote for the managing agent directly.
Damp, shade and the main roads
Gutters near the Nene, the canal and the trees of the Delapre parkland fill with leaves and overflow, and water running down a fascia is what rots it. So we clear and check gutter joints as part of the job, not as an afterthought. On Towcester Road and London Road, ladders at the front need placing with the footway and passing traffic in mind, and on busier stretches we plan where the van and materials sit before starting.
- Soft or rotten timber is probed and pointed out before painting, so you can decide whether to repair or replace it.
- Bare wood is primed the same day it is exposed, as damp air off the river soon gets into it.
- Gutters and downpipes are painted at the same time, so the whole roofline matches.
The full method is on our main fascia and soffit painting page. For how a roofline job is priced, see the painter and decorator cost guide, and for other work across the suburb visit our Far Cotton page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
