DH Painter & Decorator repaints internal doors, skirting boards, architraves and other woodwork in Hunsbury Meadows, NN4. The estate lies about 2.2 miles south-west of Northampton town centre, and we cover it from our Northampton base. Dean has over 30 years in the trade, and the joinery on the original streets is now 25 to 30 years old.
Joinery that has been in place since the late 1990s
The original Hunsbury Meadows streets were sold new between December 1996 and 2001. Ashpole Spinney and Whitesands Way came first, and Lynmore Close and Samwell Way were among the last. That means most of the internal joinery on the core estate is now 25 to 30 years old. Skirtings, architraves, door linings and internal doors of that age have usually had a touch-up here and there, but they have often never had a full prepare-and-repaint. The usual signs are gloss that has gone cream or yellow, chips along the top of skirtings where the vacuum cleaner catches them, and door edges worn back to bare timber around the handles.
Nearly all of the 1996-2001 homes are detached, and some are four-bedroom executive-style houses, so each one carries a lot of woodwork. A detached family house has far more metres of skirting and more doors than a small terrace. A woodwork-only job here can run to several days, so it is worth deciding early whether to do the whole house at once or one floor at a time.
Dealing with yellowed 1990s gloss
Solvent-based gloss was the normal builder’s finish on joinery in the 1990s. It yellows with age, and it yellows most in rooms with little daylight, such as hallways, cupboards and landings. Brushing a water-based paint straight over it is a common mistake, because the new coat struggles to grip the hard, shiny surface. On joinery of this age we wash the woodwork down, key the old finish, fill dents and open mitres, and prime with an adhesion primer. Two coats of a water-based satin or eggshell then go on top, and they stay white rather than drifting cream like the original. Where years of touch-ups have built up and softened the mouldings, we will point out any lengths worth stripping back first. More detail on products and sheens is on our main door, skirting and woodwork painting page.
Pineham Lock woodwork, roughly a decade on
The canal-side phase calls for a lighter job. Lockgate Road, Towpath Avenue, Tiller Way, Canal Way, Windlass Close and Narrowboat Lane sold new between 2012 and 2015, so their woodwork has had around ten years of family life rather than thirty. Here the work is usually about wear and movement, not build-up: bare patches on door edges, decorator’s caulk that has shrunk away where skirting meets wall, and nail holes showing through. That means re-caulking, filling, a light sand and fresh topcoats. In the flats and maisonettes on Narrowboat Lane, the outer face of a front door that opens onto a shared landing may belong to the building rather than the flat, so check your lease before we paint that side.
| Part of the estate | When sold new | Typical woodwork job |
|---|---|---|
| Original streets off Banbury Lane (Riverstone Way, Hassocks Hedge, Dapplestone Close and others) | 1996-2001 | Full preparation of yellowed gloss, adhesion primer, new water-based topcoats |
| Pineham Lock (Lockgate Road, Towpath Avenue, Tiller Way and others) | 2012-2015 | Re-caulking, filling and refreshing thin builder’s coats on doors and skirtings |
French doors and the garden side
Some of the late-1990s houses have timber French doors, which are now as old as the house. The inside faces can be done along with the rest of the internal woodwork. The outside faces take the weather, and on gardens that back onto the canal corridor or open meadow they can pick up green algae and stay damp for longer. Those need washing and a biocide treatment before any paint goes on, and the job should be timed for a dry spell. If you want the garden face done, tell us when you ask for a quote and we can plan both sides together.
We cover Hunsbury Meadows and the rest of NN4 from Northampton. Our Hunsbury Meadows area page covers the other work we do on the estate, and the painter and decorator cost guide explains what affects the price of a woodwork job.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
