DH Painter & Decorator paints and decorates commercial premises in Kingsthorpe, NN2, a short run up the A508 from Northampton town centre (about 1.8 miles). Dean takes on shops, restaurants, pubs, churches and other buildings, planning the work around opening hours and the busy A508 Harborough Road.
Working along Harborough Road
Most of Kingsthorpe’s business premises line the A508 Harborough Road. The Kingsthorpe Shopping Centre opened there in 1974 with a Waitrose and now includes a post office, pharmacy, coffee shop, bank and pet shop; an Asda (built as a Safeway in 1986) and an Aldi are also on the road, along with takeaways and restaurants. Its history goes back further: in the 1930s Alexandra Terrace was a shop parade here, opposite the Bective shoe and boot factory.
Two things shape any painting job on this stretch. First, it is a busy A-road, meeting the A5199 Welford Road in the centre, so any exterior work that needs equipment on the pavement must be planned to keep pedestrians safe and may need a licence from the highway authority. Second, the businesses here depend on passing trade, so the work is planned around opening hours rather than the other way round. Interior work in a café or takeaway can often be done before opening, after closing, or on the quietest trading days, one zone at a time.
Three pubs, two conservation areas
Each of Kingsthorpe’s three historic pubs sets a different problem:
- The Cock Hotel, Harborough Road, dates from 1893 and faces the 1921 war memorial, a prominent front on a main road.
- The Queen Adelaide, on the corner of Manor Road and Knights Lane, has 18th-century origins and a white-painted sandstone front inside the High Street/Manor Road Conservation Area.
- The King William IV, Green End, is a stone building of about 1890 with brick corners and herringbone banding, in the Kingsthorpe Conservation Area.
The conservation appraisal sees painting bare stone or brick as harmful to the village, so stone that has never been painted, like the King William IV’s, is left alone and the work is limited to joinery, signage boards and ironwork. Where stone already carries paint, as the Queen Adelaide’s does, the repaint should use a breathable mineral or limewash-compatible system rather than plastic masonry paint, so the soft sandstone can dry. The King William IV stands on a dead-end lane with a tight kink in it, so ladders and the van are placed with neighbours’ access in mind.
Churches, schools and care settings
Commercial painting in Kingsthorpe also means buildings that are not shops at all. The area has several churches, including the Grade I St John the Baptist, Kingsthorpe Baptist Church on the High Street (1835) and St Aidan’s on Manor Road; schools such as the listed Kingsthorpe Grove School; the former National School on Knights Lane, now a youth centre; and St David’s, the 1882 hospital building that is now a brain injury rehabilitation care home.
These buildings tend to need low-odour, quick-drying paints, work timed around services, term dates or care routines, and close liaison with whoever manages the site. Listed buildings bring the added question of consent for any change to colours or finishes. We cover all of these from our Northampton base and agree access and timings before anything starts.
Planning a commercial job
We start with a visit to see the premises, agree working hours, decide which areas can be closed off and when, and choose finishes that will stand up to the traffic: scrubbable wall paint for customer areas and hard-wearing coatings on doors and frames. Our main commercial painting page explains the process in more detail, and for more on the area itself see our Kingsthorpe page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
