Dean stains and paints fences, gates and garden timber in Kislingbury, NN7, which we reach from Northampton in a 3.6-mile drive. In this village much of the timber sits against stone walls or faces open fields, and the river-valley damp decides when it can be done.
Gates hung in stone walls
Stone boundary walls are one of the things that define Kislingbury. The conservation area has a long list of listed or noted walls on Camp Lane, Church Lane, High Street, Hodges Lane, Mill Road and Starmers Lane, and behind them sit cottage gardens reached through timber gates. That changes the job. A ledged-and-braced or boarded gate hung between stone piers gets little air on its back face, stays damp at the bottom rail, and often has hinges fixed straight into the stonework.
We take the gate’s condition first: soft wood at the base, open joints and failing old coatings. Then we stain or paint with the stone in mind, masking the piers so no stain soaks into the ironstone, which is very hard to get out of a porous face. If a gate is badly rotted at the foot, we will tell you it needs a joiner before a finish is worth applying.
Colour next to ironstone and listed walls
In a conservation area, garden timber visible from the lane is part of the street scene. Warm browns, muted greens and dark greys sit comfortably against the orange-brown ironstone, while bright or high-gloss colours can jar. Where a gate is attached to a listed wall or sits within the setting of a listed building, check with West Northamptonshire Council before changing its colour. For fences hidden in back gardens there is much more freedom.
Field-edge fences and village-edge plots
Plots on the outer edge of the village often have rear fences facing open fields. Those fences catch the wind and rain coming across the open ground, and the sunny side fades and dries out faster than the sheltered side. We often suggest a different maintenance interval for each face, and a penetrating stain on the exposed side that wears back gradually rather than peeling.
Before we start on a field-edge fence we check posts and gravel boards for movement and rot, because there is no point finishing panels that are about to come down in the next gale.
Waiting for the valley to dry out
Kislingbury is a low-lying gravel village, around 66 m up, with the Nene on its north side and a history of flooding. Gardens near the water can stay wet for a long time, and timber at ground level takes even longer. Stain applied to damp wood does not soak in and fails early. We test the moisture in the timber and book these jobs into a settled dry spell, usually from late spring to early autumn.
- Overhanging trees shade fences and keep them wet. In the conservation area, works to trees need six weeks’ notice to the council, so plan any cutting back well ahead of a staining date.
- Low fences behind walls on the lanes may need a gap in planting to reach the back face.
- Flood-affected fences may carry silt staining to wash off, then dry.
Access on the lanes is part of the plan too. Where a gate opens straight onto Church Lane, Hodges Lane or School Lane, with cottages built close to the road and walls opposite, the gate is propped open or worked on in place with a dust sheet across the footway, and the van is parked where it will not block anyone in. A freshly stained gate is left fixed open or clearly marked until it is touch-dry.
Our main fence and gate staining page explains stain versus paint and the preparation steps in detail, and our Kislingbury area page lists everything else we do here.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
