DH Painter & Decorator decorates hallways, stairwells and landings in Moulton Leys, NN3, roughly 3.3 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. Dean works on the compact halls and straight flights typical of the estate's houses, using safe stair access and finishes chosen to stand up to daily traffic.
A small hall that does a lot of work
The houses on Moulton Leys’ closes and courts were built to a modern estate plan, and most have a compact entrance hall with a straight flight rising to a landing. There is not much floor area, but every person, bag, pushchair and delivery passes through it, and the walls either side of the front door and along the stair are within reach of shoulders and hands all day. That concentrated wear is why a hallway in one of these houses often looks tired years before the bedrooms do.
The narrowness adds its own marks. Coats hung by the door rub the wall behind them, the stair string takes kicks, and the landing wall at the top of the flight collects scuffs from anything carried up. On the estate’s plaster and plasterboard walls, the common faults are fine settlement cracks at the corners of the stairwell and where the ceiling meets the wall over the stairs, plus dents and nail holes from old pictures and gates.
Reaching the stairwell wall on a straight flight
A straight staircase is simpler to stage than a dog-leg, but the tall wall at the head of the stairs is still out of reach of a stepladder. We set up a stair platform or staging board resting on the treads and landing, so there is a level, safe surface to work from. Nothing is balanced on a single step. In a compact hall the staging takes up the width of the stair, so we plan the order of work: the high stairwell wall and ceiling first, then the staging comes down at the end of each working day so the stairs can be used, and the lower walls and woodwork follow.
Because the house is usually lived in throughout, we keep a clear walkway on the treads, protect the carpet with fitted covers rather than loose sheets that can slip, and leave the banister dry for use at the end of each day.
Paints chosen for a hall on the edge of town
The estate is up on the exposed northern edge of town, beside Moulton Park, and rainy days bring dripping coats, umbrellas and boots straight into that small hall. The paint has to take wiping without polishing up or losing colour.
- Walls: a durable, washable matt or soft sheen emulsion on the lower walls and stair side, where hands and bags land.
- Stairwell and ceiling: a standard matt can be used higher up, where it is rarely touched and hides the joins in plasterboard better.
- Spindles, newel and string: a hard-wearing satin or eggshell that resists knocks. Spindles are painted by brush, one by one, so the paint does not pool in the turnings.
- Skirting and stair string: filled, caulked and given the same tough finish, as these take the kicks.
Planning the job on a close
Most Moulton Leys homes are reached from one end of a cul-de-sac, with limited turning space and neighbours’ drives close by. A hallway job needs staging boards and a stair platform carried in through the front door, so we park considerately, unload quickly and keep shared drives clear. If your hall is close to Kings Meadow School’s roads off Manning Road, arriving outside the school-run times keeps unloading simple for everyone.
The hallway, stairs and landing service page explains the full process and the access kit, and our Moulton Leys area page covers the other decorating we take on in the estate. If you are comparing quotes, our guide to choosing a painter and decorator lists the questions worth asking.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
