Dean paints shopfronts and commercial frontages in Overstone Leys, about 4.6 miles north-east of Northampton town centre off the A43. The neighbourhood has no traditional high street; shop premises are the Aldi store by the Moulton Roundabout and the units planned for the local centre.
A neighbourhood still waiting for its high street
Overstone Leys is a planned urban extension, and its shops are arriving later than its homes. Today there is one shop in the usual sense, the Aldi at the roundabout. What the planning consent adds is a 3.83 ha local centre: a food store, a pub, a nursery and a care home grouped together, plus employment space. Residents currently cross the A43 to Moulton’s shops on Overstone Road for anything else.
So shopfront painting here is mainly a question of what happens as the local centre fills. A large supermarket chain normally uses its own contractors, and we would not suggest otherwise. The likely work for an independent painter is the smaller units, the pub and the care and nursery buildings as they open and settle in.
Painting a brand-new unit for a new tenant
A unit in a newly built parade is usually handed to the first tenant as a shell with a basic developer finish. Before signage goes up, the tenant often wants their own colours on the fascia board, window frames, stallriser and door. On new premises that raises questions an older shopfront does not:
- What is it made of? Powder-coated aluminium frames, fibre cement panels and painted steel all need different primers, and the wrong one will peel.
- What does the lease say? Many new-build commercial leases control external colours and signage, so check with the landlord or managing agent before choosing.
- Does planning apply? Overstone Leys has no conservation area, which keeps things simpler than in Moulton village, but advertisement consent rules for signs still apply.
Brand colours matter too. A tenant’s corporate shade has to be matched accurately across different materials, and a colour that looks right on a sample card can read differently on a large exterior board facing a car park. Dean can tint-match from a reference and try a small area first, so you see it in daylight before the full frontage is done. He can also paint the frontage before the sign-writer or sign fitter arrives, so the board behind the lettering is finished properly. Our main shopfront painting page covers preparation and paint systems in more detail.
Trading next to a dual carriageway
Frontages facing the A43 dual carriageway collect traffic grime faster than a sheltered village parade. Construction dust from parcels still being built adds to it. For a frontage that needs to look clean all year, that means:
- a degrease and rinse before any repaint, not just a dust-off
- a hard-wearing, washable topcoat that staff can wipe down
- timing topcoats for days when nearby site work is quiet
Pubs, nurseries and care homes
The planned pub, care home and day nursery are not shops, but their frontages need the same attention, with extra care. They are occupied all day, so work is phased, entrances stay usable, wet paint is clearly marked and low-odour products are used near open doors and windows. Opening hours, deliveries and drop-off times shape the schedule more than the weather does. A pub with an outside seating area may want work done on weekday mornings, while a nursery may prefer a closure day. For interior and larger premises work, see our commercial painting service, and for the rest of what we cover here, our Overstone Leys page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
