Dean takes on commercial and community painting in Overstone, about five miles north-east of Northampton in NN6. There is no high street here. The work comes from schools, sports clubs, the village hall and the hospitality premises around Overstone Lakes, so it is planned around term times and opening hours.
Premises without a high street
Overstone has no parade of shops. Its commercial and community buildings are spread through the village and across the old Overstone Park estate:
- Overstone Park School, a private day school for ages 3 months to 18, founded in 1983 in a purpose-built building on a 12-acre site inside the 340-acre country park
- Overstone Primary School and the playing field on Sywell Road
- Overstone Village Hall and the post office near Woodland Avenue
- Overstone Park Golf Club, south of the village, and Overstone Park Cricket Club to the north-east
- The hospitality cluster by the lakes and caravan site: two cafes, a restaurant, the Overstone Manor pub and the Park Stores shop
- Church Farm, next to the village core
The Aldi and the filling station by the A43 are on the Overstone Leys side of the parish. Our main commercial painting page covers how we quote, work with method statements and protect occupied buildings.
Classrooms, corridors and the village hall
Schools and community halls cannot close for decorators in the middle of a working week, so this work goes into the closed periods. For Overstone Park School and the primary school that means agreeing a programme around term dates in advance. Rooms are done in an order that lets the site reopen on time, and corridors and stairs, which see the most traffic, are scheduled where there is the longest gap.
The finishes need to stand up to children, chairs and constant cleaning. We specify scrubbable, hard-wearing emulsions for walls, durable water-based satin for doors and frames, and low-odour products so rooms can be used again soon after the work is done. The village hall’s decorating is fitted around whatever bookings it has, and we work section by section if it has to stay open.
Clubhouses and the lakeside
The golf club, the cricket club and the cafes, restaurant and pub by Overstone Lakes are working businesses with their own busy periods. The cricket club’s buildings are easier to tackle out of season, while a lakeside cafe may only have a quiet spell midweek. We work to whatever window the site can give, keep the public areas clear and tidy at the end of each session, and avoid strong-smelling coatings where food is being served.
The setting matters for the outside of these buildings. They stand among parkland, water and woodland belts such as Blackthorn Wood and Hayes Belt, so leaf fall, tree sap, algae and damp shade build up on north-facing walls, fascias, doors and timber. Exterior work starts with a fungicidal wash and needs a longer drying window before coating. We pick dry spells for it, and our guide to timing exterior painting in the UK explains why.
Listed fabric across the park
Parts of the old estate are Grade II listed, including Overstone Hall with its separately listed terraces, balustrades and gate, and the mid-19th-century estate buildings at Court House and Whistlefield. There is no conservation area, but any premises in or attached to a listed building may need listed building consent from West Northamptonshire Council before colours change or historic finishes are stripped. Unlisted, modern commercial buildings can use standard commercial paint systems. We go through which rules apply on the site visit, and the Overstone area page explains the village’s listed buildings in more detail. Where scaffold or a tower is needed beside Sywell Road, the through-route for the village, we plan where it stands and how pedestrians pass it before work begins.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
