We decorate hallways, stairs and landings across Phippsville, from communal stairwells serving several flats in the 1880s villas to single-family terrace halls. Phippsville is about 1.3 miles north-east of Northampton town centre, and Dean works on the stairs with proper stairwell access equipment while keeping a safe route open for residents.
One front door, several households
The big 1880s houses that the Phipps family built east of the Racecourse were designed for a single household. Most are now split into flats, so one entrance hall and staircase can serve several front doors. On a job like that the decorating itself is the easy part; the planning is harder.
Usually the freeholder or a managing agent commissions the work, and tenants stay in their flats while it goes on. Before we start, we agree with whoever is in charge how residents will be told, which days the stairs will have wet paint on the handrail or spindles, and where bikes, prams and post will go in the meantime. We work up the building in sections so there is always a dry, clear way in and out, and we sign any area that is still drying.
Reaching the walls over a villa staircase
Ceilings in the original 1880s villas around The Drive and St Matthew’s Church are high, and in many of them the stairwell rises through two or three floors with a cornice at the top. A domestic stepladder is no use. We set up stair platforms and staging boards that sit level on the treads and leave the rest of the flight usable, and we use a tower in the well where there is room. Deep cornices take a lot of careful cutting-in, and old lime plaster at the top of a stairwell often has hairline cracks that need raking out and filling before any paint goes on.
Finishes for a hall that sees removals every few months
A communal hall in a flat conversion gets more wear than any family hallway. Tenancies change, furniture goes up and down, bikes lean on the walls and deliveries arrive all day. For a hall like that we suggest:
- A durable, scrubbable matt or eggshell on walls, so scuffs wash off rather than needing a repaint
- A hard-wearing satin or eggshell on spindles, strings and handrails, applied thinly so it doesn’t stay tacky
- A darker or mid-tone colour below dado height where the wall takes the knocks
- One recorded colour per surface, so the managing agent can order touch-up paint that matches
Where a stair route is part of a building’s means of escape, we leave fire door seals, signage and closers alone and paint around them.
The family terrace hall
In the late Victorian terraces and the bay-fronted Edwardian houses towards Abington Park, the job is very different. The hall is narrow, the stairs rise straight ahead from the front door and the landing is small. Everyone in the house still has to use it, so we usually do the stairwell wall and ceiling first, then the woodwork, and finish the floor-level surfaces last. Bannisters with turned spindles take time and are worth doing in one go. Front doors opening straight onto the pavement mean more dirt from the street, so a tough lower-wall finish matters here too, especially in houses near the Kettering Road.
There is more on access and sequencing on our main hallway, stairs and landing decorating page. Everything else we do locally is listed on the Phippsville area page. If you’re comparing quotes for a communal stairwell, read our guide on how to choose a painter and decorator.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
