We take on commercial painting for businesses and community buildings in Roade, about 5.4 miles south of Northampton town centre. That covers the premises on High Street, The Ridings and South View, the village's day nurseries and halls, and the converted farm-building units on the edge of the parish.
A village without a shopping street
Roade has no town-centre parade. Its businesses are spread through a village of about 2,300 people, and many are the only one of their kind in the village. On High Street there is a post office, a newsagent, The Roade House Cafe and The Cock Inn on the corner with Hartwell Road. The Ridings has a convenience store and a takeaway. Roade Pharmacy is on South View. There is also a medical practice on London Road, a garage and service station on Stratford Road, an estate agent and several day nurseries.
That shapes how commercial painting works here. A cafe or pharmacy can’t send customers to another branch down the road while it’s closed. So the job is usually split into stages and timed around opening hours and the quieter parts of the trading day.
Premises in the older part of the village
High Street is in the Roade Conservation Area, and several of its buildings are listed, including the late 17th-century row at The Old Forge and 9-13 High Street. A business in a building like that needs more care than an ordinary shop unit:
- Limestone that is already painted, as on part of The Old Forge, should only be recoated with a breathable mineral paint, never plastic masonry paint.
- Bare limestone and ironstone dressings are left unpainted and masked during work.
- Changing the colour of a listed frontage can need listed building consent, so we suggest checking with West Northamptonshire Council before choosing a new scheme.
- Frontages near the A508 get traffic film, so they are washed and degreased before painting.
Painted signs and shop windows are covered separately on our shopfront page. This page is about interiors, communal areas and general building maintenance.
Nurseries, halls and converted barns
Roade’s day nurseries, the library on High Street and the village hall on Bailey Brooks Lane are in regular use by children and the public. For those buildings we use low-odour, low-VOC waterborne paints that dry quickly, and plan rooms so areas can be closed off and reopened in turn. Washable and scrubbable finishes go on corridor walls and in toilets where hands and buggies leave marks.
On the edge of the parish, the converted farm buildings at Blisworth Hill Barns and West Lodge Farm are mapped as commercial units. Converted barns often have exposed timber, block or stone walls and high open roof spaces. Each surface needs its own primer, and high walls need access equipment. We look at what each unit is made of before quoting.
Commercial interiors in the 20th-century part of the village are more straightforward: plasterboard walls, suspended or skimmed ceilings and standard joinery. In a nursery or a medical practice like the one on London Road, that means hard-wearing finishes and fire doors painted with the intumescent strips and closers kept clear, so they still shut.
Arranging work with a small business
For a commercial job in Roade we walk the premises with you, agree which areas can close and when, and quote for that sequence. If a cafe or nursery has a quieter day in its week, tell us and we will see whether the plan can use it. For budgeting, the cost guide explains what drives the price. The main commercial painting page covers materials, health and safety, and how we work alongside other trades. For more about the village itself, see our Roade area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
