DH Painter & Decorator stains and paints garden fences and gates in Semilong, NN2, a short way north of Northampton town centre (0.8 miles). Most gardens here sit behind mid-terrace houses with no side access, so Dean plans the protection of your hall and stairs as carefully as the finish itself.
The route to the garden is through the house
Behind most of Semilong’s long east-west terraces are narrow rear gardens fenced off from the neighbours on either side. The fences themselves are usually simple: lap panels, feather-edge boards, posts and a gate. What makes the job different here is getting to them. A mid-terrace house rarely has a side passage, so every tin, brush, dust sheet and step ladder goes in at the front, down the hall and out via the kitchen.
Stain is far harder to remove from a carpet or a painted skirting than emulsion. So before any lid comes off, we lay protection along the full route, including runners on any stairs we might pass and covers over the kitchen floor. Tins are carried in closed, decanted outside, and brushes are cleaned in the garden rather than at your sink. It adds a little time at each end of the day, and it is the part of a Semilong fence job that matters most.
Small gardens, close neighbours, shared fences
In a dense terraced street, most fences are shared boundaries. Staining your side in a dark colour while your neighbour’s side is bare or a different shade is common, and nobody minds, but it is worth agreeing who owns which fence before anything is applied. Overspray is not an issue because we brush rather than spray in gardens this close together, which also avoids drift onto washing, cars or a neighbour’s patio.
Shared fences also tend to be repaired piecemeal over the years, so one garden can hold three generations of panel side by side: a grey weathered run, a newer orange-toned panel and a replacement gate. Before choosing a colour we look at how far apart those boards have drifted. A translucent stain will show every difference, while a deeper shade or an opaque finish pulls them together. Old nails, wire and climbing plant fixings are pulled or knocked flush first so the brush does not snag.
Gardens towards St Andrews Road sit on land falling to the Nene valley, and the bottoms of fences and gravel boards there can stay damp. Timber must be dry before it is stained, so on those plots we may wait for a longer dry spell, and we give the lowest boards and post bases particular attention.
Stain or paint for a terrace garden
A small enclosed garden is seen close up, and the choice of finish changes how it feels:
- Translucent stain shows the grain and wears away gradually, so recoating is simple. It suits newer panels in good condition.
- Opaque fence paint covers weathered, mismatched timber well and can make a narrow garden feel lighter when used in a pale shade.
- Gate finishes often differ from the fence, because a gate is handled and banged daily and benefits from a harder-wearing coating.
More detail on products and preparation is on the main fence and gate staining page.
Rented terraces between tenancies
Semilong has a high share of private lets and HMOs, and tenants change frequently. A tired fence affects how a property photographs for the next letting. Landlords can have fences and gates done during the gap between tenants, when the house is empty and the route through it is clear, which makes the job quicker. Seasonal timing still applies, because stain needs dry timber and mild days; our seasonal timing guide for outside work explains why.
The Semilong hub lists our other services here.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
