We decorate hallways, stairs and landings in Semilong, NN2, from two-storey terraces to three-storey houses and shared HMO stairwells. Semilong is 0.8 miles north of Northampton town centre, and a free quote starts with Dean looking at the stairwell.
The shape of a Semilong hall
Semilong’s terraced rows went up from the late 19th century, and their halls are narrow with steep stairs. In a terrace of this age the hall usually runs along one side with a straight flight rising off it, and where the house has a cellar its door often opens off the hall too. That leaves a tall, thin wall above the flight, a ceiling over the stairwell you cannot reach from the treads, and very little floor to stand a ladder on.
We work over the stairwell with stair ladders and boards set across the flight, not a stepladder balanced on a tread. In the narrowest halls the boards are set up and moved in stages so the stairs can still be used at the end of each day.
Three storeys on St Pauls Road and the Barrack Road edge
Some terraces go up to three storeys. One St Pauls Road listing describes a six-bedroom Victorian terrace over three floors, and the conservation-area ranges on Barrack Road and Kingsthorpe Road (Leicester Parade, St Paul’s Terrace, Langham Place) also rise to three storeys, with many now split into flats or offices. In these the second flight adds another high wall and a deeper drop. We plan the staging for that before the start date so the job does not stop halfway up.
| Layout | Where it shows up | What it means for the work |
|---|---|---|
| Two-storey terrace, single straight flight | Most of the terraced grid | One high wall over the stairs; boards moved along a single flight |
| Three-storey terrace, two flights | St Pauls Road and larger terraces | Two stairwells, extra staging, more woodwork |
| Converted house, shared stairs | Barrack Road frontages and HMOs across the grid | Work arranged around residents who need the stairs daily |
When the stairs are shared
HMOs make up a large share of Semilong’s housing, according to its neighbourhood plan. In a shared house the hall and stairs are the busiest part of the building: several people, their bikes, bags and furniture going in and out. Those walls take scuffs at shoulder height and the paint on the handrail and spindles wears through first.
For shared halls we use a scuff-resistant or washable matt on the walls and a hard satin on the woodwork. Where tenants are living in, we decorate in sections, keep the route clear and dry before evening, and agree with the landlord or agent when residents will be told. More on how we handle stairwells in general is on our hallway, stairs and landing decorating page.
Damp at the bottom of the stairs
Where a terrace has a cellar, as listings show on Stanley Street and St Pauls Road, the cellar head sits close to the hall, so any damp it carries tends to show on the hall walls first. Houses lower down the slope towards the river can see the same on ground-floor walls. Paint on a damp lower wall bubbles and stains, so we check moisture readings before quoting a finish. Where the plaster is damp, we use a breathable paint and leave it to dry properly rather than sealing the problem in.
Getting in and out
With front doors on the footway and no side passage, everything comes in through the very hall we are decorating, so we sheet the floor and the stair treads first and bring the boards in before anything else. If you are weighing up quotes for a tall stairwell, our guide on choosing a painter and decorator covers what to ask about access. For other work around the neighbourhood, see our Semilong page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
