We decorate hallways, stairs and landings in Spratton, 6.5 miles north of Northampton on the A5199. The village has everything from three-storey houses with tall stairwells to 17th century cottages with tight stairs and low beams, so how we reach the walls is planned house by house.
Three storeys of stairwell on Church Road
Holly House at 7 Church Road is an early 19th century red brick house of three storeys. Spratton House, at number 5, is a late Georgian house built in 1793. Houses like these have a stairwell that rises two full floors, with a wall over the flights that nobody can reach from a stepladder. We bring staging and a tower that can be set up on the stairs and landings, standing level on treads of different heights. We do not lean ladders on banisters or balance boards on spindles.
Georgian staircases usually have a moulded handrail, balusters and a string that all need painting. Paint builds up between balusters over the years, so each one is cleaned up by hand before new coats go on. That alone can take as long as the walls.
Cottage stairs under low beams
The 17th century cottages on Yew Tree Lane, and Home Farmhouse on Smith Street, work at the other end of the scale. Staircases in houses of this age are often steep and narrow, sometimes boxed in behind a door, with low beams on the way up. Here the difficulty is not height but space. There is room for a short platform and not much else, and the walls are usually lime plaster over stone, uneven and soft at the corners.
On walls like that we use breathable flat or matt emulsions. A wipeable vinyl may look practical for a stairway that people brush past every day, but it can trap moisture in an old solid wall and start to blister. Where the plaster is loose, we stabilise it and fill with a compatible lime-based filler before painting rather than covering the problem.
Cottage stair joinery tends to be simple: a plain handrail, square or boarded balustrades, and sometimes a door at the foot of the stair. Old boards and treads have often been painted many times, and some layers may contain lead, so we test before sanding. Because several houses in this part of the village are thatched, we also keep heat tools out of the house altogether when stripping old paint from stair woodwork.
Converted buildings with tall open walls
The Old Chapel at 23b Brixworth Road was licensed as a chapel in 1843 and became a house in 1982. Conversions like this, and converted barns or coach houses, often have a double-height hall or a gallery landing instead of a conventional stairwell. The access is similar to decorating a small hall: a tower with outriggers, set up on protected floors, moved section by section.
| House type in Spratton | Main access issue | What we use |
|---|---|---|
| Three-storey Georgian or Regency house | Two-floor drop over the flights | Stair tower or staging boards with adjustable trestles |
| 17th century cottage | Steep, narrow stair, low beams | Small stair platform, short ladders |
| Converted chapel or outbuilding | Tall open walls and gallery landings | Mobile tower with outriggers |
Keeping the stairs usable
A staircase is the only route between floors, so we keep a clear walkway and work from the top down, taking the high walls first and the handrail and treads last. Stair carpets are covered with fitted protection rather than loose sheets that slide underfoot. On the general method, including how we handle the stairwell walls safely, see our main hallway, stairs and landing decorating page. For other work on village houses, visit the Spratton area page.
Spratton is about 6.5 miles north of Northampton town centre on the A5199, so towers and staging come with us in the van on the day we set up. When you get in touch, a photo looking up the stairwell and a rough height for the tallest wall tell us which equipment to bring.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
