We decorate hallways, stairs and landings in St Crispin, NN5, about 2.6 miles west of Northampton town centre. Most townhouses here have two flights of stairs and a tall stairwell void, so Dean plans stair platforms and staging before quoting, and the converted hospital flats bring high walls of their own.
Why a St Crispin townhouse stairwell is a bigger job
Many of the newer homes in St Crispin are three-storey townhouses, many with a big dormer room on the top floor. That layout puts two flights of stairs one above the other, joined by a first-floor landing, with a stairwell wall that can run from the hall floor almost to the second-floor ceiling.
That means more of everything than in a two-storey house: two sets of spindles and handrails, two stair strings, three ceilings, and a high wall that cannot be reached safely from a stepladder. Our main hallway, stairs and landing page explains the general method. What follows is how it applies to St Crispin’s townhouses.
Getting access over two flights
Dean measures the drop at the quote visit and decides whether the job needs an adjustable stair platform, staging boards bridging the landing, or both. On the upper flight the platform usually has to be moved and re-levelled more than once to reach the corners by the second-floor ceiling. The stairs stay usable for you at the end of each day.
A few points that come up in these houses:
- Parking is mostly in shared courts or allocated bays, so we agree where the van and equipment go before the first day rather than blocking a neighbour.
- Newer plaster on the stairwell often shows fine settlement cracks at corners and above door frames; these get raked out and filled before any colour goes on.
- Where a top landing has no window, it benefits from a lighter colour and a finish that does not show every scuff.
High entrance halls in the converted hospital blocks
The Victorian asylum buildings were designed with tall rooms and big windows. Flats carved out of them, such as those in Keystone House and the former superintendent’s house, can have entrance halls and internal stairs with ceilings far higher than a modern home. Cornices and window reveals sit out of reach, and if a stair rises inside the flat the wall over it can be very tall.
Doors off these halls are often tall too, with deep linings and architraves that take longer to prepare than modern softwood trim. Any opening sash on the stair is a job for a specialist joiner before it is painted. In a conversion, the shared entrance to the building is usually the managing agent’s responsibility, so we confirm where your flat’s decoration stops and the communal parts begin.
Here we bring towers or longer platforms, and we check whether any surviving period plaster is lime-based, because that affects which paint will let it breathe. Paint on historic walls should never trap moisture.
Communal stairs and landings in apartment blocks
Blocks such as St Georges House on St Crispin Drive have shared entrances, stairs and landings used by every resident. Decorating those is usually arranged by a managing agent rather than one flat owner. We work in sections so the stairs stay open, use hard-wearing scrubbable paints on walls and handrails, and keep wet-paint signs and dust sheets tidy for neighbours coming and going. If you manage a block in St Crispin, Dean can look at the shared areas and give you a written quote.
To compare what decorating a hallway typically costs, see our cost guide. For other services in the area, visit the St Crispin area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
