DH Painter & Decorator paints timber fascias, soffits, bargeboards and gutters in St James, NN5, roughly 0.6 miles west of Northampton town centre. Dean has worked in the trade for over 30 years and covers both the district's Victorian eaves and its 1999-2000 homes.
The Lift Tower houses at 25 years old
The Express Lift Company’s Abbey Works on Weedon Road closed in 1990, and the site was redeveloped for housing in 1999 and 2000, around the 127-metre National Lift Tower that still stands there. Those homes are now about a quarter of a century old. That is the age at which factory-applied finishes on timber roofline boards tend to give out: the stain or paint goes thin on the south and west faces first, end grain opens up where boards meet, and soffit edges start to absorb water.
For many owners this will be the first time the roofline has ever been repainted, so it is worth getting the preparation right. Original factory coatings can be well bonded in some places and failing in others. We test adhesion, scrape back anything loose, sand the edges so the old layer does not show as a step, prime any bare timber and only then build up the new coats. If the boards were originally a translucent stain, switching to an opaque paint is possible but needs a suitable primer; we will talk through the choice with you.
Victorian eaves on the older terraces
The terraces put up for shoe and engineering workers between the 1850s and 1900 have timber eaves that may carry a century of paint layers. Older layers can contain lead, so we avoid dry sanding and burning off and use wet abrading and scraping instead. Rot tends to sit at the joints between neighbouring houses and at the ends of boards behind downpipes, so we probe those spots with a sharp point. Small soft areas can be cut out and filled; a board that is rotten through needs a carpenter before we paint, and we will say so.
On a terrace, your roofline runs straight into next door’s. A neat stopping line at the party wall matters, and if neighbours want theirs done at the same time, sharing the access equipment makes sense for everyone.
Getting up to the roofline on St James streets
- Front elevations on main roads such as Weedon Road and St James Road have traffic close to the kerb, so access equipment is set out to keep the pavement usable and away from the carriageway.
- Match days at Franklin’s Gardens and Sixfields change parking along Weedon Road, so roofline work on that corridor is booked around fixtures where possible.
- Modern homes with allocated rear parking, as on Ross Road and Countess Road, are often easier, as long as neighbours sharing the court know when the bays will be in use.
Traffic grime reaches the roofline too. Gutters and fascias facing the main roads carry a dark film that needs washing off before painting, or the new coat will not bond to it.
Gutters, downpipes and the rest of the job
We usually paint fascias, soffits, bargeboards, gutters and downpipes in one visit so the whole roofline matches and the access is only paid for once. On a terrace front it can make sense to add the front windows, door and sills while the access is up. Our main fascia and soffit painting page explains each stage in more detail, and you can read about the district’s housing on our St James area page. For costs, see the painter and decorator cost guide.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
