Painter and decorator in Thorplands

DH Painter & Decorator covers Thorplands, an NN3 estate about 3.3 miles north-east of Northampton town centre, from our Northampton base. Dean paints inside and out on its 1970s terraces and low-rise flats, and decorates rented homes between tenancies, with more than 30 years in the trade.

Thorplands at a glance

Thorplands is a residential estate in Northampton’s Eastern District, inside the main roads of Lumbertubs Way and Talavera Way, which meet at Round Spinney Roundabout. Boothville lies to the west, Lings and Southfields to the east, and the Round Spinney industrial area to the north. The name is of Old Norse origin and is thought to mean village or hamlet lands.

The estate belongs to the period after Northampton was designated a New Town in 1968, when the Northampton Development Corporation began building east of the old town. The first new housing went to Lumbertubs, Moulton Park and Round Spinney; Lumbertubs Way and Round Spinney both border Thorplands today. On the courts off Holmecross Road and Billing Brook Road, EPC data most often gives 1967-1975 as the age band, and 1971 is the median year. Huxloe Rise is a little later, with a median of 1979, and Pindar Rise spans 1971 to 1986.

That shared age shapes almost every decorating job here. The paint you see on a Thorplands wall, door or fascia is rarely the first or second coat, and the job is usually about getting older surfaces sound again before anything new goes on.

Terraces and flats grouped in courts

Most homes are short runs of mid- and end-terrace houses, set around courts with low-rise flats among them. A few semi-detached houses, the odd detached house and some end-terrace bungalows add variety. Some figures from property records:

Inside, the rooms are compact. Walls and ceilings carry decades of overpainting and patch-filling, and the original softwood window boards, door linings and skirtings are now around fifty years old, usually under many coats of gloss. They need keying, filling and a modern waterborne finish rather than a quick top coat. Our interior painting and doors and skirtings pages explain that work in full.

The flats share entrances and stairwells. Those communal areas take heavy wear from residents, bikes and prams, so they need hard-wearing, scuff-resistant paint and work scheduled so people can still get in and out. In the houses, the straight-flight stairs are narrow, and a stairwell is often the most marked part of the home. See our hallways, stairs and landings service.

Rented homes and changes of tenant

A large share of Thorplands is rented. Social housing accounts for 46 of 85 homes on Waterpump Court and 19 of 44 on Midfield Court, and for well over half of Great Holme Court. On Holmecross Road and Pindar Rise, private landlords own around one home in three. Owner-occupiers are still the largest single group on some streets.

For landlords, the work is mostly between tenancies: repainting in durable, wipeable finishes, using colours that can be matched for touch-ups later, and getting the property ready for the inventory and the next move-in. A council HMO Article 4 direction covers the whole former Northampton borough, including Thorplands, so turning a family house into a small shared house needs planning permission first. Our landlord and letting agent decorating page covers how we plan void-period work.

Outside: fronts, gables, fascias and fences

Heritage controls do not reach this estate: West Northamptonshire Council lists no conservation area here and we found no listed building. On a home owned by a housing provider, though, that provider sets the exterior colours.

• Fronts and gables. On a terrace the main surfaces are the front elevation and, on an end-terrace, the gable wall. On a mid-terrace, ladder footing and overspray protection often need the neighbours’ agreement. See our exterior painting page.
• Walls. The sources do not record what the walls are built or finished with, so any rendered or painted masonry is surveyed for cracks and earlier coatings before a breathable masonry paint is chosen.
• Fascias and soffits. Where the 1970s timber boards have not been replaced with uPVC, they are at the age when rot shows at joints and on gutter boards. These are low two-storey buildings, so most of them can be reached by ladder or a small tower without full scaffold. See fascia and soffit painting.
• Fences and gates. Small streams run through the estate, partly in culverts, near Holmecross Road and towards Thorplands Open Space. Fences that back onto the open space and stream corridors stay damper and shadier, so they need a breathable stain and more frequent recoats. See our fence and gate staining service.

Shops and nearby business premises

There is no high street. The local centre is a small unit block at 37 Farm Field Court with a Costcutter, Thorplands Post Office and Thorplands Takeaway, next to the Thorplands Community Hub, a small car park and Thorplands Primary School. Painting there has to be done in short, phased slots around trading hours and the school day. North of Talavera Way, Round Spinney Industrial Estate has industrial units with steel doors, railings and masonry that need hard-wearing coatings. Our commercial painting page covers that kind of work.

Access and arranging a quote

Few Thorplands front doors have a drive outside them: the van stops in a court bay and the walk to the house is often along a path between blocks. Before a job, Dean works out where the van can go and how far ladders, sheets and paint need to be carried, so the work fits around neighbours and footpaths. On a mid-terrace with no rear access, that route runs through the house, so sheets go down from the front door onward.

We cover Thorplands from our Northampton base, about 3.3 miles from the town centre, along with neighbouring areas such as Boothville, Lings and Southfields. Dean visits, looks at the job and gives you a written quote. For what affects the cost, see our cost guide. Call 07539 779 036.

Last updated 9 October 2026 by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.