We paint shopfronts and commercial frontages in Walgrave, a village about 7.9 miles north-east of Northampton. The village has a small commercial base, with the Skittles Community Shop and the Royal Oak pub recorded by the parish council, so jobs are small, planned around trading hours and done on full-day visits. Quotes are free.
A small number of frontages, each one used daily
Walgrave does not have a parade of shops. The parish council lists a community shop, Skittles Community Shop, and the Royal Oak pub, and alongside them the village has community buildings such as the Village Hall. A frontage in a place like this is one of only a handful the whole village walks past, and it is usually in use most days of the week. For a painter that has three consequences: work has to be planned around the hours the doors are open, the entrance has to stay usable while we are there, and the finished front is noticed by everyone.
Many community shops are run by committees and volunteers rather than one owner. If that is the case for you, we can send a written scope and quote that the committee can review, and fix a date that suits whoever holds the keys.
Working around trading hours
A shop or pub entrance cannot be shut for a week. We usually split the job into stages:
- Preparation first. Scraping, filling and sanding on fascia boards, frames and stall risers is done early or at quieter times, with the doorway kept clear.
- Doors last, in a short window. Entrance doors are painted at the end of a day or on a closed day so the paint can set before customers push on it.
- Clear signs and barriers. Wet paint is marked and the pavement area is coned off while ladders are up.
Because the village is around eight miles from Northampton and has no trade supplier, we bring every tin and tool on the day. That means the colour and product are agreed in advance and not changed mid-job.
Pub fronts and signage boards
Pub frontages carry their own details: hanging sign brackets, painted name boards, window frames, entrance doors and sometimes timber benches or planters outside. Signage boards and lettering are treated with care. We can repaint around existing lettering, or prepare and paint the board ready for a signwriter. Any metal brackets get rust treatment and a metal primer before topcoats. External timber on a pub front takes heavy wear from doors opening and closing, so durable joinery paints are used on frames and doors. Changes to signage or the look of a building can need permission, so we suggest owners check with the council before a new scheme rather than after.
Old buildings, older finishes
Walgrave’s historic core is built largely of coursed lias, and if a commercial building sits in older stone, bare stonework is kept unpainted and attention goes on joinery, doors and signage. Where old paint on timber may contain lead, preparation is done by wet or hand methods. The village setting among trees and farmland means pollen and leaves on wet gloss, so we plan for calm, dry days.
Before any date is set, we walk the frontage with you and note everything that needs doing: flaking fascia boards, failed putty, rusty brackets, sticking doors, faded lettering. That list becomes the written quote, so the committee, landlord or licensee knows exactly what is included and what is not. If the building has upstairs windows or a high name board, we explain how we will reach it and how long the pavement or forecourt will be partly blocked. For a sense of what drives the cost of a job like this, see our painter and decorator cost guide.
For our wider approach to frontages see the main shopfront painting page, and for interiors of shops, halls and pubs, the commercial painting service. Other work we cover in the village is on the Walgrave area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
