Dean paints interiors in Weedon Bec, NN7, eight miles west of Northampton. The work ranges from low-ceilinged ironstone and limestone cottages with uneven walls to modern estate homes, and in the village centre it often follows a flood, when rooms must dry out before any paint goes on.
Thick stone walls in Upper and Lower Weedon
The oldest houses in the parish sit in Upper Weedon, around Queen Street, and in Lower Weedon on Church Street, Oak Street and West Street. Walls there are solid ironstone and limestone, laid in bands on many fronts, and a few roofs are still thatched; The Firs, at 72 Queen Street, is dated 1692. Inside cottages like these the ceilings are low, the walls lean and bow, and the window reveals are deep because the walls are solid stone with no cavity.
Solid walls need to pass moisture through to the inside face and let it evaporate. Older plaster on stone is often lime based, and a heavy vinyl emulsion over it can trap that moisture until the paint blisters or the surface turns powdery. In these rooms we use breathable emulsions and soft, lime-compatible fillers, and we leave the undulations alone. Cutting a straight line where a wall meets a crooked ceiling is a matter of following the room, not a spirit level, and that takes longer than people expect.
Deep stone reveals around mullion windows deserve a mention of their own. Condensation runs down the glass and sits on the sill, so we check that the plaster at the base of each reveal is sound before painting it, and use a finish there that tolerates occasional wetting.
When a flooded room is ready for paint
Surface water has come into ground floors in the middle of Weedon three times since 2012: in November that year, on 24 November 2024 and in March 2025, along South Street, New Street, Bridge Street, Church Street and West Street. After an event like that the lower walls and skirtings take weeks or months to dry, and painting too soon is the most common reason a redecoration fails a second time.
- We take moisture readings on the lower walls before booking the painting, and come back later if they are still high.
- Salts carried up the wall show as white fur on the plaster. They are brushed off and allowed to stop appearing before decorating.
- Where the lower walls have been replastered for flood resilience, the new plaster gets a diluted mist coat first, as set out in our mist coat guide.
- Skirtings that soaked up water are rubbed down and primed once dry, rather than painted over swollen grain.
If your insurer or loss adjuster is involved, we can price the decorating as a separate item so it fits their schedule of works.
Cavalry Fields, Holm Close and Harmans Chase
The 20th century estates to the north, south and west of the old village, and the newer homes at Harmans Chase and Harmans Way on the line of the old canal branch, are a different job. Walls are mostly plasterboard or modern skim, ceilings are a standard height, and rooms are square. Here the work is about durable, washable finishes in kitchens, halls and children’s rooms, crisp cutting in on plain ceilings, and keeping disruption down while a family is living in the house.
Harmans Chase is the newest housing in the village, with 62 homes finished between 2011 and 2014, so some may still have the original contract emulsion on the walls. That thin trade finish marks easily and does not wipe clean, and it usually needs a proper base coat before a better topcoat will look even. Our main interior painting service page covers how we prepare and paint a typical modern room.
Getting to your house
Dean drives over from Northampton, roughly 8 miles to the east, and comes in under the canal aqueduct and rail viaduct in a small van, since large vehicles struggle there. A small van is also easier to place in the tight old streets, and on Farthingstone Road and New Street, where kerb space is already scarce. On the estates we can usually use the driveway. You can find more about the village’s property types on our Weedon Bec area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
