DH Painter & Decorator paints interiors in West Hunsbury (NN4), the Shelfleys estate on the southern edge of Northampton. Dean handles walls, ceilings and woodwork in its family houses and bungalows, with particular care where an extension or annex meets the original rooms.
A Shelfleys house, three decades and several owners later
West Hunsbury, which older maps and bus displays still call Shelfleys, was built from 1970 onward, and its main building decades were the 1980s and 1990s. Inside, that era means plaster and plasterboard rather than horsehair and lime, so we are rarely chasing blown plaster. The work is in the detail: filling nail pops and settlement cracks along plasterboard joints, re-caulking the gap where skirtings have shrunk away from the wall, and sanding back the drips and ridges left by years of quick repaints.
Because these houses tend to be large family homes with four or five bedrooms, a full interior repaint is a big job. We usually split it into stages: bedrooms and landing first, then the reception rooms, then the kitchen and utility. That way part of the house is always clear and usable.
Where the original house meets the extension
Estate agent listings for West Hunsbury keep mentioning the same additions: an extended four-bed on Summerfields, a self-contained annex at Bramble End, a rear conservatory on a Merryhill semi, double garages that lend themselves to conversion. Each addition leaves a join inside the house, and that join is where an interior repaint is won or lost.
- Newer plaster in the extension soaks up paint differently from the 30-year-old walls next to it, so it gets a mist coat first. Otherwise the two halves of an open-plan room dry to slightly different sheens.
- Hairline cracks often open where the new structure ties into the old wall. We rake these out and fill them with a flexible filler rather than a rigid one, so they don’t reappear the first winter.
- Ceiling heights and coving profiles often change at the join. We cut a crisp line at the change rather than letting the colour wander over it.
For the full process on brand-new walls, our mist coat guide sets out the drying times and mixes.
Rooms in the shadow of Hunsbury Hill
The estate wraps around a 38-hectare wooded country park, and some plots, such as those around Tall Trees Close, are described in listings as surrounded by woodland. Rooms on those sides of a house get filtered, cool light for much of the day. In practice that affects two things. Pale greys and cool whites can look dull and slightly green there, so it’s worth sampling before ordering full tins. And where a room is shaded and the window is kept shut, condensation can settle in the corners of bedrooms. We treat any mould spotting with a fungicidal wash and let it dry before painting, so it doesn’t bleed back through the new emulsion.
Bungalows, annexes and sheltered homes
Not every interior here belongs to a big detached house. There are detached bungalows in cul-de-sacs such as Whaddon Close, and annexes used by older relatives. When someone is living in the rooms while we work, we use low-odour, water-based paints throughout, keep walkways clear and finish each room in as few days as possible. Tenants in the Parsons Meade sheltered homes should go through Northampton Partnership Homes, which manages them and arranges their decorating.
Getting started
Most West Hunsbury houses have a driveway and a garage, so the van and dust sheets stay on your plot and we keep a tidy mixing area out of the living space. Dean will walk round with you, note which rooms are original and which were added later, and price each stage separately so you can choose the order. For how we approach interiors generally, see our interior painting in Northampton page, or go back to the West Hunsbury area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
