We repaint shopfronts across White Hills in NN2, on Northampton's northern edge 2.8 miles from the town centre. That means the small parade beside The Whitehills pub and the second group of shops to the west near Whitehills Primary School, with work timed to suit each business's trading.
Two small parades, different trading patterns
White Hills has no high street. Its shops sit in two small groups. One is beside The Whitehills pub, where OpenStreetMap lists Whitehills Supermarket, Whitehills Post Office & News, Home Supplies DIY, Lasaan Indian restaurant, Golden Hill takeaway and the 1441 hairdresser. The other is to the west near Whitehills Primary School: Tesco Express, Michaels Grill, Golden Bird takeaway and Serenity Nails & Beauty. The big supermarkets are elsewhere, on Harborough Road at Kingsthorpe, so these parades serve the immediate streets.
That mix matters for timing. A newsagent and convenience store are busy early. Takeaways and a restaurant tend to be busiest in the evening. A salon runs on appointments. A school nearby means short peaks of footfall at the start and end of the school day. On a parade, one unit’s quiet hour is the next unit’s rush, so the plan is agreed with each business, not set for the row.
What the paint goes on
On small neighbourhood units like these the painted parts are usually:
- the fascia or signage board above the window, where there is a painted panel rather than a fixed sign
- window frames and the frame around the door
- the stallriser below the window, which takes kicks, bags and splashes
- pilasters or side panels between units, and any soffit over the doorway
A pub and restaurant also have exterior signboards and timber that need durable trade finishes able to cope with handling and weather. We keep the business name and branding colours as they are unless you ask for a change; painting around fixed signage is done by masking, not removing it.
Stallrisers on food businesses deserve a mention. Below a takeaway or grill window they pick up grease, scuffs from bags and splashes from mopping, so they are degreased thoroughly before any sanding, and finished in a hard-wearing exterior coating that can be wiped down. A darker shade there also hides day-to-day marks better than a pale one. Shop doors get the same treatment, since they are pushed hundreds of times a day.
Keeping the door open
Most of these businesses cannot shut for a repaint. Where work overlaps opening times we do the entrance first or last, keep a clear route in, and put wet-paint signs where hands might touch. Washing and scraping, the messiest stages, are better done when a unit is closed or quiet. A post office counter or food business may have its own rules about dust and smells near the counter, and we follow them.
Since White Hills is not in a conservation area according to the sources we checked, a straightforward repaint of an existing shopfront here is less constrained than in the old Kingsthorpe village core to the south. If you are changing the frontage itself, or adding illuminated signs, check with the council first.
Weather and the roads
The district is bounded by the A508 and A5199, and frontages near busy roads collect grime that has to be washed off before painting. Exterior paint also needs dry weather and reasonable temperatures, so we watch the forecast and would rather move a shift than put on a coat that rain will spoil. Inside work, such as a salon or restaurant interior, is covered by our wider commercial painting service.
The general process is on our main shopfront painting page. For other work in the district, see the White Hills area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
