Painters and Decorators in East Grinstead (RH19)
The old buildings around East Grinstead's High Street carry one of the longest runs of timber framing in the country, and they have been moving quietly for centuries. Decorating a building that moves is maintenance rather than a one-off, and the skill is choosing finishes that move with it.
Why the same crack comes back
Cracks in old buildings almost always appear in the same places: where timber meets plaster, along the line where a wall meets a ceiling, and around door linings.
Those are junctions between materials that expand, shrink and settle at different rates, and a hard filler pressed into one is being asked to do something it cannot do. It sets rigid, the joint moves a millimetre with the season, and the crack reappears along the edge of the repair. So junctions get a flexible sealant instead, which stretches and stays closed, and hard filler is kept for surfaces that are genuinely static. That will not stop an old frame moving, and nobody honest would promise that it does. What it does is turn a crack that reopens every year into one you may not see again for several.
What will actually stick to old fabric
Old surfaces are not a blank canvas. Lime-based plaster, historic distemper and years of accumulated coatings all behave differently from a modern skim, and a modern emulsion put straight onto a chalky or powdery wall will take the top layer with it when it eventually lets go. So the surface gets tested before it is specified: rub it, tape it, wet a patch and watch what happens. Where it is sound but porous it is sealed; where it is friable it may need stabilising or taking back further. That testing, and the plaster and timber repairs that come out of it, is our own team's work; the decorating on top is brought in and managed by us, on one survey and one price. On walls that will never be flat, and there are plenty in buildings of this age, wallpapering is often a better answer than paint, because a lined and papered wall forgives an undulation that flat emulsion in daylight will show up mercilessly.
The Victorian terraces and the family houses
Beyond the old centre the work gets more conventional.
Victorian terraces and solid family houses where interior decorating is preparation, sealing and coats, and exterior painting means timber windows, fascias, soffits and render or masonry. Straightforward enough, provided the preparation is honest about what it finds. The reason we still survey those in exactly the same way is that a house does not have to be timber framed to have something unexpected sitting under the wallpaper.
More in East Grinstead
Everything we do in East Grinstead is on the East Grinstead area sheet, and the full detail of how we approach this trade is on the decorating page.
Common questions
Q.01The crack above our door comes back every year. Can it be stopped?
It can be managed rather than stopped. That junction moves, so it gets a flexible sealant that stretches instead of a hard filler that cracks through. Expect years rather than months before it shows again.
Q.02Can old walls be made properly flat?
They can be skimmed flat, but on an old building that is a bigger decision than it sounds and it changes the character of the room. Lining and papering is often the better compromise, and we will say which we think suits the wall.
Q.03Does redecorating a listed building need permission?
It can do, particularly outside, and the finish itself may be part of what is controlled. We establish the position at the survey rather than after paint has been ordered.
Q.04Are you far from East Grinstead?
We are at 27 High Street, Godstone, a straightforward run from East Grinstead, and we have been building and refurbishing across this area since 2005.
Thinking about decorating in East Grinstead?
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.