Painter & Decorator in Doncaster

Doncaster's older housing throws up the same two decorating problems again and again. Ceilings in the interwar semis around Wheatley, Bessacarr and Balby often carry decades of distemper or a textured finish, and neither takes modern emulsion straight over the top — do it anyway and the ceiling flakes within a year. Where the age of a textured coating is uncertain it is worth having it tested before it is disturbed, because older ones can contain asbestos.

Original woodwork in those properties has usually been painted many times over. Doors, skirting and architrave carrying that much build-up generally need sanding back and priming rather than another coat on top — otherwise the detail disappears and every previous brush mark shows through the new finish.

The newer estates around Rossington, Edenthorpe and Armthorpe are usually a straightforward repaint, but builders' finish is often a single thin coat of contract emulsion. It looks perfectly good until someone tries to wash a mark off it, so a proper two-coat job over a sealed surface makes more difference in these houses than people expect.

There is also a steady amount of rental redecoration across the town. Between tenancies the priority is a durable, neutral finish turned around inside a few days, which is a genuinely different job from decorating a home you are going to live in — and it is specified and priced differently.