Painting & Decorating in London

A paint finish reveals the surface underneath it rather than hiding it. Filled cracks that were not sanded flush, a wall that was not cut back where old paint had failed, a ceiling still carrying nicotine or water staining — all of it shows through, and it shows more with a matt finish than a sheen one.

On older London properties the usual issues are hairline cracking where plaster meets timber, blown plaster around chimney breasts and old damp, and previous paint that has been applied over an unsound layer. Each has to be cut back to something solid before anything is applied. That work is invisible in the finished room, which is precisely why it is the first thing skipped on a cheap quote.

Where a wall has been chased for cables, opened for pipework, or damaged during a strip-out, it needs making good before decoration. Small repairs can be filled and sanded; larger areas need re-skimming so the surface reads as one plane under light. A patched wall and a skimmed wall look identical in a photograph and entirely different when sunlight crosses them in the afternoon.

Fresh plaster needs to dry fully before painting and takes a thinned mist coat first, so it seals rather than sitting on the surface. Painting new plaster too early or without a mist coat is a common cause of peeling a few months later.

Exterior decoration is dictated by conditions. Masonry and joinery need to be dry before coating, and most products have a minimum application temperature — work carried out on a damp winter day fails regardless of how good the paint is. Timber windows and doors need any rot cut out and made good before repainting, because paint over soft timber simply seals the moisture in.