We were approached by a client who required us to take a look at her mother’s property and discuss what needed doing to update, decorate, freshen up and make safe, ready for the rental market. The job was time sensitive due to her mother now being in a care home and so the rental income was needed to fund this.

Upon the initial visit we discussed requirements, budget, level of finish and a time frame.

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FRONT BEDROOM BEFORE

All bedrooms were wall papered and had polystyrene ceiling tiles, a favourite from the 1970s, the ceiling tiles were an absolute no no – they present a very real fire hazard and give off extremely toxic fumes that can lead to permanent injury to your lungs as well as rain down dripping plastic. All needed to be removed in order to paint. Upon removal of the wallpaper, however, it was discovered that the plaster beneath was in a state of disrepair was crumbly and powdery the walls would need to be re-plastered.

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AFTER WALLPAPER REMOVAL

Adequate time was given for the plaster to dry. It is important that this happens if you try to paint walls before they are dry you will get nowhere fast also the doors cannot be hung in high humidity as they will swell.

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FRESH PLASTER

A mist coat (a watered-down solution of the chosen paint) is then added to the dry plaster.

This is an important step as this helps to create a bond between the plaster and the new paint. No mist coat results in poor adhesion and consequently, cracking.

Now the painting can commence, and we start to see progress. The results are smooth, fresh painted walls.

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FRESHLY PAINTED

Our next job was to remove the current banister rails. In the first image you can see they are horizontal pieces with large gaps between. This does not meet the current safety standards and therefore needed to be updated.

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BEFORE SPINDLES

The old was removed and new vertical spindles were installed to comply with regulations which specify a maximum spacing of 98mm to prevent small children becoming stuck or slipping through.

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SPINDLES AFTER

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LIVING/DINING BEFORE

As with the rest of the property, the living/dining room also needed a refresh. The client decided that for a rental property, the wallpaper in these rooms was in a very good state and so just needed to be painted over to cover the darker border and freshen up the rooms.

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LOUNGE/DINING AFTER

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KITCHEN BEFORE

Much the same for the kitchen, the walls were painted and the cabinets and window frames were deep cleaned. Fresh silicone was applied around the countertops and the glass from the window between this room and the dining room was removed and replaced with toughened glass to comply with safety standards

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KITCHEN AFTER

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DOORS BEFORE

At the request of the client we also removed and installed new internal doors throughout the property. They opted for the white grained moulded 4 panel doors with chrome handles which gives a more updated feel.

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DOORS AFTER