Services

We are painters and decorators working on period and high-value homes across Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. Most of our work is interior, nearly all of it is for private homeowners, and most of it is carried out in houses that are lived in while we work.

Whatever the job, the approach is the same: thorough preparation, a clean and orderly site, and a finish that holds up when you look at it closely.

Interior decorating

Walls, ceilings, woodwork and joinery — the majority of what we do, and where old houses are most demanding. Lath and plaster, movement cracks and generations of previous paint are ordinary problems, but they need dealing with properly rather than covering over.

On a typical interior that means cracks raked out, filled and sanded flush; failed or hollow plaster cut back and made good; nail heads and old fixings dealt with individually; bare and repaired areas spot-primed so they don't flash through the finish; and woodwork sanded, filled, caulked and primed rather than simply painted over.

It is slower. It is also the difference between a room that looks freshly decorated and one that looks freshly painted.

Sash window restoration

Original sash windows are among the best features of a Georgian or Victorian house, and among the first things ruined by careless decorating. We ease sashes that stick and free windows painted shut, cut out and replace failed putty, splice out decayed sections of timber where repair is possible, overhaul cords, pulleys and beads, and prepare and repaint inside and out with the paint carried correctly onto the glass to seal the edge. Draught-proofing where you want it.

A sash window that has lasted two hundred years is usually worth keeping — the timber in an original window is generally far better than anything available now. If a section genuinely cannot be saved we will say so, but we won't recommend replacing a window that can be restored.

Exterior decorating

Render, masonry, timber and metalwork, judged over years rather than weeks. Preparation decides everything: stripping failed coatings rather than painting over them, cutting out and treating rot, replacing failed putty, and getting timber genuinely dry before anything is applied.

Coatings are chosen for the building and its exposure. Exterior work is weather-dependent, and we would rather wait than apply a coating in conditions that will compromise it.

Lime and breathable coatings

Old solid-walled buildings were designed to breathe. Seal the surface with a modern acrylic or vinyl paint and moisture has nowhere to go — the result is blown plaster, peeling paint, damp patches that keep returning, and in time damage to the fabric behind. It is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes made in period houses, and it is almost always made with good intentions.

We work with limewash on lime plaster and stone, clay and mineral paints where a flat breathable interior finish is wanted, traditional lime plaster repairs to make good before decorating, and breathable exterior coatings on render and masonry.

Not every damp patch is a breathability problem. A blocked gutter, a raised ground level or an old cement render will each produce symptoms that look similar from inside. We look at the wall properly first, and if the real problem is something we don't fix, we will tell you rather than sell you a coating that won't solve it.

Hand-painted kitchens

A hand-painted finish suits an old house in a way a factory-sprayed door never quite does. It sits better against uneven walls and worn floors, and when it eventually wears it can be repaired rather than replaced.

Doors and drawer fronts are removed, numbered and prepared off the run where practical; existing finishes are degreased and thoroughly abraded, which is the step most often skipped and the usual reason a painted kitchen fails; then an adhesion primer suited to the surface and several thin coats of hard-wearing eggshell, cut back between coats. Handles and hinges come off rather than being painted around.

Repainting a sound timber kitchen is frequently a better decision than replacing it. Laminate and foil-wrapped doors can be painted but will never be as durable, and we would rather say so at the quotation stage than take the work.

Colour consultancy

Choosing colour for an old house is harder than a colour card suggests. Light behaves differently through a small Georgian sash, stone and lime reflect differently to plasterboard, and a colour that is right in a south-facing drawing room can look cold and grey in a north-facing bedroom two doors away.

We help with colours suited to the age, aspect and light of each room, the relationship between walls, woodwork and ceilings, and the sheen level — often the difference between a room looking right and looking not quite finished. Sample boards are painted properly and viewed in the room, in daylight and lamplight, before anything is committed to. We are not tied to one manufacturer and we don't impose a house style.

How we work

Floors, furniture and fittings are protected before any work begins. The site is cleared, swept and left tidy at the end of every working day. Nobody smokes or vapes anywhere on your property. We work room by room so you keep the use of the rest of the house, and your belongings are moved as little as possible and only with your agreement.

The same two faces arrive each morning, so you always know who is in the building, and Charles is your single point of contact from the first visit to the final inspection. We are fully insured, quotations are provided in writing, and start dates are agreed in advance.

Where we work

We are based in Oxford and work across Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds — Oxford, Summertown, North Oxford, Woodstock, Witney, Abingdon, Wallingford, Thame, Henley-on-Thames, Chipping Norton and Burford, and across to Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Moreton-in-Marsh, Chipping Campden, Broadway and Northleach.

The list isn't exhaustive and the boundary isn't rigid. If you are somewhere nearby, ask.

Arrange a quote

We will come to the property, look at what is actually there, and give you a written quotation. Both are free and there is no obligation.

Arrange a quote · 07833 053763 · info@charlesofoxford.com