It was a surprisingly sunny week in Crosspool, Sheffield when we had the task of re decorating a Victorian hall, stairs, landing and lounge area. This beautiful property had bags of character dating back to 1901, I was sure it had tales to tell.
On with the decorating.
Ceilings, walls and wood work were to be prepared and painted. The walls were previously papered in a anaglypta wallcoving, so there wasn’t much preparation work we could do to this. The main preparation work was going to be on the wood work. Lots of sanding and filling especially on the staircase, panels and spindles.
After the preparation work, we Primed the wood work in a Johnstones Trade oil based undercoat, as the prep work took some of the paint work back to bare wood. The ceiling and coving were emulsioned with three coats of Johnstones Covaplus after we prepared the ceiling, and filling repair work on the coving. At this point we emulsioned the walls with two coats of Johnstones durable matt to give this grand entrance plenty of durability.
The wood work was then painted with two coats of Johnstones satinwood, and the handrail was stained with a mahogany wood stain.
What first intrigued me about this property was the stone faces on the exterior of the front doors, and luckily the customer passed the history of the stone faces onto me:
The houses were built by a man called Andrews, who owned the quarries at Bellhag and Broomhill. After retiring from running them, he began to build houses with his stone, first in Crookes, where most of the houses were built by him, then in Crosspool and Ranmoor. Many of them have historical figures depicted on their facades including the row above Tesco on Manchester Rd.
He began to build our houses in 1901 when Queen Victoria died and completed it when King Edward and Alexandra came to the throne in 1902 -- hence the figures depicted over our 2 doorways to honour the new king.
He built the houses for himself and his second wife (who was formerly a Stafford, therefore they are called "Stafford Villas") and his daughter, who had married the foreman from the Quarry.
He also owned the top house up the alleyway across the Rd, where he had his stables and carriages and carts for the business. The pull in at the front of our houses were for his horses to be watered and rest at the top of the hill. (we have an old photo of the pair of houses standing solitary in the background of lads playing in the "pool" of Crosspool.)
Mr Andrews died in the 30s and is buried in the cemetery at Marsh lane. We think that is when the connecting doors were blocked, however, the cellars were still connected for air raid shelters in W.W.2. His daughter remained in the house next door until the 1950's.
When we first came here in 1995 there was a box with servants' bells in what is now our utility in the cellar, and marks on the walls where the bell pushes have been. But why is Alexandra rolling her eyes?
Back to the decorating.... Sorry.
The colours used on the decorating project at Crosspool, Sheffield.
Ceilings and coving – White – Johnstones Trade
Walls/Above dado – Grey Morn – Valspar
Walls/Below dado – Rapier Steel – Valspar
Side of staircase – Grey Morn – Valspar
Wood work – White gloss – Johnstones Trade
Hand rail – Mahogany – Johnstones Trade
The team at Drew Decor were over the moon with the final look of the decorating project. Lots of hard work went into the preparation work using the Mirka Deros dustless sander, and Mirka Leros dustless sander.
We were really happy with the combination of colours on the stair hand rail, spindles and side of staircase.
The customers said:
Richard and his team recently decorated our entrance lobby, hall, stairs, landing and dining room. To say we are pleased with the outcome is a serious understatement! From his initial visit to assess the work required through to completion within the timescale he projected, he and the team have done an outstanding job on our Victorian property. We were particularly impressed by the thorough preparation they undertook, their cleanliness whilst working, their attention to detail and their willingness to go the extra mile to achieve what in the end is an excellent finish. A personable and trustworthy team with a liking for tea! We can recommend Drew Decor wholeheartedly and without reservation. Thanks again and best wishes. Malcolm and June.
And finally.....
Drew Decor are a proud member of Which? Trusted Traders and the Painting and Decorating Association and have been Painting and Decorating Sheffield homes for a good number of years with an excellent reputation.
You can see our customer reviews HERE.
If you would like a proper Painting and Decorating team to decorate your home in Sheffield, please get in touch today. GET A QUOTE.
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If you are looking for decorators in Sheffield try Drew Decor painters and decorators in Sheffield. We are the go to decorators in Dore, decorators in Totley, decorators in Fulwood, decorators in Ranmoor, decorators in Lodge Moor, decorators in Bradway, decorators in Crosspool, decorators in Sandygate, decorators in Sheffield.
