Georgian fanlight detail
This is the absolutely beautiful fanlight detail on a substantial property on Charles Street in Mayfair.
The house was built in c.1753, and was altered significantly in the 19th century.
How to decorate, no.3: Don't use putty, use Dry Seal
Linseed oil putty seems to be the embodiment of the very best traditional methods and craftsmanship: it has been around, probably little-changed, for a long time; it is easy to work with; and it smells wonderful, like the naturally derived product it is.
But as a method for sealing glass into traditional timber-framed windows it is prone to failure — indeed, ask 100 experienced decorators to tell you the curing time for putty, and you will probably receive almost as many different answers.
In 2014, we bade farewell to our last tub of putty, and switched to Dry Seal, made by Repair Care. It is a considerably more expensive synthetic product, but it is truly superior to putty. Dry Seal remains permanently elastic and, perhaps best of all, can be painted — no arguments — within 30 minutes.
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Roofing service — recommended
We recently used Peter Cole’s roofing service, Universal Roofing, and can recommend it to you if you are in London, Kent or Surrey.
Dust-free oak table sanding
This was a solid oak table which had fallen into a state of mild disrepair, perhaps due to the original finish not being of a high enough quality — we sanded it using our Mirka Deros dust-free sanding system, before applying four coats of varnish.
The photo was taken just after applying the first coat of varnish to one side: as you can see, oak is a light wood in its raw state.
This particular piece of wood has a characteristic figuring, which becomes much less visible with the application of each coat of varnish.
Trim Colour Series, no.8: Little Greene Slaked Lime
We worked for a week in Ruth’s fairly large 2-bed flat in Brockley, redecorating the living room and dining area, the L-shaped hall and the main bathroom.
The living room experienced a big colour change, going from a light orange to the more relaxing tone of a lovely colour from Little Greene called Slaked Lime.
Ruth followed up with an email after completion of the work:
The flat looks great and I am really pleased with the result. David and Shane were very professional and I appreciated them being there on time, keeping me updated on what was happening and getting the work done on schedule. Hope this helps and thank you for a job well done. I would definitely recommend your company to others. The work was so good that my carpets and curtains now look very tired…but that’s another story!
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