Sheffield / S7
Painter and Decorator in Sharrow.
Victorian terraces, varied condition. Strong demand for kitchen cabinet respray work, plus bold accent walls.
Sharrow is the inner south-west district that grew up between 1830 and 1850 as Little Sheffield spread west across the moor. It is dense Victorian and Edwardian terrace country off Sharrow Lane, London Road, Cemetery Road, and through Highfield, with Sharrow Vale Road now the recognised home of independent cafes and shops in S11. Red brick, slate roofs, single-storey rear off-shots, narrow yards, and a higher-than-average survival rate of original timber sash windows, mostly because the stock has stayed owner-occupied rather than being stripped for uPVC by landlords.
The breakout job for this district is the kitchen cabinet respray. Sharrow Vale is full of two and three-bed terraces where the kitchen was extended into the rear off-shot in the 1990s, and those timber units are tired now but structurally sound. A full respray runs £600 to £1,800 against £8,000-plus for a new kitchen, the same kitchen at a fraction of the cost, and the wow-factor is high. We take the doors off, sand them, two coats of primer, two coats of two-pack cabinet paint sprayed in our spray booth, then hang them back on with new hinges where needed. Five to seven days for a standard kitchen.
There is a conservation edge to watch on the south side of the district. The Nether Edge Conservation Area, designated in September 2002 with an Article 4 Direction added in 2005, reaches into the streets south of Brincliffe Edge Road. Inside that boundary, painting an unpainted exterior, or changing the colour of an already-painted one, may need planning consent. We check the official boundary map on the Sheffield Council site before quoting any exterior work, rather than finding out halfway through.
The damp profile in the inner terraces is its own thing. A lot of the Highfield and London Road back-to-backs were built in the 1860s with no damp-proof course, and you see the rising-damp signature on internal ground-floor walls. Vinyl silk over damp plaster traps the moisture and pushes the salts to the surface, where they crystallise and blow the paint off in patches. We use a breathable matt over a salt-neutralising primer made for Victorian brick, and we run a moisture-meter check first. If the damp is severe the answer is not paint at all, it is fixing the source, an overflowing gutter, a blocked airbrick, raised external ground, before any paint goes on.
Those surviving sash windows on streets like Wayland Road and Hickmott Road are good restoration candidates. The original timber outlasts modern joinery and fits the front in a way uPVC does not. Restoration is sash-cord renewal, brass pulley replacement where needed, draft seals, scrape and sand to bare wood, two coats of primer, two coats of Sandtex 365 gloss. About a day per pair, £350 to £550 depending on condition, and they last another 30 years.
Sharrow Vale Road is a working independent high street, so shop fronts get done on a Sunday-to-Monday turnaround to protect trading days. We scaffold and prep Sunday morning, two coats of primer Sunday afternoon, top coat early Monday, scaffold down by lunch, and you reopen Monday with a fresh front. Sign-writing we sub-contract to a Sheffield signwriter we have used for years. A standard shop front including the upper sash above the fascia is usually £600 to £1,200.
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Common Questions
Sharrow questions
The questions Richard gets asked most often at the kitchen door. If yours is not here, ring him.
How much does a full kitchen cabinet respray actually cost in a Sharrow Vale terrace?
Realistic range £600 to £1,800 depending on the size of the kitchen and the condition of the units. A small two-wall Victorian terrace kitchen with 8 to 10 cabinet doors and drawer fronts is usually £600 to £900. A larger L-shaped kitchen with 16 to 20 doors and drawers, an island, and a built-in pantry is closer to £1,400 to £1,800. That is doors off, full sand, two coats of primer, two coats of two-pack cabinet paint sprayed in our booth, then hung back on with new hinges if needed. Five to seven days. A new kitchen the same size is £8,000-plus.
Is my Sharrow Vale terrace in a conservation area?
The bulk of Sharrow Vale itself is not, but the southern edge of the district pushes into the Nether Edge Conservation Area, designated in September 2002 with an Article 4 Direction added in 2005. If you are on the streets south of Brincliffe Edge Road, you may be inside it. We check the official boundary map on the Sheffield Council site before quoting exterior work. Inside the boundary, painting an unpainted exterior, or changing the colour of an already-painted one, may need planning consent.
My Highfield back-to-back has rising damp on the inside walls. Can you paint over it?
Not with vinyl silk, no. A back-to-back built in the 1860s has no damp-proof course and the bricks are meant to breathe out the moisture they hold. Vinyl silk on top traps the damp behind the film and pushes the salts to the surface, where they crystallise and blow the paint off in patches. The right route is a breathable matt over a salt-neutralising primer made for Victorian brick. We run a moisture-meter check first. If the damp is severe, the answer is not paint at all but fixing the source, gutter overflow, blocked airbrick, raised external ground, before any paint goes on.
Can you restore the original timber sash windows on my Wayland Road terrace?
Yes, and these are good candidates. Sharrow terraces have a higher rate of surviving original timber sashes than the city average, mostly because owner-occupiers held onto them. Full restoration is sash-cord renewal, brass-pulley replacement where needed, draft-seal insertion, scrape and sand to bare wood, two coats of primer, two coats of Sandtex 365 gloss. About a day per pair. Cost is £350 to £550 per pair depending on condition. They last another 30 years and the look fits the front in a way a uPVC replacement does not.
We run an independent business on Sharrow Vale Road. How do you handle shop-front repaints during trading hours?
Sunday-to-Monday turnaround. We come in Sunday morning, scaffold and prep the front, two coats of primer Sunday afternoon, top coat early Monday, scaffold down by Monday lunch. You reopen Monday lunchtime with a fresh shop front. We are local enough to fit this around your trading calendar and do not need to invoice an extra mobilisation day. Sign-writing we sub-contract to a Sheffield signwriter we have used for years. Total for a standard shop front including the upper sash above the fascia is usually £600 to £1,200.
How long is a full interior on a Sharrow Vale two-bed terrace?
Realistic schedule is 5 to 7 working days top to bottom for a standard two-up two-down with a rear off-shot kitchen. That is prep on every wall, filling, caulking, sanding any patched plaster, mist coats on new plaster, two top coats of emulsion throughout, woodwork in eggshell or satinwood. A three-bed terrace is closer to 7 to 9 days. We do not subcontract and we do not double-book.