Sheffield / S6 / Conservation
Painter and Decorator in Wadsley.
Suburban interwar and post-war. Modern palette, off-whites and pale greys most common. Wadsley sits in a Conservation Area, which affects how exterior work is approached.
Wadsley is a small hillside village just north-west of Hillsborough, originally an Anglo-Saxon farming settlement and a manorial village from the 13th century right through to the 20th. It was a domestic cutlery-making centre for some 400 years from the 16th century before being absorbed into Sheffield in the early 1900s. It is right on our doorstep, a mile and a half from base, so a Wadsley job is not a long haul for us. The historic core is protected as the Wadsley Conservation Area, designated on 12 April 1976 and extended in 1991, and Wadsley Parish Church, built in 1833 to 1834 in ashlar with slate roofs, anchors the village.
The Conservation Area protects the vernacular stone houses and former farm buildings, the slate roofs, the Grade II listed village stocks, and the stone walls, gate piers, and iron bollards that give the village its look. For normal maintenance and like-for-like repainting, that generally is not a problem, it is changes to the character that are controlled, things like altering windows, rendering over stone, or changing the appearance of the front. We know this village well and will tell you honestly if something you are planning is likely to need permission from the council before we start.
The local building stone is Loxley Edge Rock, a massive, hard sandstone with grey to orange-brown colouring that was quarried up at Wadsley Common, and it gives the village its distinctive warm look. People assume that because the stone is so hard, it can take paint. It cannot. Like all natural stone it is breathable, and painting it seals the surface, so even hard sandstone will eventually spall as trapped moisture tries to escape. These houses look their best with the warm grey-to-orange stone left bare and just cleaned when it gets dirty, with the paintwork going on the timber, windows, doors, and bargeboards. Where stone has already been painted and is failing, we use a breathable mineral paint so the wall can still dry.
Wadsley sits on a slope close to Wadsley Common and the open ground above, so the higher and west-facing elevations catch more weather than the sheltered streets lower toward Hillsborough. That exposure weathers exterior paint faster, which is why a front up the hill tends to fade and flake before a sheltered wall does. On render or already-painted stone we use a proper two-coat exterior system applied in a dry, mild spell so it cures fully and bonds. We weather-watch the forecast before starting, because exterior paint on a damp or cold wall up here simply does not last.
Wadsley genuinely splits into two, and a quote depends on which part of the village the house is in. The inter-war and post-war semis and detached houses on the slopes between the old village and Hillsborough are conventional brick-and-render family homes, and they take a standard modern approach, breathable masonry paint on the render, normal interior decorating inside, with the off-whites and pale greys people lean to here, and none of the Conservation Area constraints that apply in the old core. The stone village cottages are a different job entirely. We look at which Wadsley your house is in and tell you which approach it needs.
The stone boundary walls, gate piers, and iron bollards are part of what the Conservation Area protects, and like the houses the walls are breathable local sandstone. We would not paint them. Painting seals the surface and causes the same spalling you get on stone house fronts. If they are dirty, a gentle clean lifts most of it, and if the mortar joints have eroded, repointing in a lime mortar is the right, long-lasting fix. The only paintwork we would do is on any timber or metal gate hung off the piers, which does want protecting with a proper exterior finish. The stone itself is best left as it is.
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Common Questions
Wadsley questions
The questions Richard gets asked most often at the kitchen door. If yours is not here, ring him.
My Wadsley house is built from that hard local sandstone. Can I paint it?
We would advise against it, even though the stone is hard. Wadsley's stone is Loxley Edge Rock, a dense, hard-wearing sandstone quarried up at Wadsley Common, but like all natural stone it is breathable. Painting it seals the surface, and even hard sandstone will eventually spall as trapped moisture tries to escape. These houses look their best with the warm grey-to-orange stone left bare and just cleaned when it gets dirty, with the paintwork going on the timber, windows, doors, and bargeboards. If your stone has already been painted by a previous owner and is failing, we would use a breathable mineral paint so the wall can still dry, rather than another coat of standard masonry paint.
I am in the Wadsley Conservation Area. Does that limit what I can do?
For normal maintenance and like-for-like repainting, generally no, it is changes to the character that are controlled. The Conservation Area was designated in 1976 and extended in 1991, and it protects the vernacular stone houses, slate roofs, the listed village stocks, and the stone walls, gate piers, and iron bollards that give the village its look. Changes such as altering windows, rendering over stone, or changing the appearance of the front can need consent. We know this village well, it is right next to Hillsborough, and will tell you honestly if something you are planning is likely to need permission from the council before we start.
My house is on the slope up toward the common and the front weathers fast. Why?
The hillside is the reason. Wadsley climbs toward Wadsley Common and the open ground above, so the higher and west-facing elevations catch more wind and rain than the sheltered streets lower toward Hillsborough. That exposure weathers exterior paint faster, which is why your front tends to fade and flake before a sheltered wall does. On render or already-painted stone we use a proper two-coat exterior system applied in a dry, mild spell so it cures fully and bonds. We weather-watch the forecast before starting, because exterior paint on a damp or cold wall up here simply does not last.
My house is one of the inter-war semis, not an old stone one. Same approach?
No, and Wadsley genuinely splits into two. The inter-war and post-war semis and detached houses on the slopes between the old village and Hillsborough are conventional brick-and-render family houses, and they take a standard modern approach, breathable masonry paint on the render, normal interior decorating inside, and none of the Conservation Area constraints that apply in the old core. The stone village cottages are a different job entirely. So when we quote, we look at which Wadsley your house is in and tell you which approach it needs, rather than treating every house the same.
My stone garden walls and gate piers look tired. Paint them?
We would not paint them. The stone walls, gate piers, and iron bollards are part of what the Wadsley Conservation Area protects, and like the houses the walls are breathable local sandstone. Painting them seals the surface and causes the same spalling you get on stone house fronts. If they are dirty, a gentle clean lifts most of it, and if the mortar joints have eroded, repointing in a lime mortar is the right, long-lasting fix. The only paintwork we would do is on any timber or metal gate hung off the piers, which does want protecting with a proper exterior finish. The stone itself is best left as it is.