Canterbury · Kent · CT1 & CT2
A small, family-run decorating business at home in Canterbury's mix of genuinely old buildings inside the city walls and the newer housing on its edges. Fixed prices published up front, from £250.
Why local matters
Canterbury has one of the largest concentrations of genuinely old buildings anywhere in Kent - a working Cathedral precinct, a medieval street plan still enclosed by the old city walls, and whole streets of listed timber-framed housing a few minutes' walk from the centre. None of that takes a modern paint system well, and treating it like it does is how damp problems get sealed in rather than solved.
Properties inside the walls and around the Cathedral precincts are frequently lime-plastered or built hard against historic stonework. Lime needs to breathe - seal it behind the wrong modern emulsion and damp gets trapped rather than allowed to escape.
Some of the best-preserved timber-framed and Tudor buildings in the South East line these streets. Original beams and wattle-and-daub infill need prep matched to what's actually underneath, not a generic once-over.
Dane John, Wincheap and St Dunstan's have long runs of Georgian and Victorian terraced housing with original sash windows - the wrong primer and they're painted shut within a season.
We treat each of these as a genuinely different job, which is also why our benchmark pricing guide gives a range rather than a single flat number per room.
What we do
Specified for Canterbury's mix of historic city-centre housing and the newer estates around Sturry, Wincheap and the ring road. Standard trade paint and labour included in every quoted price.
Surface prep (crack filling, sanding, stain-blocking), emulsion on walls and ceilings, woodwork and trim in gloss, satinwood or eggshell, and feature walls or textured finishes.
Interior decoratingStripping old paper, steaming walls, lining paper on older walls for a smooth base, then precision pattern-matched hanging including wide-format and digital prints.
WallpaperingCareful preparation and painting of sash windows, historic timber and lime plaster, common across Canterbury's old city centre and its listed buildings.
Period property restorationHigh-efficiency touch-up decorating for landlords, letting agents and sellers who need a fast turnaround between tenancies or ahead of a sale.
End-of-tenancy refreshPricing
Average prices including standard trade paint and labour. Your exact quote depends on the room's condition and how much prep the walls need, confirmed before we start and fixed once agreed.
| Project | Scope | Duration | Typical price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small room / box bedroom | Walls & ceiling, 2 coats | 1 day | £250 |
| Medium bedroom | Walls, ceiling, skirting & door frame | 1 – 1.5 days | £350 |
| Large living / dining room | Walls, ceiling, trim & doors | 1.5 – 2 days | £500 |
| Hall, stairs & landing | Walls, ceiling, banisters & trim, multi-level | 2 – 3 days | £800 |
| Wallpaper hanging | Feature wall, walls pre-prepped | 0.5 – 1 day | £200 |
How we quote
A couple of photos of the room over WhatsApp or email is normally enough for a firm price against the benchmark guide above. If a job needs a proper look before we can price it fairly, we'll say so up front rather than after.
Quotes are fixed once agreed. If we find something unexpected once we start - damp behind old wallpaper, movement cracks that need proper filling - we flag it, price it separately, and agree it with you before continuing.
Landlord, agent or student let?
Canterbury's rental market turns over fast around two universities and a large student population. We run a quick, efficient refresh service built for the gap between tenancies - not a full redecoration, just what's needed to present the property well, done on time.
Our promise
Our benchmark pricing guide is real and public, not a "call for a quote" teaser. What we quote against it is what you pay - anything unexpected is flagged and priced separately before we carry on.
Whoever quotes your job is the person who turns up and paints it. No subcontracted crews, no franchise call centre.
Narrow lanes, resident permit parking and pedestrianised streets inside the walls are normal round here - we plan the job around them instead of turning up and hoping.
Where we work
CT1 and CT2 cover Canterbury itself and the villages around it, from inside the city walls out toward the Stour valley and the Downs.
Buttermarket, Palace Street, the Cathedral precincts and the old city inside the walls, plus Wincheap's Victorian terraces just beyond them.
Stour-side villages northeast of the city - Fordwich is officially England's smallest town, with a housing stock to match its age.
A mix of village cottages and post-war and modern family housing on the western and southern edges of the city.
Recent work
A running log of jobs across Canterbury and the CT1/CT2 villages, updated as we finish them.
Send a couple of photos of the room or the job. Quote back same day against our published prices, fixed price, no obligation.