New Build Decorating
New-Build Decorating in Barnstaple
Just been handed the keys to a new build in Barnstaple and want a decorator booked?
Get any faults fixed by the developer first, so you do not paint over them.
This page helps you work out when to book a decorator. It also covers what to sort out with the developer and the decorator beforehand.
- When Can You Decorate a New-Build Home?
- Which Faults Should the Developer Fix First?
- Is It Easier to Decorate Before Moving In?
Barnstaple Decorators connects people in Barnstaple with a trusted local decorator. Call 01271 444479 and your decorator will check your new home before booking a start date.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose Barnstaple Decorators
Starts With Your Home
The quote starts from what your home is actually like, not from a template.
Written Plan
Surfaces, first coats and anything left out are listed before work starts.
Insured Decorator
Your decorator holds public liability insurance, and you can ask for the details in writing before work starts.
Settling Allowed For
Cracks in the first year are planned for, not promised away.
Deciding When
When Can You Decorate a New-Build Home?
There is no set waiting time. It depends on three things:
- How dry the walls are. Plaster needs to be properly dry, not just old enough by the calendar.
- What the developer has told you. The developer’s handover papers may have their own instructions.
- How much you mind touching up later.
Get the faults fixed first, then paint. Painting over problems that are still to be sorted means redoing some of it, because repairs carry on around your new paint. Our interior painting service covers the finishing coats once the faults are cleared.
Developer Faults
Which Faults Should the Developer Fix First?
Faults and unfinished repairs should go to the developer before decorating hides them. Common ones are:
- Cracks. Over doors and windows.
- Untidy repairs. Around sockets.
- Damaged skirting boards.
- Uneven filler. Over plasterboard joins.
Photograph each one and add it to your list of faults while the developer is still responsible for it.
Once paint goes over a fault, it gets harder to say who should fix it. Get the list sorted before the decorator starts. That protects both your warranty and the finish. Letting the property out instead? Read about landlord and HMO decorating.
Warranty Checks
Will Painting Affect a New-Build Warranty?
Your own warranty papers and the developer can answer this, and this page is not legal advice.
Warranty schemes and developers differ. Some are relaxed about decorating, and others set conditions about repairs in the first year.
Whatever the scheme says, the next step is the same. Read your papers, ask the developer directly and keep the answer in writing.
For new-build decorating in Barnstaple, Barnstaple Decorators can arrange a free site quote once your list of faults is confirmed. Call 01271 444479.
Get My Free Quote
Send your list of faults and get a free quote
Paint System
What Paint System Suits New Plasterboard and Skim?
The right first coat depends on what is on your walls, whether that is bare plaster or the developer’s own paint over plasterboard. The two behave differently.
The joins between plasterboard sheets soak up paint in their own way. A first coat that is not sealed can dry patchy and show every join.
Your decorator chooses a mist coat or a sealer to suit the walls in your house. The same preparation applies to plasterboard painting and other new plasterwork.
Settlement Cracks
How Should Settlement Cracks Be Handled?
New buildings settle in the first year or two, and hairline cracks can appear at corners, over doors and windows and along the joins between boards. They are usually easy to fill and touch up once the building has stopped moving.
Fill them too early and the same crack can open up again. When you get your quote, agree what gets repaired now, what waits for the first year and what a return visit would cost.
Handover Checks
What Should Your Decorator Check Before a Start Date Is Set?
Your decorator looks at your own home as it is now, not one built years ago. For a decorating quote in Barnstaple, Barnstaple Decorators can ask your decorator to check your list of faults before pricing.
Is Your Home New, or Are There Older Buildings Nearby?
North Devon Council publishes guidance for the conservation areas in Barnstaple Town Centre, Pilton, Newport, Rumsam and Ebberley Lawn. Older buildings nearby have nothing to do with your new build.
Yours is judged on its own: how dry it is, what faults it has and what the developer has told you. Rules of thumb from an older home would lead to the wrong questions.
What Needs Confirming Before You Book?
The council’s Market Quarter scheme in the town centre combines historic buildings, new affordable homes, workshop units and flexible creative workspaces. It shows how handovers differ from site to site.
The questions are the same anywhere:
- What is on the list of faults?
- When can you get in?
- Are the walls dry enough to paint?
Set the start date after you have those answers, not before. Selling on later? See decorating before selling.
Before You Move In
Is It Easier to Decorate Before Moving In?
Yes, an empty house is easier to decorate. Every room is easy to reach and the paint goes on without furniture in the way.
But check for faults and dry walls first. The order matters:
- Get faults fixed.
- Check the walls are dry.
- Decorate.
- Move in.
Decorating an empty house with faults still to fix just hides them under better paint. Call 01271 444479 if your handover date has already moved.
Get My Free Quote
Tell your decorator your handover and move-in dates
How It Works
How Barnstaple Decorators Works
Barnstaple Decorators connects you with a trusted local decorator covering Barnstaple.
- You describe the handover, any faults still to be fixed and the rooms.
- The brief goes straight to your decorator, so nothing gets lost in a second retelling.
- They visit, check the walls are ready and quote from what is there.
- Quotes are free, and your decorator remains responsible for the work.
Common Questions
New-Build Decorating FAQs
Get My Free Quote
Fill in the form below for a free quote: