New-Build Decorating
New-Build Decorating in Cheltenham
Have you just moved into a new-build home and want to make it your own?
The walls are new, so it is not always clear when you can paint or what the developer is still meant to fix.
This page gives you a list of things to sort out with the developer and your decorator before any paint goes on.
- When can you decorate a new-build home?
- Which faults should the developer fix first?
- Is it easier to decorate before moving in?
Cheltenham Decorators connects people in Cheltenham with a trusted local decorator. Call 01242 503600 for a free quote.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose Cheltenham Decorators
Site Visit First
Your decorator checks the walls, any faults and whether the house is ready before proposing a plan or price.
Clear Written Quote
Your decorator provides a written quote for the agreed work, with any possible extras listed before work starts.
Insured Work
Your decorator carries public liability insurance and can confirm the details for the proposed work.
Suited to Whole-Home Work
Your decorator prefers larger jobs, so a whole new-build interior suits the way they like to work.
When To Decorate
When Can You Decorate a New-Build Home?
There is no single date, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. The right time depends on three things:
- The walls. Fresh plaster and joins between boards need to be dry before any paint goes on
- Your developer’s advice. Some developers ask owners to wait before doing certain work, so check your handover papers
- How you feel about small repairs. Decorating early means the house may still move a little and need small repairs to your new paint
The state of the walls matters more than the calendar. A decorator who sees the house can tell you which of the three is holding you back. Our interior painting service covers the finishing coats once the faults are cleared.
Faults First
Which Faults Should the Developer Fix First?
Walk round the house and list every fault before you book any decorating. You are sorting two kinds of work: the developer’s faults and the decorating you are paying for.
The developer’s side includes:
- cracks over joins where the filler has not coped with movement
- repairs left unfinished when you moved in
- paint or finishes left in poor shape when you moved in
Photograph each one first. Once you repaint a wall, it is much harder to show what it looked like before.
Send the list to your developer’s customer care team and let them finish their side first. Decorating over an unfixed fault means spending your money on a wall someone may still have to open up. Letting the property out instead? Read about landlord and HMO decorating.
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Send the details of your home below, and the quote follows the same free route.
Warranty Papers
Will Painting Affect a New-Build Warranty?
Check your own warranty papers before booking the work. The terms differ between developers and between schemes.
Look for what they say about decorating, damp and airing the house. Some schemes ask you to leave the walls alone for a set time.
Keep the papers with your handover pack.
This page cannot give a warranty opinion. The answer is in your papers and with your developer.
What a decorator can do is work on the walls as they find them and record what was there.
For new-build decorating in Cheltenham, Cheltenham Decorators can arrange a free site quote with a trusted local decorator. Call 01242 503600.
Paint And Plaster
What Paint Suits New Plasterboard and Skim?
The paint depends on the walls you have, not on a standard new-build recipe. Plasterboard is the board the walls are made of, and skim is the thin layer of plaster on top.
The condition of both matters. So does whatever paint the developer already put on.
Bare plaster and joins need a thinned first coat to seal them, with the top coats after. A wall that already has the developer’s paint on it needs different preparation, because you are painting over someone else’s finish rather than bare plaster. The same preparation applies to plasterboard painting.
A decorator can match the paint to the wall when they visit.
Settlement Cracks
Who Deals With Cracks That Appear as the House Settles?
The question is who is responsible for the crack, and the photographs you took earlier answer most of it.
A hairline crack along a filled join in the first year is normal movement. Your decorator can fill and repaint that.
A crack that reopens in the same place after the work is different. That is a fault for the developer, not a decorating job. Check it against your list of faults before paying anyone to redo the wall. Selling on later? See decorating before selling.
That is why photographs matter more in a new build than in an older house. They decide who pays, and the developer’s customer care team need them as much as your decorator does.
Get My Free Quote
Speak to the decorator covering Cheltenham for a free quote.
Before Moving In
Is It Easier to Decorate Before Moving In?
Yes, in most cases, for a simple reason: an empty house is easier to work in.
- Any room order. The rooms can be done in whatever order suits the job
- Less protection. Floors and fittings need less protection
- No double moving. Nothing gets moved twice
The order still matters:
- Faults go to the developer first.
- Then you check the walls are dry.
- Only then does the decorating start.
An empty house makes the work simpler, but it does not make an unfixed fault go away.
One trade-off is worth knowing. If the developer later fixes something behind your new paint, that patch may need a small repair and a touch-up.
Keep a note of the paint used on each wall so a later touch-up matches.
Call 01242 503600 and discuss the next step with the decorator covering Cheltenham. Selling on later? See decorating before selling.
Plaster Ready
How Do You Tell When New Plaster Is Ready to Paint?
Judge the wall, not the month. Fresh plaster dries from dark to an even pale colour, and paint goes on when the colour is even with no dark patches. A new house is still drying out, so paint that lets moisture escape is a better choice. A warm, aired home dries faster than a closed-up one. Gentle, steady heat with fresh air helps. Turning the heating right up in a closed room dries the surface while leaving damp behind it.
Bare plaster takes a thinned first coat, called a mist coat, before the top coats, and the paint maker says how much to thin it. The usual count on bare walls is a mist coat and two top coats. Winter is fine if the walls are ready and you can keep the rooms warm and aired.
How It Works
How Cheltenham Decorators Works
Cheltenham Decorators connects people in Cheltenham with a trusted local decorator. Tell us about the job and we take your brief straight to the decorator covering the area.
From the first site visit to the written quote, everything runs between you and your decorator. Your decorator quotes, delivers and remains responsible for the work.
New-Build Decorating FAQs
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