Interior painting in Leeuwarden: old buildings, tall rooms

A building in the city centre or Achter de Hoven often has tall rooms, mouldings and a ceiling that has been painted over a few times. That is lovely work, provided you take it calmly. We first look at the surface, discuss with you whether you want the mouldings in contrast or not, and then work from top to bottom.

The steps are the same as for all our interior painting: degreasing, sanding, filling and two coats. The pace is somewhat slower here. For exterior work and other services here you can turn to your painter in Leeuwarden.

Lead white has been banned indoors in the Netherlands since 1939. In a house from before that time you can therefore still come across it, often on frames, doors and mouldings, under later layers. As long as the paint is sound, that is not a disaster in itself. It only becomes a problem when you sand it dry and the dust spreads through the house.

If we have doubts, we don't sand dry. We work wet or choose another way of preparing, and discuss with you what should happen with rooms where children sleep. Read more under old paint and lead. This is also why we always ask about the year of construction for older buildings.

A ceiling of more than three metres you don't paint with a roller pole alone, and on those big surfaces you see every overlap. That is why we plan such ceilings in one pass, with a rolling scaffold if needed and enough paint to keep working wet on wet. If you start again halfway, you see that later in raking light.

How we do that is in a ceiling without streaks. This also works in a lived-in building, if the furniture is temporarily in the middle. If you have mouldings around the ceiling, we mask or cut those in separately, depending on how crisp they are.

In Leeuwarden many people live in an apartment, above a shop or in a converted building. Within your own walls you decide what happens, but the lift, stairs and shared hall are often agreed with the owners' association. We make sure we come in neatly, block no hall and don't leave our things in the stairwell.

If the shared area also has to be painted, it helps if the owners' association contact thinks along straight away. Under painting an apartment or owners' association building you can read how we approach that. For tenants: discuss in advance with your landlord what you may change, especially for a striking colour.

Let us know the year of construction, and send a photo per room, including the ceiling and the mouldings and doors. Also handy is the height of your rooms, whether furniture stays and whether you are at home during the work. Do you live in an apartment? Then tell us which floor and whether there is a lift.

If anyone else has a say, such as a landlord or owners' association, tell us who it is. That prevents something having to be undone later.

The higher and more detailed, the more hours, and that is the main reason old buildings cost more than a straightforward home. The market cites nationally from €25 per m2 for interior painting, from €18 per m2 for ceilings and from €35 per interior frame. That is a market indication, we have no price list. With us you get a fixed price after the site visit.

An extra cost can be the way of preparing if there is lead on it. On homes that are two years old or older you pay 9 percent Dutch VAT on the painting. A mixed-use building with a shop and a flat above is split, so 9 percent on the residential part and 21 percent on the rest.

Many Leeuwarden buildings have an attic that serves as a bedroom, study or children's room. Sloping walls, knee walls and a roof window make such a space tricky for a crisp colour split. Where does the wall colour stop and the ceiling begin when everything slopes? We discuss that in advance, because that is where the result stands or falls.

Soft shades often do well here, because they keep the light that comes in through the roof window and soften the corners a little. In the photos you see an attic room in a soft shade. Around a roof window we work with the brush, and with old knee walls we first check whether the wood or panel material is suitable for paint.

Mohamed comes to look at your home himself, even though from Mirns it is some 45 km. We work neatly, masked and covered, and customers tell us on Google that they appreciate that: 4.8 from 25 reviews. In Leeuwarden we also previously tackled all the frames and doors of a home.

Do you want a room, a whole floor or your whole building done? Send a message via the quote page, and we will discuss your plans and come and look.