Services
Fine Finishes
Fine finishes are the surfaces a hand touches and the eye rests on: kitchen doors, wardrobes, stair balustrades, a long wall washed by light from a rooflight. They need a higher standard of preparation and a slower build of coats, and they leave nowhere for a shortcut to hide.
What fine finishes include
Some surfaces are judged more closely than others. A painted kitchen is handled every day and seen under task lighting; a wall beneath a rooflight shows every ridge of filler; a balustrade presents hundreds of edges. Fine finishing is the part of our work that deals with these.
- Joinery finishes: kitchens, wardrobes and built-in cabinetry.
- Spray finishes: a flat, even film where the surface suits it.
- Specialist coatings: coatings chosen for particular conditions.
- Decorative finishes: limewash, glazes and metallic effects.
- Detailed woodwork: mouldings, balustrades and carved details.
- Premium surface finishing: walls and joinery built up for raking light.
Our approach
Preparation
On fine work, preparation is most of the finish. We establish exactly what the substrate is — timber, MDF, an old lacquer, a foil wrap — test how existing coatings hold, and build the surface in stages until it is ready for its final coats.
Protection
Close finishing needs clean air as well as covered floors. Rooms are sealed, sanding is extracted, and everything not being coated is masked, including worktops, appliances and ironmongery.
Craftsmanship
A brushed finish on a panelled door and a sprayed finish on a flat one are different skills. We use whichever the surface calls for, and say so when a surface should not be painted at all.
Precision
Thin, even coats; flatting between them with fine abrasive; consistent sheen from one door to the next; edges eased very slightly so paint does not thin on a sharp arris.
Finish
We agree how the work will be judged before it begins — under the light the room will have, from where it is normally seen — and inspect it the same way.
How a project runs
The survey looks closely at the substrate and at how the finished surface will be used and lit. For joinery we usually suggest a sample — a door, a drawer front or a test panel — finished in the proposed system, so that colour, sheen and texture are approved before the full run.
The specification then sets out the system in full: preparation, primer, build coats, top coats and sheen, and whether each item is finished in place or off-site. Protection and dust control are planned around the method, since spraying in a lived-in house means sealing rooms and masking everything else. Dusty preparation is finished before any final coat, the site is tidied daily, and snagging happens under the room’s own lighting. At handover we explain how the finish should be treated while it cures.
Selecting a finish
We start from the surface and how it is used, not from a product. Flat and matt finishes hide more but can mark more readily; satin and higher sheens wipe clean easily but reveal the surface beneath; deep colours show dust and scratches more than pale ones. Where a substrate cannot support the finish you have in mind — a wrapped kitchen door that will not hold paint reliably, for example — we would rather say so than proceed.
Questions homeowners ask
Is a sprayed finish always better than a brushed one?
No. Spraying gives a flat, even film without brush marks, which suits contemporary joinery and large, plain surfaces. On period joinery a fine brushed finish is often more appropriate, and on small areas the masking a sprayer needs can outweigh the benefit. We recommend whichever suits the surface and its setting.
Can our existing kitchen be repainted rather than replaced?
Often, if the doors and carcasses are timber, MDF or a sound painted finish. Foil-wrapped doors and some laminates are much less reliable to paint, and we will say so at the survey. A sample door is the surest way to judge the result before committing.
How soon can we use a newly painted kitchen?
Doors and drawers can usually be refitted and used gently once the paint is dry enough to handle, as the data sheet specifies. Full hardness takes longer, often a couple of weeks or more depending on product and conditions, so care with cleaning and knocks matters in that period. Our note on how long paint takes to cure explains why.
Within fine finishes
- Joinery finishes Painted finishes for kitchens, wardrobes, bookcases and built-in cabinetry, applied in situ or off-site, with honest advice on what can and cannot be repainted.
- Spray finishes Spray finishing for joinery, walls and ceilings where the surface suits it: thorough masking, controlled overspray and a flat, even film, with a brush where that is the better tool.
- Specialist coatings Coatings chosen for particular conditions — condensation-prone rooms, floors, stains, radiators, metalwork and fire-rated systems specified by others — selected project by project.
- Decorative finishes Limewash, colourwashing, glazes and metallic finishes, made by hand, described honestly and always agreed from samples before the work begins.
- Detailed woodwork Painting mouldings, panelling, balustrades, spindles and carved details with the patience needed to keep every profile crisp and every edge free of build-up.
- Premium surface finishing Walls and joinery built up in stages for exacting conditions — raking light, deep colours and higher sheens — where every ridge and joint would otherwise show.
Discussing fine finishes?
Tell us about the property and the rooms involved. We will visit, look closely at the surfaces and prepare a written quotation.
Request a quotation