Victorian Derby
The railway shaped Victorian Derby. The Midland Railway had its headquarters and works here, and the railway workers' cottages built in 1841 and 1842 opposite the station still stand on Calvert Street, Midland Place and Railway Terrace, all Grade II listed, with 57 of the original 92 houses remaining. Derby's conservation areas include a group known as "Victorian Derby": Railway, Arboretum, Little Chester, Strutts Park, Hartington Street, Highfield Cottages, Leylands and Nottingham Road.
Victorian rooms suit picture-frame moulding and half-height panelling with a rail. Older plaster in these houses can be loose or uneven, so we check it carefully and repair or skim it first. In a larger room, frames can be set out in pairs around a window or fireplace; in a smaller one, slimmer moulding keeps the wall from feeling busy. If your home is one of the listed cottages, or listed in its own right, check with Derby City Council before fixing panelling to original walls, as listed building consent may be needed.
Post-war suburbs
Slum clearance in the 1920s and 1930s moved families from the centre out to new council estates in the suburbs, and private houses were built there too. After 1945, rehousing, council building and private development carried on at scale for about 30 years.
Houses from this period often have plain walls that take panelling well. Half-height panelling in a hallway, a full-height shaker wall in a bedroom and a panelled stairwell all add character. Before fitting, we check walls for cracks, dents and old patches and put them right, so the straight panel lines sit flush against the wall with no shadows behind them. Any wallpaper needs to come off first, as adhesive should bond to plaster rather than paper.
New estates
At Boulton Moor and the Mickleover Country Park development, known as The Pastures, new homes are likely to have plasterboard walls. Feature walls in shaker or board and batten add depth to a new room. We check every wall for bows and proud joints, fill any settlement cracks, and bond and pin the panels to suit the board. Pins hold each strip while the adhesive grabs, and go into studs where there are any.
Contact us
Derby is about 15 miles from our base in Mapperley, inside the 30 miles around Nottingham we cover. The finished panelling is filled, sanded and caulked ready for priming and painting. If any sockets or switches need moving, a qualified electrician should do that first. Call 07877 353120 or use the enquiry form, and send a photo of the wall and a picture of the look you like. We work seven days a week, 7am to 5pm.
