From Victorian suburbs to Grange Park
Charnwood's conservation areas include Victorian, Edwardian and 1920s suburbs, and eight of them are in Loughborough, among them Ashby Road, Queen's Park and Victoria Street. Beyond those, the town grew in stages: Shelthorpe from 1929, Thorpe Acre mainly in the 1950s, Dishley in the 1970s along with the Hazel Road and Fairmeadows Way estates, then Grange Park from 2006 and the Eastern Gateway homes by the station, completed in 2013.
Shelthorpe was started in 1929, halted by the Second World War and resumed in 1946, so homes there can differ in age from one street to the next.
Each era suits a different style. Period rooms in the older suburbs suit picture-frame moulding or a panelled dado, and their original plaster is tapped and checked for hollow areas before any moulding goes up. Newer homes at Grange Park or the Eastern Gateway often suit shaker or board and batten feature walls, and their plasterboard walls are checked for bows and proud joints before fitting.
Unusual walls in Thorpe Acre
Thorpe Acre includes 100 dwellings built of no-fines concrete in the 1950s for Brush Engineering workers. Walls like these are not built like standard brick or block, so before panelling we look at what is there, how the plaster is holding and which fixing approach will work. Panelling relies on a sound surface for its adhesive, so any loose or cracked plaster is repaired first, whatever the wall is made of.
Student lets and family homes
Loughborough University says several areas of the town have become very popular with students, and since February 2012 a town-wide Article 4 Direction has meant planning consent is needed to rent to three or more unrelated tenants. For landlords, half-height panelling in hallways and on stairs is hard-wearing and easy to touch up between tenancies. A darker colour below the rail hides wear, and the wall above can stay light to keep a hall bright. For families, a shaker feature wall in a living room or bedroom adds character without taking up floor space.
Preparation, fitting and contact
Whatever the house, we start with the wall: checking it with a straight edge, repairing loose plaster and skimming if needed. The layout is set out evenly around doors, windows and sockets, and the MDF is cut on site, bonded and pinned, then filled, sanded and caulked ready for priming and painting. Any socket or switch that needs moving is a job for a qualified electrician before we begin.
Call 07877 353120 or use the enquiry form for wall panelling in Loughborough. We work seven days a week, 7am to 5pm.
