New Build Decorating in Coventry
Just moved into a new build in Coventry, and not sure what is normal on the walls?
This guide explains what the developer left behind and where your warranty stands. It also covers what to do now and what can wait.
Six choices sit between a new-build owner and a wall worth living with.
- What drives the cost of a new build?
- What did the developer leave on my walls?
- What counts as a snag, and what does not?
- What should you do now, and what can wait?
- Will decorating affect my warranty?
- Are cracks and nail pops normal?
Call 024 7542 6652 today and speak to Ryan, the local decorator who covers new-build decorating across Coventry.
Reviews From Coventry Customers
The place is now like a new house.
I am immensely grateful for his expertise and dedication regarding his work.
Definitely recommend.
How Godiva Decorators Works
Godiva Decorators works with a local, Coventry-based painter and decorator. When you call, you speak to Ryan directly, and you arrange the quote and the work with him.
- Call and speak to Ryan — the decorator who does the work, not a call centre.
- Tell him about the job — the rooms, the timing and anything you are unsure about.
- He visits and sends a written quote setting out the work before anything is booked.
- You agree the work directly with Ryan, including the schedule and the final walkthrough.
Why Choose Godiva Decorators
The developer finish treated as a base coat
New-build walls are priced for coverage over a thin developer coat, not a plain repaint.
Snagging settled before the decorating
Open items go back to the developer before anything is painted over.
Cracks filled to move, not filled hard
Wall-to-ceiling junctions get a flexible caulk, not a hard filler.
Local to Coventry’s new estates
Godiva Decorators is one local decorator covering Coventry.
What Drives the Cost of Decorating a New Build?
A new build is usually cheaper per room than an older house. It is also more expensive than owners expect. The reason is the same for both: almost no repair work, and almost no preparation shortcut either. These are the factors that move the price most:
- Coverage, not preparation. The walls are flat, clean and sound, so there is little filling. What there is instead is a porous, thin developer coat that drinks paint, which usually means two full coats rather than one.
- How much woodwork there is. New skirting, architrave and doors are usually factory-primed and thinly finished. Bringing them up to a good standard is real labour.
- Whether the ceilings are being done. Developer ceilings are often the thinnest coat in the house, and they are the surface where fine settlement cracks appear first.
- Colour change or refresh. Going from developer white to another colour is a different job from freshening the white. Going to a strong colour can sometimes need three coats.
- Whether you are living in it. Almost always yes on a new build, which means working room by room around a household.
- How much of the house at once. A whole ground floor in one visit is materially cheaper per room than four separate visits.
A written quote after a visit is the only reliable version of this.
Comparing quotes from two decorators for the same new build? What to check for is on the page about hiring a painter and decorator.
What Did the Developer Leave on Your Walls?
Your walls came out of a developer’s process, not a decorator’s. That explains most complaints about new-build walls. It is no criticism of the builder.
Usually one thin coat of contract matt. This cheap, fast-drying trade paint covers new plasterboard quickly, but it is porous and cannot be washed.
Treat it as a base coat rather than a finished wall, and budget for two coats over it, not one.
Wondering why one coat over it looks patchy? The full mechanics are on the page about painting a new build.
Decorating and Your Snagging List
Snagging is the word new-build owners already use for the list of things wrong with the house. Marks on walls and woodwork end up on it constantly. The useful distinction is between what is the developer’s to put right and what is now yours.
Usually the developer’s
Handover Defects
Missed areas, paint on carpets or sockets, damaged plasterboard, poor cut lines, filler shrinkage and marks that were there on the day you moved in. Raise them with the developer before anyone paints over them.
Usually yours
Living Marks
Scuffs at hand height, furniture marks, chips on woodwork and the handprint round the light switch. These are wear on a finish that cannot be cleaned, and the answer is a better coat rather than a claim.
Report first
Cracks and Nail Pops
Fine settlement cracking is expected and is usually addressed at the end-of-year visit. Anything wide, growing, or stepping through brickwork is a different question and goes to the developer before it is filled.
Order matters
Do Not Paint Over an Open Item
Redecorating a wall that is on a snagging list can make it harder to show what was wrong. Get the list settled first, then decorate, in that order.
An independent snagging inspection is a separate service from a different trade, arranged directly rather than through a decorator. What we do is the decorating half, after the list is settled.
Get My Free Quote
Speak to Ryan about your snagging list and get a written quote once it’s settled.
What Should You Do Now, and What Should Wait?
The common advice is to wait a year. It is sensible general guidance rather than a rule. It exists because a new house dries out and settles in its first heating season. What it is not is a single date that applies to every wall in the house.
Worth waiting on: large flat ceilings and the big uninterrupted walls above stairwells, where a settlement crack is most likely to appear and most annoying to fix twice.
Not worth waiting on: the hall, stairs and landing, which are already taking a beating on a finish that cannot be cleaned. Also woodwork, which settles no more than the timber it is made of, and any room you are about to furnish and do not want to disturb.
Somewhere in between: bedrooms and living rooms, where the honest answer is to do them when you want them done and accept that a hairline crack may need filling later.
Want the order room by room instead of the general rule? It is on the page about what order to decorate a house in.
What About Your Warranty?
Godiva Decorators is the new build decorating company Coventry buyers call once the snagging list is settled.
You are allowed to decorate a new build. You own the house and may paint it whenever you like. The advice to wait a year is about the building drying out and settling, not about needing anyone’s permission.
Wondering whether decorating early could cause a warranty problem? Check before you book any work. Godiva is not the right source for that answer, so this section sets out only what we can say for certain.
Warranty terms belong to the warranty provider and your developer. NHBC publishes the terms of its own cover, and your developer’s customer care team holds the terms of yours. Godiva Decorators makes no claim about what your warranty covers and nothing here should be read as a statement about it.
The one practical rule. Anything that might be a warranty item should be reported before it is painted over. Painting over a defect makes it harder to show what was there. That is true of cracks, damp patches, stains coming through, and any damage that was present at handover.
Unsure whether something is a defect or ordinary wear? Ask your developer’s customer care team before booking any decorating over it.
Where Are Coventry’s New Build Estates?
Coventry has been building at scale for a decade, and most new-build decorating enquiries in the city come from a handful of places.
Eastern Green is the largest, a sustainable urban extension of up to 2,400 homes with access from the A45. It also includes extra-care housing and employment land.
Keresley proposes around 3,100 homes on former green belt, with live sites including Bellway’s Arden Glade, Bloor’s Arden Grange and Lioncourt’s The Croft.
Bannerbrook Park is roughly 1,000 homes on the former Massey Ferguson site on Banner Lane in Tile Hill, with later phases added by Persimmon.
Cromwell Park and Wolston Fields add to the same picture, along with the smaller infill developments across the city.
Practically, that means the finish differs by estate. Houses on these estates were built by different developers to different specifications, within a few years of each other. The finish varies more than people expect between two houses that look identical from the street. It is another reason a new build is quoted after a visit.
Addresses like these come up constantly. Godiva Decorators works as painters and decorators for new builds across Coventry, not for one street.
Get My Free Quote
Tell Ryan which Coventry estate you’re on and get a written quote for your new build.
Are Fine Cracks and Nail Pops Normal?
In the first year, generally yes, and they have a specific cause.
Drying shrinkage. A new house holds a lot of water when it is built, and it shrinks slightly as that water leaves. That shows up as fine cracks at wall-to-ceiling junctions and door frames, and as small nail pops in the plasterboard.
What is not normal. Cracks wider than a hairline, cracks that grow, or cracks that step through brickwork. Report those to your developer rather than to a decorator.
Should You Do the Whole House or a Room at a Time?
Most new-build owners should not do the whole house at once, and saying so costs us work.
Doing several rooms in one visit is cheaper per room than spreading them across the year. Equipment is set up once and materials are bought once. Where the budget allows a ground floor in one go, that is usually the best value point.
Want to know how long each of those takes, by room and by house size? That is on the page about how long it takes to decorate a house.
Get My Free Quote
Speak to Ryan about doing the whole house or room by room and get a price for both.
New Build Decorating FAQs
Get My Free Quote
Fill in the form below for a free quote: