The constraint is usually time, not paint
Commercial decorating is rarely judged on the finish alone. It is judged on whether the premises opened on time. A shop that cannot trade, an office that cannot be used or a cafe that loses a weekend costs the client far more than the decorating did. So the first conversation is about when the work can happen, and the job is planned backwards from the date you need to be open.
That can mean early starts and late finishes, working in phases so half the floor stays in use, or doing the customer-facing areas first and the back of house afterwards. It also means turning up when we said we would, keeping the site safe and tidy while you are trading around us, and finishing on the day agreed rather than the day the job happens to be ready.
Shops, offices and hospitality
Retail units take a lot of wear on the walls and woodwork and need durable, wipeable finishes in the right sheen, with fittings and stock protected while the work goes on. Offices are mostly about disruption: getting the walls and ceilings done without the team losing days, and matching an existing colour where a single wall or a new partition needs blending in.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants have their own problems. Kitchens and food areas need paints that stand up to washing down, the ceilings in a bar collect a surprising amount of grime, and a lot of the decorating has to fit between the last cover of the night and the first delivery of the morning. Hotels and guesthouses want rooms turned round between guests, which is closer to holiday-let work than to a shop.
Holiday lets and changeover weeks
Cornwall's letting economy creates a very specific pattern of work: a large amount of decorating squeezed into narrow gaps between bookings, with a hard deadline set by the next arrival. Between October and March there is time for a proper refresh, a full repaint, the woodwork done and any damage made good. In season it is touch-ups, a scuffed hallway, a bedroom that needs a coat before Saturday.
We plan holiday-let work around the booking calendar with the owner or the managing agent, agree access, and leave the property ready for the cleaner rather than for another trade. Exterior work on lets is usually done in the same off-season window, while the property is empty and the weather still allows it.
Landlords, agents and blocks
A good deal of our commercial work is for landlords and managing agents rather than shopkeepers: communal hallways and stairwells in blocks of flats, redecoration between tenancies, and rolling programmes across several properties. That work is described in more detail on the landlord and letting redecoration page, but the approach is the same: keep the disruption down, keep the tenants informed, and finish what we said we would finish.
Quoting for commercial work
We come and look at the premises, ideally during trading hours so we can see how the space is actually used, and the quote sets out the work described with the working pattern spelled out. If you need the job priced from drawings or a specification, send them over and we will tell you what we need to see on site before committing to a number.
Where a client needs paperwork before we start, tell us what is required when you ask for the quote and we will let you know what we can provide. We would rather answer that question straight than promise something on a web page and let you down.