Painting, tiling and the final finish by our own teams, on our projects and as a package on yours: the last trade on site and the first thing your people notice.
Decorating and finishes
The Lynch Brother Group provides decorating and finishes on commercial projects across Oxford and Oxfordshire: painting, tiling and the finishes that decide how a space looks when it opens. Our decorators work in offices, schools, shops and restaurants, mostly within our own fit out and main contracting projects and as a package for other main contractors, landlords and institutions. Send us the finishes schedule and the areas; we will price it and fit it to your dates.
Washing down, filling, sanding, sealing and priming, with the floors and fittings protected and the dust controlled. The finish is only as good as the surface under it.
Walls, ceilings, woodwork and metalwork painted to the specified system and finish (matt, eggshell or gloss), in the number of coats the specification calls for.
Vinyl and fabric wallcoverings, feature walls and specified decorative finishes hung and applied by our decorators to the manufacturer's method.
Wall and floor tiling in washrooms, kitchens, receptions and circulation areas, on a base checked flat, dry and sound, with the movement joints that let a floor move without cracking the tiles.
Masonry paint, external woodwork and metalwork, and the coatings on cladding and trim, applied in the weather window the products allow.
Hygienic wall coatings for kitchens and laboratories, anti-slip floor coatings and other specified systems, applied by trained teams to the product's data sheet.
The snag list, the list of anything still to put right, walked with you and closed, then the protection removed and the space cleaned for handover.
Commercial decorating is seen every day by the people who use the building. So we prepare every surface, use the system the specification names, and apply every coat it calls for. On an occupied building we phase the work room by room, in the hours you set, and control the dust and the smell.
Our tilers check the base is flat, dry and sound before they start, and prime it where the screed needs it. They set the pattern out so the cuts sit where they are least seen, and place the movement joints where the floor needs them. In wet areas the screed is laid to falls, so the floor drains.
Decorating is the last trade on site, so it gets the marks every other trade leaves behind. On our own projects the core trades before it are ours, so the making good is planned into the programme. On a package for another contractor, we survey the surfaces first and say what needs making good. On a fit out, the Cat A finish is the landlord's and the Cat B finish is the tenant's. We decorate both.
On most projects the decorator is the last subcontractor in and the first to lose time when the programme slips. In the Lynch Brother Group the decorators are our own team, and on our own projects they are in the programme from the start. The same site team that ran the fit out or the new build runs the finishes, so the sequence holds to the end.
Other main contractors, landlords and institutions can also book our decorators and tilers as a package. We work to your programme and on your site, priced by the people who will do the work. On our own projects the decorating and tiling sit inside the contract. In both cases the finishes schedule, the paint systems and the dates go in writing before we start.
Oxford's colleges, shops and offices give us much of this work, and most of them stay open while we decorate. We repaint a college staircase between terms, decorate a shop out of hours, and do an office floor by floor with the next floor still working. We plan the hours, the protection and the access with you, and we use low-odour, water-based systems where people are in the building.
Decorating also completes other work on a building. After dilapidations works, redecoration is the last item on the schedule before the keys go back. After a retrofit, the internal redecoration finishes the job. A planned maintenance programme keeps the redecoration on a cycle, so the whole building is not done at once.
Science & Laboratories
Lab fit out and refurbishment
Workspace & Offices
Cat A, Cat B and full building refurbishment
Retail
Shopfitting and fit outs that open on time
Hospitality
Refurbishments designed around trading hours
Education
Schools and colleges; summer works a speciality
Student Accommodation
Build and refurb, timed to the academic year
Residential Development
Multi-plot schemes, groundworks to handover
Heritage & Listed
Conservation-grade work on period buildings
How the work runs
Every job is priced from its own schedule and survey. Send us yours.
Main Contracting
Main contractor and design and build partner
New Build Construction
Offices, labs, education and residential development
Fit Out & Refurbishment
Cat A, Cat B and full refurbishment
Dilapidations
Strip out, repairs and making good, for tenants and landlords
Retrofit & Decarbonisation
External wall insulation, render systems and energy upgrades
Screed, Render & Insulation
Liquid screed, spray rendering and external wall insulation
Decorating & Finishes
High-end decorating and tiling — the final finish
Property Management & Maintenance
Planned maintenance for landlords and businesses
From the site office
Commercial decorating is priced per job, not per hour. The price is built up from the finishes schedule: the areas, the preparation each surface needs, the paint system and the number of coats, the access, and the hours you can give us. A repaint of open offices in one colour is one job; a staircase with woodwork, wallcovering and out-of-hours working is another. We price from the schedule and a survey, so the price is built on what is there.
A painter applies paint. A decorator prepares the surface, applies the system specified for it, hangs wallcoverings, and finishes woodwork and metalwork as well as walls and ceilings. On a commercial job the difference shows in the preparation and the detail: filled and sanded surfaces, clean lines, and the right finish (matt, eggshell or gloss) for the use of the room. Our teams are decorators. Our tilers work alongside them.
A commercial repaint takes days for a floor of open offices in one colour and weeks, in phases, for a whole building with woodwork, wallcoverings and out-of-hours working. The time depends on the area, the preparation, the number of coats and the hours you can give us. The programme is fixed with the price. Tell us the date you need the space back and we will work back from it, room by room if the building has to stay open.
Yes, and it often is. We phase the work room by room or floor by floor, work in the hours you set, and keep the dust, the smell and the trip hazards out of the rooms in use. We use low-odour, water-based systems where people are in the building, so a room can usually go back into use the next day. In schools and colleges the main work goes into the holidays and the rest into evenings and weekends.
The paint finish for a commercial wall depends on the room. Corridors, stairs and receptions take a scrubbable matt or eggshell that stands up to cleaning and knocks. Washrooms take a moisture-resistant finish. Commercial kitchens take a hygienic coating. Offices and meeting rooms can take a softer matt. Woodwork and metalwork take an eggshell, satin or gloss. The specification should name the system, not just the colour, and we match it to the surface at the survey.
Yes. Our tilers lay wall and floor tiles in washrooms, kitchens, receptions and circulation areas. On our own projects the screed beneath the tiles is laid by our own screed, render and insulation team, so the base and the finish are one responsibility: laid to falls where the floor must drain, laitance off and moisture checked before a tile goes down. On a package for another contractor, we check the base before we price the tiling.
Something else on your mind? Ask us directly.
Planning something serious — commercial, residential or a property portfolio that needs looking after? Send the outline and we'll take it from there.
