Toupret Gras a Laquer

For achieving an immaculate, super smooth high gloss finish, no other product can assist the professional painter and decorator as much as an oil based, ready mixed fine surface filler like Toupret Gras a Laquer. When used as a base for a good quality high gloss paint like Sikkens Rubbol XD, or Rubbol AZ it […]

Oak Door Repair/Rescue Operation

On a recent restoration project in Essex we encountered this very old, very fragile and VERY decayed door. The door was made from solid oak but years of poor maintenance had left it in a sorry state, the new owners of the property had thought that costly replacement was the only solution. The door no […]

Period Property Restoration Essex

Apologies to all for the recent lack of articles! A very busy spell over the last few months hasn’t left much time for blogging, but now we’re back on track and will be updating more frequently. One of the many projects that have been keeping us occupied is this exterior Grade II listed property restoration. […]

Bedec Aqua Advance Gloss Review

Our customers aren’t asking us for a gloss finish very often these days, gloss is generally considered old-hat and most people seem to prefer an eggshell or satin finish on their woodwork. However, when we do get asked for gloss we need to have a tried and tested product in place that we trust to […]

Upol Filler Tests

Here is a recent test we did with some of the two part fillers available from Upol who are a global company dedicated to the manufacture of automotive refinishing products including body fillers, coatings, aerosols, polishing compounds and consumables of the highest quality. With their products primarily aimed at the automotive refinishing/repair market many of […]

Corona Morro Review

  We recently put the Corona Morro paint brush to the test. In the on-going pursuit of the best all round brush for applying oil based paint I recently tested out the black China bristle brush from American paint brush manufacturer Corona. The first thing to notice about the Morro is its size, it’s a […]

Dealing With Problem Cracks

We were recently asked how to deal with cracks in masonry, not just a cosmetic fix but something that would prevent the cracks from coming back a few months down the line. The property in question is a brick built, end of terrace Victorian. At some point a previous owner had decided to render all […]

Life Before VOC 2010

In January 2010, three and a half years ago as I write this, EU legislation was brought in that restricted the amount of VOC (volatile organic compounds) that paint could contain. I do not remember much about the build-up to the VOC 2010 compliant paint changes, or hearing how our paints would be affected by […]

Exterior Repair and Painting in Chelmsford, Essex

At the end of May the rain let up for a couple of weeks and the sun shone, so we capitalised by embarking on this exterior painting project in Chelmsford, Essex. The property is a semi-detached Victorian end of terrace comprising three floors. Unfortunately the exterior joinery hadn’t been painted for a very long time […]

Welcome to the all new and improved HarriDec Ltd website

Welcome to our Blog and to our new redesigned website! Here we will be keeping you up to date with current projects, our thoughts on products and tools as well as lots of painting and decorating advice. In case you don’t already know, we at HarriDec Ltd are a team of painters and decorators based […]