Leeds City Council

08 September 2016

Bagnalls, as a specialist painting contractor, working for Leeds City Council on a wide range of their buildings, have often been asked for their advice and support in the restoration of historic properties.  These include Leeds Town Hall, the Leeds Civic Hall and Morley Town Hall.

Often the buildings remain open whilst we undertake our redecoration works or we have to meet very tight deadlines as the venues are often booked up for functions and civic meetings.

The Civic Hall was a particularly challenging project due to years of neglect coupled with water damage and previous sub-standard touch ups. Closer inspection revealed a severely cracked surface, peeling paint and substantial water damage.  To transform the ceiling to its former glory required an extensive course of action.

Two of our skilled painters were dedicated to the project, one of which had been shortlisted for the Painting and Decorating Skills Olympics in 2012. They were chosen for their ability to undertake heritage decorating and the knowledge that their meticulous attention to detail would result in a quality finish.

Working from mobile scaffold towers, the team of painters began by photographing the current designs and making detailed stencils.   Confident that the imagery could be faithfully replicated the work began.  This required specialist painting techniques, applying a light coat and then a dark coat with ragging off in between, then repeating.  All paints were blended to the required colour by hand and eye on site from a selection of tester pots, this was a slow and arduous process taking on average three days each to match the shades perfectly.

Finally, the iconic rams were painted, using the carefully blended paints and applied using artist brushes to maintain the intricacy of the design.  The Lord Mayor was delighted with the finished results and even found time to rename our two painters Leonardo and Michael Angelo in tribute to their craftmanship.