Working in occupied premises

Painting around desks that don't get cleared for the day

Decorator painting a section of wall above a single cleared desk while neighbouring desks remain occupied

Not every office can move its entire team out for a repaint. Where desks stay occupied, the work has to fit around people typing, taking calls and leaving papers exactly where they left them, which changes the sequence, the tools and the pace compared with an empty floor.

Working desk by desk, not wall by wall

Rather than painting a whole wall in one pass, we often work in short sections directly above and around a small cluster of desks, moving on once each section is done and the area is clear again. It's slower per square metre but means no one desk is disrupted for more than a short, defined window.

Sections agreed with the site contact before starting each day
Staff given a specific time window for their own desk, not a vague estimate
Work paused if a desk occupant is on a call or in a meeting at the wall

Handling paperwork and personal items

We never move a colleague's paperwork, personal items or equipment ourselves. Where a desk needs to be temporarily cleared, we ask the desk's occupant to move their own things, or wait until they're away from the desk, rather than assuming what can be shifted and what can't.

Choosing tools that suit close-quarters work

Spray application isn't appropriate a metre from someone's keyboard. We use brush and roller for any work within close range of occupied desks, and keep tins, water pots and rags on a small mobile tray rather than spread across the floor where they can be knocked.

Ventilating around people who aren't leaving

With staff remaining at their desks throughout, we open windows, use portable extraction where the building allows it, and choose the lowest-odour product suited to the surface, since there's no option to simply let a room air out empty overnight before people return.

Portable extraction used where fixed ventilation isn't sufficient
Low-odour products specified as standard for desk-adjacent work

Questions we are asked about this

Will staff need to move their computers?

Usually not for wall work at a reasonable distance, but for ceiling work directly above a desk we ask staff to shift their own screen and keyboard temporarily rather than doing it ourselves.

How much notice do staff get before their desk is affected?

We agree a schedule with the site contact in advance and circulate specific time windows for each desk cluster, rather than a general 'sometime this week' notice.

Can this work be done without any smell in the office?

Not entirely, but choosing low-odour water-based products and adding portable extraction reduces it to a level most staff find genuinely unremarkable.

Mobile tray holding paint tins and brushes kept clear of desk equipment in a live office

Send us your floor layout and we'll propose a desk-by-desk working schedule.

Get a quote Call 023 9355 3460

Where this comes up locally

Portsmouth Southampton Hedge End

More on this kind of work

Communal stairwell sequencingStairwell decoration works when residents always have a dry, obvious path to their own front door.Kitchens and food preparation areasKitchen decoration has to satisfy hygiene inspection standards, not just look finished on the day.Progress reporting to a managing agentGood reporting to an agent is agreed up front and kept factual, with anything urgent escalated outside the normal rhythm.Inspecting work under proper lightingA finish is only properly checked once it has been seen under more than one kind of light.

Desk-level decorating works by shrinking the disrupted area to one small cluster at a time.

Start your project

Planning a commercial painting or decorating project?

Speak to a Hampshire commercial decorating contractor that turns up, communicates clearly and delivers a finish that lasts.

Request a quote 023 9355 3460