THERE is more to painting a boat than painting a boat - it takes a lot of skills that are specific to a lump of steel that sits in water all day - and we have them here at Norbury - but it also takes some effort from the boat owner once we've done our job.

Our professional boat painters and canal artists have been painting boats for many years and we are proud of the levels of customer satisfaction we manage to achieve.

We like to think we produce some of the finest craftsmanship on the 'cut' to provide a superb finish, no matter what type of boat we are painting.

However, once we have done our bit and delivered a nice, shiny boat it is down to you.

I know it has become a bit of a joke to talk about shiny boaters - but all boats are shiny at some stage and most owners have enough pride in what is a very valuable possession to keep it looking smart.

That's simple really. All that is required is regular washing and a coat of polish once or twice a year. The old Number Ones, even when their boats were carrying the dirtiest cargoes, took pride in keeping them clean and shining. That is where today's obsession with polishing brass on a boat originates.

Working boats were washed down after every run and that is not a bad way to look at it if you own a boat. Clean it when you get back to your mooring and you will be able to set out looking good the next time you go boating.

Not only that, you will make your money go further. Even though our basic painting package is great value at just £79.00 per foot (inc VAT), having a boat painted is always going to be a substantial investment.

Just keeping the topsides clean and polishing the vessel now and again will mean that our paint job could last twice as long - and that means twice the value.

We are always here to give you free quotations with no obligation and we will recommend how you can best get the results you want.

We are busy but we will work with you to plan timings to fit in with your prior arrangements if we can.

If you do decide to go with Norbury Wharf then you will be getting a traditional painting job. We don't go for a quick finish with rollers, we finish with brushes and the price includes a complete job down to the top guard iron.

At the same time you can book a slot in our dry dock to have the bottom half of the boat blacked and you will set sail again with a completely refurbished boat.

There are also extras that can be added to the package and we will give you the prices if they are what you want.

We can return gritted areas to bare metal and we can re-grit cabin top and gunnels.

We can offer graining or scumbling and the decorative diamonds and geometrical patterns that give a boat distinction.

In the same vein we can decorate the counter bands and top bend/return plate and provide traditional canal art (Roses and Castles), as well as signwriting.

If you would like us to we can decorate the hatch and slide, we can varnish and provide mouses' ears or teddy bears, whatever you want to call them, on rear bulkheads.

The choice is yours, so, for a quote email us now on info@norburywharfltd.co.uk.

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