Our expertise

Drawing on over 10 years’ experience of building narrowboats, we’ve built an enviable reputation for building dream boats for a discerning customer base, delivering premium narrowboats to a customer’s budget without compromise to quality.

This has honed our skills in creating superb paint finishes on our new build boats.

Many other narrowboat owners love their existing boat but recognise it could do with updating and refurbishing.

Others dream of owning a new boat, but this is not always practical to achieve. We can help to make that dream feel real with the look and feel of a new boat without the cost or wait.

Talk to us about how Smithwood Transformed can give your narrowboat a new lease of life and become the boat of your dreams.

Not only will your boat look better than before, you will be protecting your investment for many years to come.

Our Transformation Services

Complete re-spray of top sides and roof‍
Hull blacking
Decks / gunwales recoated with ‘Multi-forte’
‘Tek-Dek’ synthetic decking to bow and stern
New portholes and windows with a choice of double-glazed, thermalbreak or bonded (thermal break) glazing.
New mushrooms
New pole/plank brackets
Replace navigation lights
Replace button fenders (bow and stern) and rubber fenders
Add or replace cratch frame / covers and pram covers / tonneau covers on stern.
Refreshed sign-writing and artwork for the ultimate finishing touch.

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The Process

“It’s like new on the outside but still feels like home on the inside”.
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Whilst the fundamental process of design, preparation and painting hasn’t changed much in decades, todays’ customers have changed – demanding speed and modern techniques, blending traditional designs with contemporary, creative artwork to suit all personal tastes.

Our custom-built facility boasts an indoor preparation and spray pod providing the ideal conditions for thorough preparation, refurbishment and re-spraying of your narrowboat.

A comprehensive survey of your narrowboat with you enables us to understand your needs and validate the condition of your boat, before starting any work.

During this consultation:

We’ll agree the scope of the exterior refurbishment
Help you select a colour scheme
Advise on how to make the most of your investment
Design options for signwriting and other artwork
Choose exterior fittings to be replaced
Agree a budget and timescale for work to be completed.

We are meticulously obsessed about the preparation of your boat, to enable us to produce a high quality finish. Removing portholes/windows, all external fittings and, of course, stripping existing paintwork off is key to preparing your boat for its new look.

The practice of ‘scabbling’ is to remove all paint to expose the bare steel. Only at this point, can we be sure of creating a sound surface on which to apply fresh primer.

Depending on the scope of your project with us, the entire process takes from 20-30 working days.

Smithwood Transformed provides the complete solution through our partnerships with leading professionals in the industry: Caldwells Windows, Seawood Signwriting, AJ Canopies, TekDek and Dunchurch Pools Marina.

Contact Smithwood Transformed