Local help in Dundrum, Sandyford, Stillorgan, Blackrock & Dún Laoghaire

Painting and outside work in conservation areas

DLR's County Development Plan 2022–2028 lists Architectural Conservation Areas all over this patch. In Dundrum: the village itself (with Pembroke Cottages, Ballinteer Road and Main Street), Sydenham Road, Sydenham Villas and Campfield Terrace. Balally Cottages on Sandyford Road. Arkle Square in Stillorgan. In Blackrock: Sydney Avenue, Waltham Terrace, Seafort Parade, Newtown Villas and Montpelier Place. In Dún Laoghaire: Crosthwaite Park, Clarinda Park, Royal Terrace, Haigh Terrace to Park Road, and Vesey Place with De Vesci Terrace. Monkstown is one too, and Blackrock Village is a candidate.

Inside an ACA, work to the outside of a building is only exempt from planning permission if it would not materially affect the character of the area (Planning and Development Act 2000, section 82). Repainting like for like is one thing; painting bare brick, a new colour on a period front or replacing original windows can be another. If your house is in one, check with DLR's planning department before the work starts, and say so in your job post so painters can quote for it properly.

Salt air on the coast

From Blackrock to Dún Laoghaire the sea is a few streets away, and salt air is harder on outside paintwork, railings and window frames than it is inland. When you compare quotes for exterior painting, ask each painter what preparation they will do and which paint they plan to use, not just the total.

Garden waste and clear-outs

DLR's recycling centre is Ballyogan Recycling Park on Ballyogan Road, Dublin 18. It takes garden waste, charges for bulky items, and is for domestic use only: private vehicles, no large vans. The Eden Park centre takes clean household recyclables only, not bulky items or garden waste.

That means the person you pay to clear a garden or a garage cannot use Ballyogan for your load. Anyone collecting waste for money, including a gardener or a man with a van doing a clear-out, needs a waste collection permit from the National Waste Collection Permit Office (Waste Management Act 1996, section 34). Handing your waste to someone without one is an offence for you, not just for them. Ask for the permit number and check it on nwcpo.ie before anything goes in the van.

Skips, vans and apartments

Skip companies working in DLR need a DLR Skip Operator Licence. If the skip has to go in a paid parking bay, the licensed operator applies for that permit and you deal with them, not the council.

Moving in or out of an apartment block? Ask the management company about booking the lift and where a van can stop, and put the answer in your job post. It changes the quote more than the distance does.