The painters Kolkata keeps calling back

Skypaint began in 2003, dealing in home paints out of New Barrackpur in North 24 Parganas. For the first several years the business was paint itself: shades, systems and the advice that goes with them — which primer suits a damp north wall, which finish survives a full Kolkata summer on a west-facing elevation, and which tin is simply the wrong one for the job in front of you.

Somewhere in that first decade the questions changed. People stopped asking what to buy and started asking whether we would do the work. So we built crews, learnt the preparation before the finish, and became an authorised Asian Paints service provider — which means genuine material, warranty documentation handed over with the job, and access to the whole Royale, Apex and Ultima range along with more than 500 shades to choose from.

The work widened from there, because the same customers kept asking. If we were painting the bedroom, could we do the stencil and texture work as well. Could we hang wallpaper. Could we finally sort out the damp patch that keeps coming back through the plaster every monsoon. Could we redo the floor while the furniture was already out of the room. Twenty years on, Skypaint runs ten trades — flooring, false ceiling, painting, modular kitchen, electrical, wall design, interiors, exteriors, damp proofing, and the complete package that puts every one of them on a single contract.

What has not changed is the arithmetic: premium material, a price a Kolkata household can plan around, and a warranty you can hold in your hand. There is a store you can walk into and an online counter you can order from, and you are welcome at either — bring a photograph of the wall and we will tell you plainly what it needs, even when the answer is that it needs less than you thought.