Every year, the Notting Hill Carnival weekend turns into the busiest few days in the calendar for local shopkeepers and homeowners. Crowds pack the streets. Doors take a battering. Businesses that skip proper protection can end up with smashed glass, damaged frames and stock losses running into thousands of pounds before the bank holiday is even over.
This August we boarded up dozens of properties and businesses along the Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill route, from shopfronts near Portobello Road to homes tucked just off the main procession. Customers trusted us with their premises for four days and nights, and we didn’t let a single one down.
Not one property we boarded up sustained any damage. Every board came off again before 6am on the Tuesday after carnival, exactly as we’d promised each customer beforehand.
Why Notting Hill Carnival Properties Need Boarding Up
Carnival brings well over a million visitors through a small patch of west London over two days. Ladbroke Grove, Golborne Road and Westbourne Grove all sit on or near the route, and the crush of people on those streets is unlike anything else in the Kensington and Chelsea calendar.
Ground floor shopfronts take the brunt of it. Georgian and Victorian terraces line much of the route, and many have original glazing that simply isn’t built to withstand accidental knocks from a crowd this size. Every Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill weekend, we see the same pattern: it’s not usually deliberate damage, it’s crowd pressure, spilled drinks against glass, and people leaning on shopfronts to get a better view.
Some business insurance policies also expect a reasonable standard of protection during known high-risk events, and carnival is about as predictable a risk as it gets in this part of London. Boarding up isn’t about assuming the worst. It’s about not leaving anything to chance on the one weekend of the year when the street outside genuinely can’t be controlled.
Assessing Every Property Before the Crowds Arrive
We start with a site visit in the weeks before carnival. Our team measures every window and door on the ground floor, checks the type of glazing, and notes any features that need extra care, like sash window boxes or decorative Victorian ironwork.
Shops and restaurants along the route often need larger boards across full shopfronts, while homes usually just need ground floor windows and any glazed front doors covered. We plan the whole job around access, so vans and ladders aren’t blocking pavements once the road closures start.
Fitting Boards That Protect Without Damaging Period Frames
We use exterior-grade WBP plywood, typically 18mm thick, cut to size for each opening rather than generic panels. Fixings go into the surrounding masonry or existing frame fixings wherever possible, never through original sash boxes or listed brickwork without checking first.
Boards usually go up on the Thursday or Friday before the bank holiday weekend, once deliveries and normal trading are out of the way. We fit them tight enough to withstand pressure from a crowd but with removal in mind, because every single board has to come down again within hours of carnival ending.
Stripping It All Back Before 6am on the Tuesday
This is the part customers care about most, and rightly so. Nobody wants their shopfront looking boarded up on a normal Tuesday morning when regular trade should be starting again.
Our team works through the night once carnival finishes on the Monday, taking down boards, checking glazing and locks for any movement, and clearing away all fixings and debris. Every property we covered this year had its boarding removed before 6am on the Tuesday, with the shopfront left exactly as we found it.
What to Consider Before Booking Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill Boarding-Up
Book early. The properties along the route that leave it to the week before often find our team fully committed elsewhere, since demand spikes hard in the fortnight beforehand.
Costs vary with the size of the property and number of openings, but as a rough guide, boarding a single shopfront window typically runs from around £150 to £250, with full multi-window shopfronts or larger period properties costing more depending on access and materials. For work like this we usually price the whole job, supply and fit, rather than quoting our standard hourly rates, since it’s a fixed scope over a set weekend. Our general Handyman Services rate outside events like this is £80 an hour plus VAT, which comes to £96 including VAT at 20 percent, and larger carpentry-led boarding jobs may fall under our Carpentry Services pricing instead.
If your property sits directly on the route, ask about our full package, which includes the survey visit, fitting, and same-week removal, so you’re not left chasing anyone once the crowds have gone. Anyone wanting a proper look at their premises before booking can Get a Quote and we’ll talk through what your specific building needs.
It’s also worth checking with your local authority or the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea about road closure timings each year, since these affect exactly when boards can go up and come down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How much does Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill boarding-up cost?
Most single shopfront windows run from around £150 to £250 supply and fit, with larger multi-window properties costing more. We give a fixed price after a quick site survey rather than charging by the hour for this type of job.
Q2: How far in advance should I book boarding up for carnival?
Book at least three to four weeks ahead if possible. Demand along the route rises sharply in the final fortnight before the August bank holiday.
Q3: Will boarding up damage my windows or shopfront?
No, not if it’s done properly. We fix boards into surrounding masonry or existing frame fixings, never through original sash boxes or delicate period joinery.
Q4: Do you remove the boards afterwards or do I need to arrange that separately?
Removal is part of the same job. This year every board came down before 6am on the Tuesday after carnival, with no separate call-out needed.
Q5: Can you board up homes as well as businesses?
Yes. We covered both shops and private homes along the route this year, and residential jobs are usually smaller, just ground floor windows and glazed doors.
Carnival weekend puts more pressure on ground floor windows and doors than any other event in the local calendar, and getting boarding up wrong, or leaving it too late, is the kind of mistake that costs far more than the job itself. We’re based right in the heart of the area, we know the route, the building types and the timings better than anyone coming in from outside, and we’d rather have your property sorted properly than have you finding out the hard way. If you want your home or business protected properly for next year’s carnival, get in touch with our team through our contact page and we’ll get you booked in early.