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The cheapest quote the owners received was to rip everything out. It was also the one that would have lost them their conservation consent.
Forty-one original sash windows, most of them a century old, several beyond saving in their current state. Conservation rules required repair over replacement wherever the original fabric could be retained — which meant assessing every window individually rather than pricing them as a batch.
The work
- Condition survey of all 41 units, graded into repair, partial splice, or sympathetic rebuild.
- Thirty-three repaired in place using matched timber; six spliced; two rebuilt to the original profile.
- Draught sealing and slim-profile glazing where the consent allowed it.
- Traditional linseed finish, which needs maintenance but lasts decades longer than modern coatings on old timber.
Result
Consent retained, original fabric kept in 39 of 41 windows, and measured heat loss through the openings down by roughly a third. Cost came in under the replacement quote the owners had been given — which surprised them and, honestly, is not always how this goes.
Got an old building and conflicting advice?
