WhatsApp has become our go-to tool for this; it’s easy, quick and almost ubiquitous. So, we thought why not allow the good folk of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and surrounding areas contact us via WhatsApp straight off the website!?

And why wouldn’t you want to chat with us. Colin’s quite the raconteur when he gets going!

The observant amongst you will notice our website now has a big green WhatsApp button on each page. No doubt you’ll have some questions about how to use it.

If you’re on a PC, Laptop or tablet, (you might want your mobile phone’s camera to hand to take photos of windows, doors, exterior joinery etc) click on the button and follow the 3 easy-peasy steps.

If you’re viewing the website on your phone, well that’s even easier-peasier. Head to the Contact Us page and just click the WhatsApp button. Like magic, you’re chatting with us.

You can of course still contact us via email or on the “dog and bone” in exactly the same way as before. If you email, just remember to include your phone number as it’s helpful to talk things over.

Whilst repair was still possible, the customer took the opportunity to upgrade to double glazed units. To achieve this, we opted for new sashes with slightly beefed up joinery to handle the additional weight.

Although it’s often possible to retrofit double glazing into an existing sash, the results are usually short-lived as the extra weight and shallow rebates are less than ideal for both the joinery and the double glazed unit itself. In fact, we often see the sashes and/or glazing fail within 10 years.

To incorporate the stronger sashes and their double glazing, we double rebated each sash to fit snugly into each original frame. This retains the flush appearance of the original design whilst also gaining some additional weather protection, useful in this relatively exposed position on the building.

We started by tidying up the brickwork and taking exact measurements for the window. Produced in pressure treated pine and using the latest argon filled double glazing, this will be more rot resistant than even a hardwood window.

We went with spiral balances rather than weights and cords so that the glazing could let as much light in as possible from the porch. We also stuck with the late Victorian window style elsewhere in the house and put horns on both sashes.

We finished this one with a new window board and architraves ready for redecoration.

If a timber door isn’t protected from the elements by a porch or roof overhang, it’s very common for the timber to move and the door to stick or become drafty. That’s why we made this door in Accoya (acetylated pine). Accoya is sustainably grown and treated in an environmentally friendly way. When used for exterior joinery products like windows and doors, it’s proven to be remarkably stable as well as being guaranteed not to rot for 50 years.

The wood has much better thermal values than the old uPVC plastic, complementing the thermal performance of the glazing. Finally, a hardwood sill gives a wear resistant threshold to this elegant and subtly high-tech door.

The window was difficult to access with a ladder so whilst the scaffolding was up, we were asked to replace the drip so that the decorator could finish the painting. We took a precise set of measurements and made a sketch of the profile. With no space on site to set up our mobile joinery shop, we headed back-to-base to set the tools up. After machining the drip, we gave it a few coats of long life primer.

The next day, we were back on the scaffold to fit the drip, trim the plugs for the screw heads and hand the job back to the decorator.

Accrow support during installation

Finished windows

2 x new double glazed to the latest spec sliding sash windows ,made ,glazed and fitted for a property in Hedsor ,Bourne End.In both cases the boxes were extra narrow which we needed to copy in order to make them like for like but there wasn’t enough space for the much heavier weights that were required to lift the new double glazing sashes .We got around this by using denser leaded square weights instead of steel.