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.

They are made from compressed redwood and are often sold as engineered wood or solid hardwood too.

This window had a planted-on sill that needed replacing. A fairly straight forward job, but it doesn’t bode too well for the rest of the window. All the emphasis is now on decoration and maintenance by the owner to keep these windows going as long as possible.

Although a relatively straightforward job, the devil is in the details. With this style of beading where the bottom bead is larger and forms a drip, it’s essential to get the vertical beads just right. The Georgian style glazing bars add another detail in that the choice of pin length for fixed is critical.

With so many cuts to make, it’s important to get all these details ironed out so you can get in a rhythm and be productive.

Double glazing an existing window throws up a handful of challenges:

Firstly, the rebate depth of the sash needs to accommodate the extra thickness of the glass and still leave room for some form of facing to retain the glass. In this case, the fitter had resorted to a very thin bead of mastic.

Secondly, the extra weight of the glass in the sash needs to be counterbalanced by the weights in the sash box. The fitter had achieved this by adding a number of make-weights on top of the original weight. The length of all these weights meant that the window never properly closed again and would snag when opened, leading to the owner essentially abandoning use of the window.

To restore use and proper closure of the window, we opted to replace the weights in the box with a heavier material that would take up less space and allow for free movement. Although apparently straightforward, removing the weights was an awkward job involving painstaking use of seemingly every long, flat item in the tool kit.

5 “naughty little sausages” later, we discovered and removed the original weight. It was then a simple case of replacing the weights appropriately and hanging them from new long-life sash cords before re-fitting the window and perfecting the closure position.

With the introduction of staff and parting bead with draft proof pile machined into it, it’s possible to eliminate the drafts and rattles without damaging the structure of the window itself.

However, fitting the beading perfectly is critical to keeping the window working whilst also keeping the drafts out. We were near Great Missenden adjusting and replacing the beading which hadn’t quite been fitted correctly; some windows were a little sticky while others were drafty.

Luckily, the sash weight cords were in good enough condition to keep, but we also found the catches weren’t closing the meeting rails correctly in some places. We therefore replaced the existing alloy catches with a good quality solid brass catch of a different design that will keep pulling the window closed snugly well into the future.

This sash window had been subject to a previous repair, where the lower section of the sill had been removed and a new section of sill simply screwed into the remaining piece of sill.

The screws had rusted over the course of just a few years and drawn moisture deep into the timber of the sill, rotting both the repair and the remaining piece of original sill.

We removed the entire sill, took careful measurements of the window and made an entire new sill in Accoya wood to fit perfectly. By joining it into the original window, we restore its structure whilst the choice of acetylated pine gives one of the most vulnerable areas of the window the greatest rot resistance.

Some new beading and a new solid brass catch complete the job, ready for final decoration.

After removing the broken pieces, we reglazed with some suitable glass in keeping with the remaining panes.

We then replaced the cords on the sash weights. These windows have a classic Georgian design with the pocket in the center of the pulley lining so the parting bead helps hold the pocket in place.

Finally, we made some adjustments to the bottom sash and beading so that the window closed perfectly and stopped any drafts but could still be opened easily and smoothly.

The ground floor windows of this mid C19 parkland villa had rotten sills. Designed to mirror the appearance of sliding sashes elsewhere on the building, these windows featured a fixed bottom sash and a top-hung light.

A severe plumbing leak, discovered by the new owner, had caused some damage internally so the sashes themselves were in need of attention. The extent of the damage only became fully apparent once we started work. With the sashes removed, it was easily possible to push the glazing out through the soft, rotten beading. Soon after, it was clear that all sashes needed full bottom rail replacements.

We started with the frames and sills, removing the old sills entirely and fitting custom made Accoya replacements, joined into the original jams.

We then took on the bottom rail replacements on the sashes, using Accoya once again for its rot resistance and dimensional stability. With the sashes repaired, we reglazed using the original glass and new beading.

To finish the job, we refitted the freshly repaired sashes and carried out any making-good ready for redecoration.

After from initial investigation from the outside of the window, it became clear that the rot was severe enough to have passed from the outside to the inside of the window.

We set about a complete replacement of the rail in 50-year rot proof Accoya wood, housing it into the original stiles, which unusually for this kind of repair, were in very good condition.

A challenge with repairing Georgian windows can be matching the moulding details around the glazing bars. Here, we needed to match the ovolo detail as closely as possible, using a router cutter first, then fine-tuning the shape using hand tools to match the original profiles.

This sill required both epoxy and Accoya repairs.

Whilst this sash was better suited to full Accoya repairs and new window beading around the double glazed units.

Lastly, we made our way around each window, adjusting the spiral balances to ensure they all worked perfectly.