It soon became apparent that the sashes themselves were in bad condition. As the property isn’t listed, we took the opportunity to improve on a few things that the homeowner had mentioned. First was the warmth in the room and the second was the seemingly low light levels.

After replacing the sills in Accoya, we made new sashes in joinery quality pressure treated pine. We fitted the latest argon filled double glazing with aged leadwork and welded joints to maintain the style of the originals, but opted for slightly thinner leadwork. This small detail, whilst seemingly insignificant, gives a much clearer view of the garden and the impression of much more light coming through the window.

The timber available during the 20s was typically slow grown and therefore is much more rot resistant and stable than the equivalents we see today. It’s therefore a good idea where possible to retain as much of that original timber as we can. Here, we were able to localise the repair only to the corner of the sill and bottom area of the weight box planks using Accoya with a minimum rot resistance of 50 years.

To complete the repair and ensure a long life for the window, we made a small repair to the bottom sash which also needed a little TLC.

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.

Getting an old window out cleanly on an older building without damaging soft brickwork or delicate lime plaster can be a bit of an art-form at times and needs to be done with great care.  On a side note, if the window is original, then it’s worth knowing that it was common practice to build the window into the wall. It’s important to consider how the brickwork above will be supported when the window is removed.

No matter how many times you measure, it’s always a tense moment when you arrive to fit a window and double-check your measurements. We could see that this window was going to go in just perfectly, snug enough with the brickwork and with nice even reveals to the inside linings.

With the window in, functioning and sealed up against the masonry, the cottage will keep its character without the hassle and discomfort of a rotten, patched up window at the front.

With the surrounding lead work on the roof, it was a tight spot to get into but with sharp chisels and a practiced hand we were able to clear away the rotten timber to good wood and form a joint.

Using Accoya for the replacement means the owners won’t experience the same issues in years to come.

With no signs of rot, it was apparent that the joints had failed, causing the sash to sag and become stuck. After carefully opening and removing the sash, we also noticed that the friction stay was damaged and would need replacing.

We took the bottom rail out, cleaned everything up and then it was just a simple case of re-gluing the joint back together. With a new friction stay fitted, we could put the window back together and leave it working perfectly.

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.

The heavier a gate or door is, the more important it is to hang it plumb and level; firstly, so it can be opened and closed easily, but also to reduce any uneven stress on whatever the hinges are attached to. In this case, it was those red-rubber carved brick pillars. With this in mind, we had some shims and washers nearby to fine tune the fit.

When we fitted the original hinges to the new Accoya gate, we went to lengths to ensure the holes we drilled were at a perfect 90 degrees to the face of the timber. We were certainly glad we did! On the first trial fit, everything dropped in nicely and the gate swung smoothly and easily.

Having refurbished and refitted all the original gate hardware, we were especially pleased that the gate latched perfectly.

Pressure treated softwood has superior rot resistance to hardwood and once decorated, it will far outlast a uPVC window.

To ensure the window was weather-tight against the tiles, we fitted rebated linings which seal the edges.