Window Repair Service in Beaconsfield.

It was time for a full service for these double casement windows with no mullion.

A design from the 1920’s in the Art Deco style, they allow the full aperture of the window to be enjoyed when open. To keep the weather out when closed, they rely on a hook rebate; a great idea but after 100 years the hook shape gets filled with paint and the thin stiles warp, preventing the hook shapes meeting together correctly. This is also a very common cause of failure and subsequent rot on window sills when the drip groove of the sill gets filled with paint, so check those sills this spring! We cleaned the rebates out and gave them a fresh, thin coat of long life, micro-porous paint.

Now back to those thin stiles. Rather than using strips of wooden beading that you might see on more modern timber windows, the glazing on here is held in place with putty. It keeps the profiles thin, the site-lines clear and emphasises the classical proportions of the window: That all-important Golden Ratio. Again, a great idea but finding someone who’s good a puttying is another matter. Luckily, we can putty like Charles Catteau could throw pots.

The (mere 64) corners are the fiddly bits. Other than that, you just need to peer through the glass to the rebate behind and match the putty depth exactly with a Sheffield steel putty knife as you smooth it. You don’t want to see the rebate behind, but you don’t want to make the window profiles any thicker either. No bubbles, no scuff marks, no ripples, for crying-out-loud don’t scratch the glass or the woodwork and if you can apply the putty with both hands at the same time, well that’s perfection.