Sash window repairs - before and after

 

This is what we started with

Click here to watch a series of four videos showing the repair process

 Restorative Carpentry is the primary sash window repair service in East Sussex

We offer cost effective restoration of existing single glazed sash windows 

We protect the environment by using as much as possible of what already exists 

We conserve and preserve the heritage you own, rather than replace it 

We bring original sashes up to full functionality and reduce draughts, 

      noise ingress, and rattles bringing your windows up toward modern standards 

Our business demands a high level of expertise and in depth understanding of what is possible. 

We always offer what we consider is best advice

Broken sash cords replaced (probably the second most common problem) 

Sashes freed where painted shut (it's probably the most common problem) 

Sashes eased for smooth operation (You won't need to act like Superman any more!) 

Windows rebalanced (If they keep on moving when you've put them in a position - that will stop!)) 

Rotten wood repaired (No matter how bad - almost!)

Draught proofing that doesn't cost a fortune!

There's huge value and large cost savings to be gained by maintaining windows that are original to your home 

With proper restoration, your original windows will be, beautiful to look at, a joy to use, 

Repair of traditional windows will generally be a fraction of the cost of plastic replacement. 

If you want help or advice with any aspect of sash windows please call Jim on 07930 335 937 

or click the email form button in the side bar.

This is what it looks like now!

Sash window usage

Sash window usage

This is an article taken from the Imperial College London web page
it may interest anyone who has traditional sash windows.

PRESS RELEASE
Scientists formulate a heat wave survival guideWednesday 6 August 2003Scientists from Imperial College London have found a simple solution to city dwellers' despair as temperatures soar during summer heat waves. In a bid to cool down they have to learn how to ventilate and cool rooms by using windows and the building properly.
Dr Gary Hunt of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who is leading research at Imperial on the fluid mechanics of natural ventilation explains:
"Many of us have forgotten how to correctly use the sash windows so carefully installed by the Edwardians and Victorians to maximise airflow.
"If used correctly it is possible to significantly improve comfort in the office or at home without using air conditioning units that place high demands on energy and increase carbon-dioxide emissions."
Using laboratory modelling techniques that accurately replicate the flow of air in small-scale physical models, Dr Hunt and his team are able to measure and clearly visualise how air circulates within rooms and buildings.
"The trick to getting the maximum flow of air through the window is to slide the sashes so the window is open equally at the top and bottom.
"By separating the in-flow and out-flow, cooler incoming air efficiently flushes the warm air out of the room. The warm air inside the room tumbles out of the top opening and the cooler air form the outside comes in through the lower opening," explains Dr Hunt.
By applying mathematical analysis and using small-scale laboratory models, the researchers were also able to calculate the size and placement of windows to maximise ventilation.
"The laboratory modelling technique relies on examining the movement of water through a model typically one twentieth to one hundredth of the building size. At this scale water moves through the model room in the same way as air moves through a real room," said Dr Hunt.
Results show if the windows of a room are too small or their location is not appropriately chosen, hot air, which collects at the ceiling may extend down to the occupied region making the environment unpleasantly hot and muggy.
"Offices typically experience the largest heat gains during the occupied daylight hours, when the need for ventilation is greatest. Minimal gains occur at night when the space is unoccupied.
"Our research shows a good strategy is to leave sash windows in the mid-position overnight - providing it's safe to do so. The cool external air flushes the warm air out of the room and also cools the walls, floor and ceiling. The cool walls then absorb heat the following day and prevent the internal temperatures from rising as high," he added.
Work is now underway at Imperial on a range of problems concerned with the fluid mechanics of airflows in buildings. Projects include modelling airflow in large multi-story buildings, which allows researchers to calculate how to naturally ventilate them effectively.
"The aim of our research is to gain an improved understanding of the physics of airflow in buildings through the use of laboratory and mathematical modelling techniques and to develop simple design guidelines that will help architects create energy efficient buildings of the future," said Dr Hunt.
For further information, please contact:
Judith H Moore
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6702

If you want help or advice with any aspect of sash windows please call Jim on 07930 335 937 or click the email form button in the side bar.

BEFORE

AFTER

If you need help

If you want help or advice with any aspect of sash windows please call Jim on 07930 335 937 or click the email form button in the side bar.

Traditional wooden box sash windows are almost infinitely repairable.
To illustrate the point - Click HERE to view a slideshow of a repair

If you want help or advice with any aspect of sash windows please call Jim on 07930 335 937 or click the email form button in the side bar.

Repairing and restoring sash windows in East Sussex & Eastbourne

Most of the work we do is on homes built during the 19 & 20th centuries.
Original wooden box sash windows can, and do, last for centuries.
It is almost never the case that a box sash window needs to be completely replaced, no matter how bad they may look.
The key to these windows is the simple genius of their design and construction. They are infinitely repairable. More often than not quite minor repairs can bring them back to full functionality.
Modern, virtually invisible, draughtproofing can bring 100 year old windows up to modern performance standards.
The scope for restoration of your windows is virtually limitless.

Simple air conditioning!

For some reason there's been spate of clients only wanting bottom sashes re-corded.

As I've said elsewhere before, to my mind it's a false economy, because when re-cording the bottom sash, the window is in bits anyway - and it would seem prudent to get both sashes working.
But what's really suprising is that many clients don't even realise that both sashes can work.
The great secret of sash windows is that they can provide the very best ventilation configuration of any window type - bar none.
A quick lesson in physics... Hot air rises... end of physics lesson.
Sash windows nearly always go all the way to the ceiling.... Hot air rises...

If you wanted to get rid of hot air, which window should you open?
Fresh cooler air comes in from below and stale warm air exits at the top...

It works because it obeys the law of physics. No great secret!
If you need your sash windows repaired renovated or restored -

 give me a call on 07930 335 937 or use the email link.

Sound proofing a traditional sash window

Contrary to populist belief, double glazing is not the best way to reduce noise - full stop.
It is just one expensive way to reduce some noise.
If traditional single glazed sash windows are the only barrier between you and the traffic you can tackle a major part of the problem by simply installing draught proofing. As well as draughts, draught proofing also reduces airborne noises which find their way through the smallest and least noticeable gaps.
The next step is to replace the glass in the sashes. There are many types of acoustic glass, available in various thicknesses, and designed to control various levels and types of noise. Developed and tested by the larger glass manufacturers (e.g. Pilkington Glass) the results are often not as impressive in real life situations as they may be on paper.
Sound insulation is probably best achieved via well fitted windows with good draught strips, laminated safety glass 4.4mm or 6.4 mm thick may not be quite as acoustically efficient as the best specialist glass but, at a fraction of the price, it will dramatically assist in an overall noise reduction plan.
For more comprehensive advice on your sash windows call me on 07930 335 937 or email me using the link on the left hand side.

New research from English Heritage renews calls for the retention of original sash windows

I take no credit for any of the following. But this is an article on the English Heritage website that confirms what I have been saying for years to everybody and anybody who would listen to the painfully obvious. If you click here it will link you to the pdf file on their website.

For the first time in England important scientific evidence is available to counteract some of the misconceptions about the energy efficiency of original timber sash windows, a unique feature of England’s built heritage which is under threat and fast disappearing.
English Heritage has released the findings of a study into the thermal performance of traditional sash windows using a 2 x 2 timber sliding sash window dating from the 1880s which had been rescued from a skip. The results showed that even the simplest repair and basic improvements will bring significant reduction of draughts and heat loss, and that using a combination of these methods will upgrade a window to meet Building Regulations targets.
The key findings are:
1. Simple repairs to mend cracks and eliminate gaps can significantly reduce the amount of air infiltration or draughts.
On the window that was tested, air infiltration was reduced by one third.
2. Air infiltration through a sash window in good condition can be reduced by as much as 86% by adding draught proofing.
3. Heat loss through contact with the glass and frames can be significantly reduced by adopting simple measures like closing thick curtains and plain roller blinds. In the test, heat loss was reduced by 41% and 38% respectively.
4. More elaborate measures reduce heat loss even more and can improve windows to meet modern Building Regulations which target a U value for windows of 2 or below. In a test with good quality secondary glazing, this value was 1.7.
5. Well-fitted, closed shutters, also produce similarly good results.
The best result is when the two methods are used together, resulting in a 62% reduction in heat loss and a U-value of 1.6.

The research comes at a time when large swathes of public and privately owned historic buildings will be subject to refurbishment and retro-fitting to improve their energy performance in order to meet the Government’s ambitious climate change targets.
Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: “It is very encouraging to see that more buildings are being refurbished to meet modern energy requirements, but all too often a drastic and insensitive approach has led to the degradation of our streetscapes . Many original timber sash windows have lasted more than two hundred years and are capable of lasting another century. This piece of research provides the hard evidence that shows how easy it is to upgrade them and supports our call for their retention.”

Chris Wood, Head of Building Conservation and Research Team at English Heritage, who commissioned the research at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “There is a lot of misunderstanding about the potential for historic buildings to be brought up to date. We hope this research will herald serious rethinking, and help homeowners and local authorities refurbish historic buildings with the confidence that modern standards can be met without compromising historic character - whether it is individual dwellings, a local school, town hall or public library.”

Price Guide of most popular services

Re-cord
Replacement of sash cords on either bottom sash only or both sashes.
Bottom Sash only - from £60.00 Top and bottom sashes - from £80.00

Basic Overhaul
For windows in generally good condition. 
Free painted shut sashes, renovate sash pulleys for free running. replace old cords with new sash cord. Adjust weighting to suit. Replace parting beads and staff beads as necessary to ensure smooth operation.  Windows will still require primer/undercoat/finish coat. From 160.00

General Overhaul and draught proofing
For windows in generally good condition. Removal of beading, sashes and weights, making minor repairs,
Replacing with new sash cord and beading machined and fitted with draught proofing. Sanding down mainly to remove flaking paint. (On a general overhaul we do not attempt to strip paint work),
Cleaning. Windows will need to be primed under-coated and top coated by your decorator.
From £190.00
Replacement Sashes
New Traditional single glazed sashes fitted into existing box frame, including general overhaul as above
From £425.00 Depending on size.

Don't screw sash window staff beads - nail them!

Box Sash Windows are relatively simple to work on... but some people make the simple very difficult. I recently come across one such case.
To do most work on a sash window generally means first removing the staff beads.
These are usually nailed on. It's a simple process to remove the beads with a few well placed taps using a hammer and chisel, pry bar or sharks tooth.
HOWEVER...
Occasionally some nut decides that it would be better to screw them down, drive the screws below the surface, fill in the screw slots, and then apply several coats of paint over the top. How do I know this ... because I had to re-cord seven windows, and they had all been screwed down in the aforementioned idiotic manner. What should have been just a few minutes work turned into an age of mutterings and expletives and curses on the head of the previous installer.
I can only imagine that the installer had just bought his first power screwdriver and wanted to show the world how good it is.

Please, please, please, where appropriate, nail staff beads in place.