Full sash window refurbishment on a listed building, Sittingbourne
Two original small-pane sashes with rotten cills and cracked glass, taken back to the workshop, spliced in new timber and put back looking exactly as they should.
The problem
A listed property in Sittingbourne with two original small-pane sash windows in a peg-tile elevation. One pane was cracked and taped, the glazing bars were weathered back to bare timber, and the cills had gone soft — decades of rain sitting on the sill and wicking into the end grain. From inside the rooms looked tired; outside, the frames were past the point where paint would hold.
- Cracked glass, taped as a stop-gap
- Cills decayed through, with rot running back into the box frame
- Lead flashing lifted and no longer throwing water clear
- Paint failed back to bare timber on the exposed elevation
- Listed building — replacement was not an option anyone wanted
The repair
Both sashes came out and went back to the workshop. On site the openings were boarded and made weathertight so the rooms stayed usable while the joinery was done properly. The decayed cills and the rotten sections of the box frames were cut out and spliced in new timber — not filled — and everything was primed before it went back in.
- Sashes removed and taken to the workshop
- Openings boarded and weatherproofed while the work was underway
- Decayed cills and frame sections cut out and spliced in new timber
- New cords, pulleys and weights so both sashes run and hold
- Re-glazed where panes had gone, with the sound original glass kept
- Primed, undercoated and finished inside and out
The result
Two working sash windows that look like they have always been there — same sightlines, same small panes, same glazing bar widths — with sound timber under the paint and cills that throw water clear of the frame. Nothing about the elevation changed, which is exactly what a listed building needs.
Work like this is quoted per window after a free survey. Our published prices cover the individual jobs — see the price list — and a full restoration is £1,280 + VAT per window. Draught-proofing is guaranteed for 10 years, all other workmanship for 1 year.
Working on a listed building?
Repair and like-for-like restoration is normally what a conservation officer wants to see, and it rarely needs consent — it is replacement and changes to glazing that do. We set out where you stand in sash windows in listed buildings and conservation areas, and we can supply the specification and photographs for an application. See more of our recent work or book a free survey.