Casement windows restoration Cambridge

In this window restoration project, we renovated casement windows in Cambridge. Completed in early November, the crisp autumn skies made for fantastic working conditions and the customer loved watching this transformation taking place!

Assessing windows condition

Many parts of the frame are rotten, mainly the lower parts near the window sill, and the paint has pilled off the wood.

Window frames

Wooden frames have already undergone a few refurbishment cycles, but the patch repair did not hold for long and rot appeared again. In the photo below, you can see many patches of fresh timber all over the window frames.

The Project’s Requirements

During our initial assessment with the customer, we recorded key areas and created a viable, cost-effective strategy that ticks every box!

Even before we stripped back the paintwork, we could read the story of these windows. Layers of paint speak of the aesthetic goals of past residents, and early repair works could be seen (even the weathering effects speak of prevailing winds).

The scope of work for this restoration project included:

• Removing existing paintwork
• Repairing rotten timber
• Laminating frames with rot-resistant Accoya / Tricoya wood
• Painting restored frames

Restoration process: Laminating frames for better protection

As the rot had not gone unchecked for too long, most of our work was repairing and strengthening existing timbers. The work would have scaled up if left unchecked and required further timber replacements.

We stripped back paintwork to reveal bare timbers. The paint had become brittle over time: the flaking and cracking had exposed the timbers beneath to rain, causing damage. 

We were pleased to see – as expected – that the damp wood quickly dried off once given a little space to breathe again! We treated all areas and prepared surfaces so they could correctly cope and combine with our high-durability paints later.

All frames were laminated and ready to be painted.

In this project, it was vital to protect the existing timber so it could last many more years.

Once all windows were repaired, cleaned and masked off, we applied layer upon layer of premium paint.