Sash window refurbishment in Shepreth

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This was an interesting sash windows refurbishment project in Shepreth. Our details were passed to them by friends.

We did this project in September 2013.

Exterior woodwork and original single glazed windows still looked well, but the paint came off in many places letting water in. Sash window frames started rotting beneath the layer of flaking paint. The first thing we did was put protective film around the windows inside the house. The film protected the interior of the house from dust from wood sanders.

Windows refurbishment

We removed the badly rotten sash windows, removed the old paint and replaced the rotten wood with Accoya wood. This is our standard process of sash refurbishing windows.

Sash window sanded back to bare timber, its glass covered in protective film, in a buff brick reveal

Close-up of a sash sanded to bare wood, with the glazing putty missing along the edge of the glass — Missing putty

Almost one-third of the old cracked putty was replaced with resinous wood filler from the Window Care system range. The remainder of the existing putty was lightly sanded and primed before painting.

Gable repair

The gables were rotting at the ends. Again, we removed the old paint and sanded it where the wood beneath it was sound. The rotten wood was carefully cut out and replaced with Accoya wood.

Flaking paint on a timber bargeboard along a brick gable, with a chimney pot behind

Weathered painted bargeboard at the foot of a brick gable beside an arched-head sash window

Brick gable with its bargeboards stripped back and ladders up to a first-floor window

Rotten, crumbling end of a bargeboard at the eaves of a brick gable, with a chimney stack behind

Brick gable with newly painted white bargeboards, masking paper beneath and a ladder against the wall

Bargeboard end at the eaves repaired with new, unpainted timber pieces

Painting windows and exterior woodwork

The next stage of this sash windows refurbishment in Shepreth was masking the areas around the sash windows and gables. It was necessary to protect the stonework when the wood was paint sprayed. The sprayer gives much better coverage than a brush and leaves no strokes. The sprayed surfaces look immaculate, as if they are brand new.

Sash window masked with brown paper and blue tape, its trickle vent taped over before spraying — Sash window trickle vent protected before spraying

Tall timber casement window framed in brown masking paper and blue tape among climbing plants, ladders nearby

Care and attention to detail are vital whenever we do window and gable restorations. Our job is to make the house appear as if it has never had any restoration work done.

So, we always try our best to reuse the wood wherever possible. As we mentioned above, it wasn’t possible in this case. So, we carefully remove the rotted wood, keeping as much of the original wood as possible, and then painstakingly recreate the wood that we removed. The results speak for themselves. It is a beautiful home that looks just as good now as it did when it was first built.

Sash windows refurbishment in Shepreth: result

Our work exceeded the clients’ expectations. Both Mary and William were very pleased with how neat the windows looked. The paint lines on the glass panes were straight and sharp, adding to the feeling of sophistication given by the beautifully crafted doors and windows.

White-painted timber porch with a half-glazed front door and side windows under a tiled roof

White-painted timber bay window with slim glazing bars, set between buff brick walls and black downpipes — Bay window

Victorian front door painted pale blue with a brass knocker and letter plate, glazed side lights and white surround — Victorian front door

Victorian two-over-two sash window painted white under a brick arch in a buff brick wall, clipped box balls below — Victorian sash window

White-painted timber French doors beneath an arched fanlight in a buff brick wall framed by climbing plants — French door

Conservatory timber frame repairs and painting

Timber conservatory doors and frame freshly spray-painted light grey, with the glass and roof masked in plastic

Timber conservatory painted grey-green on a buff brick base, with glazed double doors opening onto a stone patio

Client’s feedback

“We have used Alex and his team for a number of projects – 2 of which were very large ones. We found Alex to be very personable, helpful, reliable and trustworthy. We left him to redecorate a holiday cottage and completely trusted him with the house and things within it.

On all occasions, Alex delivered what we required and came up with helpful solutions to deal with cracks in the walls etc. He always finished on time and worked extremely hard to get the job done in a timely manner.

The results met or exceeded our expectations and he always cleaned up after him! I would not hesitate to recommend Alex.”

Mary Quantrill

More testimonials

2019 (6 years after)

6 years later, in 2019, we came back to repaint the windows. We are constantly testing new materials and tools and developing and finetuning our traditional sash window restoration method.

With experience came the realisation that most of the wood decay is concentrated in the bottom parts: bottom rails, window sills and beading. Even if you remove the rot, fill it with DryFlex epoxy wood filler; windows will rot again in 2 years or, if repairs are done by professionals, in 4-6 years.

This time, we used our most recent sash window repair method, laminating the most vulnerable parts of the windows with Tricoya wood.

The paint on the laminated parts of the windows should now last for at least 10 years and 7-8 years on other, non-laminated parts of timber frames.

Half-glazed timber back door and side lights, the lower boarded panel sanded back through worn white paint

Half-glazed timber door with its lower panel re-faced in new grooved Tricoya board before painting

Half-glazed door and side lights spray-painted white, the surrounding brickwork masked with paper, plastic and tape

Half-glazed timber door and side lights repainted white beneath a small porch canopy in a buff brick wall

Grey-blue painted timber conservatory and garden door on a buff brick house, with beige primer patches on the fascia

Some sections of the conservatory were also laminated and redecorated.

We are committed to researching new materials and technics to prolong timber frame windows’ maintenance cycle and will share our findings in our windows restoration blog.

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