Window Repair & Maintenance

Most window problems are not glass problems, and most of them do not need a replacement window. A sash that will not move, a draught that has appeared over one winter, a handle that no longer engages, a pane that has gone hazy — these are repairable, usually in a single visit and usually for a fraction of what replacement costs.

We repair and maintain windows across London: timber sash and casement, uPVC, aluminium and steel-framed.

What we repair

• Sash windows that stick, rattle, drop or will not stay open — cords, weights, pulleys, parting beads and staff beads
• Draughts and heat loss — brush seals, weatherstripping and gap remediation
• Failed hinges, handles, locks, stays and friction stays across all frame types
• Timber decay in frames, sills and glazing bars — splice repair rather than wholesale replacement
• Scratched, etched or hazy glass, restored in place
• Misaligned or dropped casements and doors that catch on the frame

Why repair rather than replace

The economics favour repair heavily, and so does the outcome in a period property. A replacement window is a manufactured unit with a lead time, an installation cost and, in a conservation area, potentially a planning application. A repair is a technician, a morning, and materials.

In listed and conservation-area properties the argument is stronger still. Original windows are part of the fabric of the building, and in many cases replacing them is not permitted. Repair keeps the original joinery and the original glass in place, which is what conservation officers want to see and what protects the value of the property.

There is also a durability argument that surprises people: a well-made Victorian sash window, properly maintained, has already lasted a century. A modern sealed unit has a design life closer to twenty years, at which point the seal fails and the whole unit is scrap.

The glass side

Because glass restoration is our core discipline, we handle the glazing problems that a general joiner would send elsewhere. Scratched panes, cleaning haze, limescale etching on exposed elevations and scratched-in vandalism are all removed in place, without taking the pane out of the frame.

The exception is a failed double-glazed unit. If there is condensation or misting between the panes, the seal has gone and the moisture is inside the sealed cavity — no surface treatment reaches it and the unit needs replacing. We will identify that on assessment rather than after taking payment.

Maintenance rather than emergency

Most of the window failures we attend were preventable. Cords fray gradually, seals compress, timber takes on water at a specific point where paint has failed, and hinges loosen over years rather than overnight. All of it is visible well before it becomes a failure.

For managing agents and landlords with multiple properties, a scheduled maintenance visit across a portfolio is substantially cheaper than reactive callouts, and it removes the emergency premium entirely. For homeowners, a single inspection typically identifies the two or three items worth dealing with before the next winter.

How we assess

Send photographs of the window, the frame and any specific problem area, along with a description of what it is doing. We will come back with an assessment and a fixed price. Where a problem genuinely needs a specialist joiner or a full replacement unit, we say so — we would rather lose the job than take on work we are not the right people for.

Coverage across London

We cover Greater London, with regular window work in the period-property areas — Chelsea, Kensington, Richmond, Islington, Clapham and Wandsworth — and maintenance contracts on managed blocks across the city.