Sash window repairs and restoration in Hackney
We restore, repair and draught-proof timber sash windows in Hackney and in Stoke Newington, Clapton and De Beauvoir Town. Most of the borough's houses are Victorian terraces, with Georgian survivals on Clapton Square and the Italianate villas of De Beauvoir. Several of Hackney's conservation areas now carry Article 4 directions.
Hackney's windows
Hackney's terraces went up street by street through the nineteenth century, and the windows show it. In Stoke Newington, Clapton and around London Fields the standard is the two-over-two or four-over-four box sash, usually with horns, and many houses still have original glass. De Beauvoir Town has paired Italianate villas with tall ground-floor sashes set in stucco surrounds. The older houses on Clapton Square and Clapton Common carry finer Georgian sashes with slender glazing bars. The faults we meet most are rotten cills on the street side, sashes painted shut, and cords that broke years ago and were never replaced. Where old glass survives, we keep it and reset it in fresh putty.
What matters most in Hackney
Most of Hackney's windows are plain Victorian box sashes, two-over-two or four-over-four with horns, and that is why restoration comes first here. A sash that has been painted shut for years, or whose cords snapped long ago, is usually still a sound window once it is freed, re-corded and rebalanced, and a rotten cill on the street side can be cut back and pieced in rather than thrown away.
Many of these terraces still hold their original glass, so glass and glazing is the second priority: each old pane lifted out with care and bedded again in fresh putty. The finer Georgian sashes on Clapton Square, with their slender bars, need the same care. In De Beauvoir, the tall ground-floor sashes sit in stucco surrounds, and careful painting is what keeps water out of the joints and the timber from rotting again.
Conservation in Hackney
Hackney has 35 conservation areas, including De Beauvoir, Clapton Square and Stoke Newington, and several carry Article 4 directions. Our guide to conservation areas and Article 4 directions explains how it works. Check your own address on Hackney Council's conservation area and Article 4 map, and we will go through what your windows need at the survey. Where an application does need drawings, we can prepare them. That is separate work and we quote for it.
Common questions
Can you restore the sashes in a De Beauvoir villa?01
Yes. The tall ground-floor sashes on De Beauvoir's villas are heavy, and their weights and pulleys take a lot of wear. We re-cord, rebalance, and splice new timber into bottom rails that have rotted, leaving the stucco surround undisturbed. Most villas need repair rather than replacement. See restoration for the full process.
Can you double glaze the sashes in a Stoke Newington terrace?02
Usually, with slimline units fitted into the existing sashes. Victorian two-over-two sashes are generally deep enough to take them. If the house is listed, or in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction, we advise on consent before any work is agreed. Where a sash is too thin or too decayed to carry the extra weight, we say so and suggest draught-proofing instead, which on its own makes most of the difference.
Do you cover all of Hackney?03
Yes: Stoke Newington, Clapton, Hackney Central, Dalston, De Beauvoir Town, London Fields, Homerton, Hackney Wick and Shoreditch, and across the borough line to Finsbury Park and Walthamstow. Send photographs for a free digital survey and we will tell you what the windows need before anyone visits.
Book a survey
Send us photographs of your windows and we'll tell you what needs doing and what doesn't, with a written quotation. The digital survey is free.
Free digital survey with written quotation