Sash window repairs and restoration in Highgate
We restore, repair and draught-proof timber sash windows in Highgate and in Highgate Village, Dartmouth Park and the slopes toward Crouch End. The housing runs from Georgian houses around Pond Square and the High Street to large Victorian villas on the hill. The Highgate Conservation Area is shared between Camden and Haringey, and many older houses are listed.
Highgate's windows
Highgate was a hilltop village long before London reached it, and its windows record each stage. The older houses around Pond Square, the Grove and the High Street, some from the late seventeenth century and many Georgian, have tall six-over-six sashes, a number with margin lights, in finely moulded boxes; many are listed. The Victorian villas on the hill have big two-over-two sashes and canted bays, heavy enough that worn pulleys and stretched cords show quickly. Toward Crouch End the Edwardian houses mix sashes with casements and leaded lights. Exposure is the common thread: on the hilltop, weather-side cills and bottom rails fail first. Many of the Georgian houses still have internal shutters folded into the reveals.
What matters most in Highgate
On the hilltop, the cills and bottom rails on the exposed side of Highgate's houses fail first. Restoration deals with that by splicing new timber into the failed parts and keeping the rest, which counts for a great deal where so many of the older houses around Pond Square and the High Street are listed. The Victorian villas bring a different load: big two-over-two sashes and canted bays heavy enough to wear out pulleys and stretch cords, so those need renewing before the windows run freely.
Sound painting on the weather side is what protects that repair afterwards. And because many Georgian houses here still have shutters folded into the reveals, bringing them back into use is often worth doing at the same visit, with no change to the sash at all.
What we do in Highgate
Conservation in Highgate
The Highgate Conservation Area is shared between Camden and Haringey, and many of the older houses around Pond Square and the High Street are listed. Our guide to conservation areas and Article 4 directions explains how it works. Check your own address on Camden or Haringey 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
Which council deals with my Highgate house?01
It depends which side of the borough line you are on. The village is split between Camden and Haringey, and each applies its own conservation guidance. We check the address before the survey and tell you which council applies and whether the building is listed. We also tell you what that means for the work you have in mind.
Can my listed Georgian sashes be double glazed?02
Sometimes not. Fine Georgian sashes are often too slender for slimline units, and any change to the glazing of a listed window needs listed building consent. Where consent is not given, draught-proofing and working shutters are the usual route to a warmer room.
Do you cover all of Highgate?03
Yes: Highgate Village, Pond Square, the Grove, Highgate West Hill, Dartmouth Park, Holly Lodge, the Highgate side of Archway and Archway Road, and the Edwardian streets falling toward Crouch End and Muswell Hill. The free digital survey works the same everywhere: photographs first, then a visit to confirm.
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