Sash window repairs and restoration in Knightsbridge
We restore, repair and draught-proof timber sash windows in Knightsbridge and in Hans Town, Montpelier Square and Ennismore Gardens. The housing is grand stucco terraces, red-brick Queen Anne revival houses and late-Victorian mansion flats. Knightsbridge straddles Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, and listed buildings are found throughout.
Knightsbridge's windows
Knightsbridge has two characters. The stucco terraces around Montpelier Square, Ennismore Gardens and Rutland Gate have tall sashes on the principal floors, in the manner of Belgravia. The red-brick streets around Cadogan Square and Hans Town, much of them rebuilt in the Queen Anne revival style of the 1880s, often have small-paned upper sashes over a single lower pane, and some arched or segmental heads. The mansion flats along the main roads carry very large sashes, some curved at the head, that are heavy to balance and awkward to reach. Weight is the recurring problem: big sashes on old cords. Internal shutters survive in many of the stucco houses, often still working.
What matters most in Knightsbridge
In Knightsbridge the recurring problem is weight. The mansion flats along the main roads carry very large sashes, some curved at the head, and many are still hanging on old cords. When a sash that size is out of balance it is hard to lift and awkward to reach, so restoration here is about re-weighting and re-cording properly, often from inside the flat.
The two halves of the district ask for different detail. The stucco terraces around Montpelier Square and Ennismore Gardens have tall principal-floor sashes, while the red-brick Queen Anne streets have small-paned upper sashes over a single lower pane and arched or segmental heads, each needing its own repairs. In the stucco houses, internal shutters often survive in working order.
What we do in Knightsbridge
Conservation in Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is divided between Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, each with its own conservation areas, and listed buildings are common on both sides. Our guide to conservation areas and Article 4 directions explains how it works. Check your own address on Westminster City Council's or Kensington and Chelsea 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 covers my Knightsbridge address?01
It depends on the street. The borough boundary runs through Knightsbridge, and Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea each apply their own guidance. We check the address, whether it is listed and whether an Article 4 direction applies before we quote. Where a freeholder estate's consent is needed under the lease, we check that too. Where both councils' guidance might seem to apply, as on a corner plot, we ask before advising.
Can you repair arched-head sashes?02
Yes. Curved and segmental heads are made from shaped timber, and we repair them rather than replace them wherever the wood allows. Where a top sash needs new curved glass, it is cut to the original profile. Arched sashes often bind at the head, where the curve meets the box, and easing them is part of the repair. See restoration.
Do you cover all of Knightsbridge?03
Yes: Montpelier Square, Ennismore Gardens, Rutland Gate, Hans Town, Cadogan Square, Brompton Road and the streets off Sloane Street, and on into Belgravia and Chelsea. A free digital survey from photographs is the simplest place to start, and we confirm on site before any work. Mansion blocks on Brompton Road and Knightsbridge itself often suit a building-wide programme.
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