Sash window repairs and restoration in Pimlico
We restore, repair and draught-proof timber sash windows in Pimlico and in Warwick Square, Eccleston Square and St George's Square. The housing is Thomas Cubitt's stucco terraces of the 1830s to 1860s, still largely intact. Nearly all of Pimlico lies within the Pimlico Conservation Area, and many of the terraces are listed.
Pimlico's windows
Cubitt built Pimlico to a pattern, and the windows follow it. The terraces are tall, stucco-fronted and uniform, with sashes that diminish floor by floor: the tallest on the first floor behind the balconies, the smallest under the cornice. Most are one-over-one or two-over-two with plate glass, as mid-Victorian taste preferred. The stucco reveals and cills are the weak point. Water sits on the cill, works behind the paint into the bottom rail, and the timber rots from underneath while the face still looks sound. Because the terraces are uniform, a badly matched sash shows from the end of the street. The balconies make the first-floor sashes awkward to reach from outside, which is one reason we work from inside.
What matters most in Pimlico
In Pimlico, water sits on the cill, slips behind the paint into the bottom rail and rots it from underneath, while the face of the sash still looks fine. That is why restoration leads in Pimlico, cutting out the hidden decay and splicing in new wood, with painting close behind to seal the cill and rail so the same thing does not happen again.
Cubitt's terraces were designed to be uniform, with sashes shrinking floor by floor up the elevation, so a poorly matched sash shows from the end of the street. Where one is beyond saving, we make the replacement to follow the original exactly, plate glass and all. The first-floor sashes behind the balconies are awkward to reach from outside, so much of this work is done from within the room.
Conservation in Pimlico
Most of Pimlico sits within the Pimlico Conservation Area and many of Cubitt's terraces are listed. Our guide to conservation areas and Article 4 directions explains how it works. Check your own address on Westminster City 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
Why do the cills on Pimlico houses rot when the paint looks fine?01
Because the stucco reveal and cill hold water against the bottom rail. It gets in through a hairline crack in the paint and rots the timber from beneath. We cut out the soft wood, splice in new, and repaint with the window apart so the underside is sealed too. Left alone, the rot spreads into the box and the cill itself, and the repair grows. See painting.
Can I draught-proof a listed Pimlico flat?02
Yes. Draught-proofing is a repair: the seals sit in grooves in the sashes and beads, and nothing changes outside. It stops the rattle the tall first-floor sashes are prone to, and takes noticeable street noise out of the room.
Do you cover all of Pimlico?03
Yes: Warwick Square, Eccleston Square, St George's Square, Belgrave Road, Lupus Street, Grosvenor Road along the river, and the streets toward Vauxhall Bridge Road and Victoria. Send photographs for a free digital survey first.
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