Glass and glazing repairs
We replace cracked and broken panes in timber sash windows, reputty failed glazing and source period glass, including crown and cylinder glass, so a replacement pane is not the one that stands out.
Single panes are usually done in a visit; a whole window is reglazed while it is apart for restoration.
London · Glass and glazingWritten quotationsA studio of The Barnsbury Group, established 1980
What we do
- Single-pane replacement
- Reputtying and glazing-bar repair
- Period glass sourcing
- Toughened and laminated glass where building regulations require it (low-level and door glazing)
- Obscured and textured glass to match
- Secure boarding for emergency breakages
Acoustic glass
Acoustic glass is two thin panes laminated with a sound-damping interlayer, fitted as a single pane into your existing sash. It cuts traffic and street noise noticeably, keeps the original sash and sightlines, and needs no consent because nothing changes externally. It is the right choice for a noisy road where consent for double glazing is not given or the sashes are too fine to take a sealed unit. We fit it with draught-proofing, because much of the noise through an old window comes in around the sashes.
Stained glass encapsulation
Encapsulation seals an original stained or leaded panel inside a sealed glazing unit, between two panes of clear glass. The panel stays exactly as it is, still original and still visible from both sides, but it is no longer exposed to the weather. It stops further lead fatigue, keeps dirt and water out of the came, and adds the insulation of a double glazed unit to a window that had none.
It suits a panel that is sound but tired: lead that has started to soften, putty that has gone, a panel that has begun to bow under its own weight. We repair the panel first, because sealing a failing one simply preserves the fault. Where lead has sagged badly the panel is releaded before it goes in.
What it asks of the window is depth. An encapsulated unit is thicker than the single panel it replaces, so the sash or the door has to take it, and some fine sashes cannot. We check that at the survey and say so before anything is taken out.
In a listed building, encapsulation changes the glazing and so is likely to need listed building consent. In a conservation area the position depends on your address. We advise at the survey. Where an application needs drawings, we can prepare them. That is separate work and we quote for it.
Common questions
Can you match old wavy glass?01
Yes. We source period glass, including crown and cylinder glass from salvage and specialist suppliers, so a replacement pane does not stand out. Original glass is kept wherever it is sound.
Do I need toughened glass?02
Only where building regulations require safety glass, which in a sash window usually means low-level panes and glazing in doors. There we fit toughened or laminated glass; elsewhere a like-for-like pane is normally right.
Can you reglaze without removing the sash?03
A single cracked pane is usually replaced in one visit, and whether the sash comes out depends on where the pane is and how the window is built. When a sash does come out, we remove it from inside, so it rarely means scaffolding.
Does acoustic glass work in a single-glazed sash?04
Yes. Acoustic glass replaces the single pane in your existing sash, so nothing changes externally. We fit it with draught-proofing, because much of the noise through an old window comes in around the sashes.
Can my stained glass be double glazed without losing it?05
Usually, by encapsulating it. The original panel is sealed inside a glazing unit between two panes of clear glass, so it keeps its appearance and is protected from the weather. The window has to be deep enough to take the thicker unit, which the survey will show.
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.