Walk down a Victorian street and look closely at the windows. Houses built as part of the same terrace can now have surprisingly different faces. One has slender timber sashes. Another has chunky frames. A third has lost its glazing bars altogether.
Each alteration leaves a mark on the building.
For homeowners planning a replacement, this raises an interesting question: what did the house originally look like?
The windows fitted today may be later additions. Copying them could carry an earlier alteration into the next generation of joinery. Before choosing a design, it helps to do a little detective work.
Old estate-agent photographs, original drawings and surviving windows elsewhere in the building can all offer clues. Neighbouring houses of the same age and design may help build the picture too.
Then come the smaller details.
The width of a glazing bar changes the proportions of the panes. The depth of the frame affects the shadows around the opening. A sash horn, a moulded edge or the position of a meeting rail can influence how the whole window reads from the street.
Glazing is part of that conversation. Its specification needs to work with the proposed profiles, the building’s character and any relevant conservation requirements. Surviving historic windows should also be assessed for repair and upgrading before replacement is decided.
At Prime Sash Windows, photographs of your existing windows and the surrounding building give us a useful starting point for discussing new timber joinery.
Before you send us the window you love on Pinterest, send us the house it needs to belong to.
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