Compare Sash Window Quotes in Rochester
Georgian, Regency and Victorian houses around Rochester were very often built with sliding sashes, and owners increasingly want to keep them working or put them back. Sash work ranges from a simple re-cord to full replacement of every box frame.
Send a short description of the windows and Kent Windows will pass your enquiry to independent specialists covering Rochester, Kent. If suitable firms have space in their diaries, as many as four could offer a survey and quote. It is free to ask and you are under no obligation.
Your Options for Sash Windows
Sound original sashes can usually be overhauled rather than replaced: new cords, spliced timber repairs and brush draught-proofing stop the rattles and keep the original glass. On listed buildings, discreet secondary glazing can improve warmth without touching the sashes.
If the sashes have failed but the boxes are sound, new double glazed sashes can be made to fit. A full timber replacement or a uPVC slider are the remaining options, with uPVC cheaper but usually heavier in appearance.
Signs Your Sashes Need Attention
- A broken cord leaving a sash dropped or propped open
- Draughts and rattles at the meeting rails and beads
- Rotten cills and bottom rails, often worst on exposed elevations
- Sashes painted or swollen shut
- uPVC sliders whose balances no longer hold the sash up
Swapping unsympathetic casements back to sashes is a popular way to restore a period house, but check the planning position first.
During the survey, ask for the box frame and both sliding sashes to be checked. Cords, weights, pulleys, draught seals and soft timber can then be priced separately from new glazing or a complete replacement.
From Survey to Finished Sashes
- Condition survey: every sash, box frame and cill is checked, with a recommendation for each window.
- Planning check: listed buildings and Article 4 areas may need approval before work begins.
- Manufacture: new sashes or boxes are made to measure, usually over several weeks.
- On site: overhauled sashes go back into their boxes on fresh cords, or new windows are fixed in, weighted and adjusted.
- Decoration: beads and linings are refitted, decoration completed if agreed and each sash tested.
Overhauls are often done a window at a time, with the opening boarded while the sashes are in the workshop. Ask whether upstairs sashes need a scaffold or tower and whether it is included.
Questions for the Survey Visit
A good sash survey separates sound timber from failed timber, window by window. Heavier double glazed sashes may need heavier weights or stronger balances, and there has to be room in the box for them to work.
Check that the horns, mouldings and pane pattern will match the originals. Agree the extent of painting, how any original glass or internal shutters will be protected, and ask for each sash to be demonstrated at handover.
What Do Sash Windows Cost?
The guide range for sash windows is £950–£16,500. One uPVC vertical slider or a single sash overhaul sits near the bottom, while a complete set of new timber sash windows sits toward the top. Bespoke and listed-building work can exceed the range.
Confirm in writing whether it includes VAT, access towers or scaffold, painting, splicing repairs and any plaster or lining work around the boxes.
Planning and Consents in Rochester
On a house that is not listed, swapping worn sashes for new sashes of matching design rarely needs planning permission. Changing timber to uPVC, or sashes to casements, may need planning permission in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction, and any change to a listed building's windows usually needs listed building consent. Before ordering, speak to Medway Council.
A brand-new sash window counts as controlled work, which a scheme-registered installer can certify for you. Re-cording, splicing and draught-proofing existing sashes count as repair, so no certificate is involved. Historic England's traditional windows guidance is useful background for period homes.
Also Covering Neighbouring Areas
Specialists covering Rochester also work in: Strood, Chatham, Gillingham, Hoo St Werburgh, Walderslade, Rainham. Each specialist sets its own area, so include your postcode.
Next Steps
Tell us how many sashes you have and whether you would prefer overhaul or replacement. Kent Windows introduces enquiries and does not repair or fit windows itself. Firms joining the network are asked for insurance details and references, so ask each one for examples of sash work on houses of a similar age to yours.
These are starting points for discussing sash windows in Rochester.
Sash Window Questions from Rochester
How much do sash windows cost in Rochester?
The guide range is £950–£16,500, from one uPVC slider or a single sash overhaul to a whole house of double glazed timber sashes.
Should I overhaul or replace my old sash windows?
If most of the timber is sound, an overhaul is usually cheaper and keeps the original character. Replacement makes sense where rot is widespread.
Do I need permission to replace sash windows in Rochester?
Not usually on an unlisted house if the new windows look the same. Listed buildings need consent, and Article 4 conservation areas may restrict changes of material or style.
Can I get double glazed timber sash windows?
Yes. New timber sashes can take slim double glazed units, with heavier weights or balances. On listed buildings the council decides whether this is acceptable.