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A six-over-six box sash window in a dark green wall, rain running down the glass outside, its six parts numbered.

Sash windows and period joinery · Chester

Keep the window. Lose the draught.

We restore, draught-proof and make box sash windows for Chester’s Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses, from the walled city to Hoole and Curzon Park. Most of the windows we are asked to replace only need a week of the right work.

Restore or replace? 01632 960 418
  • 4.9 from 168 Google reviews
  • Listed building specialists
  • 10-year guarantee

What we do to it

A box sash, in six parts.

  1. The glass. Original crown or cylinder glass, ripples and all. We keep every pane we can and match the ones we cannot.
  2. Parting bead. The strip that keeps the two sashes apart. Renewed with a brush-pile seal set into it, so the upper sash stops rattling.
  3. Meeting rail. Where the sashes meet, and where most of the cold gets in. A seal here does more than any other.
  4. Staff bead. The inside bead that holds the lower sash. Refitted with a seal and pinned, not glued, so it comes off again.
  5. Pulley and cord. Waxed cotton cord over a cast pulley. New cords, oiled pulleys, and the sash slides with one finger.
  6. The weight. Cast iron in the box behind the frame, balanced to the sash. Rebalanced when we reglaze, so nothing creeps down.

Draught-proofed, re-corded, the old glass kept. Same window.

Chester’s windows

Four kinds of sash, and the streets they are on.

Chester has two thousand years of building inside a two-mile wall, and most of its windows are the last three hundred of them. We know which glazing bar belongs to which street before we open the van.

  1. A Georgian six-over-six sash window in a brick wall with a stone surround, climbing roses round it

    Georgian, 1714 to about 1830

    Six over six, inside the walls

    Watergate Street, King Street, Abbey Square, Nicholas Street

    Thin glazing bars, often an ovolo or astragal moulding, crown glass that throws the street into ripples, and no horns. Most are in listed buildings, so repair is the rule and every change is drawn first.

  2. A row of Victorian red-brick villas with bay windows, white sashes and gables, cars parked in front

    Victorian, 1840 to 1900

    Two over two, with horns

    Hoole Road, Hoole, Queens Park, Liverpool Road

    Bigger panes once plate glass was cheap, and the horns at the bottom of the upper sash to stiffen the joint. Bay windows of three sashes, each with its own pair of weights.

  3. Black-and-white timber revival frontages above a covered gallery, with a red-brick building beyond

    Black-and-white revival, 1850 to 1914

    The frontages over the Rows

    Eastgate Street, Bridge Street, Northgate Street, St Werburgh Street

    Timber-framed fronts built in the Victorian revival, with leaded casements and sashes behind the carved timber. The joinery is the facade, so it is repaired in place, from the gallery or a tower.

  4. A brick house front with a white panelled door under a small hood and pale blue sash windows either side

    Edwardian, 1901 to 1914

    Small panes over one big one

    Handbridge, Curzon Park, Upton, Hoole

    An upper sash in small panes over a single-pane lower, deep sills and moulded horns. Often the best-made windows in the house, and the ones most often lost to plastic.

A tall sash window in a deep, dark reveal, looking out over the rooftops of a city

A sash in its reveal. The frame is often older than anything else in the room, and sounder.

Restore first

A window that has lasted 150 years can last another sixty.

The timber in a Victorian sash was slow-grown redwood, cut from trees that were centuries old, and it is denser and more stable than anything sold for windows now. What fails is the paint, the putty, the cords and the beads, and every one of them can be renewed.

Historic England’s guidance on traditional windows says the same: repair and upgrade first, replace only what cannot be saved. That is the order we quote in, and the survey tells you, window by window, which is which.

Sashes restored since 2009
3,140
Of the sashes we survey, saved rather than replaced
9 in 10
Days on site, a typical six-window house
5
Guarantee on our joinery
10 yrs

Before and after

Grey, split and painted shut, then white and sliding.

Two different windows, the kind of state we start from and the kind we leave. Most of the work is invisible from the street: the new cords, the seals in the beads, the splice in the sill.

Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys.

Before: a weathered timber window, the paint gone grey and split, in a crumbling plaster wall After: a freshly painted white sash window with its shutter box beside it and green trees outside

What we do

Everything a sash needs, and the door beside it.

One firm from the survey to the last coat of paint. We do not send a salesman, and we do not subcontract the joinery.

  • Draught-proofing

    Brush-pile seals routed into new parting and staff beads, the sashes eased and rebalanced. The rattle and the whistle go; the window looks exactly as it did.

    From £340 a window

  • Full overhaul

    Sashes out, old paint and putty off, joints pegged, splices let in, reglazed in linseed putty, primed in red lead substitute, two coats on, hung on new cords.

    From £780 a window

  • Cords and weights

    Snapped cords replaced, weights checked and rebalanced, pulleys freed. Often an hour a window, and the sash stays where you leave it.

    From £190 a window

  • Timber repair

    Rotten sills and bottom rails cut back to sound wood and a new piece of matched timber scarfed in. Most rot we see is the bottom 10 centimetres.

    From £180 a repair

  • Slim and secondary glazing

    Slim double glazing in new sashes made to match, or slimline secondary glazing inside the reveal where the old glass or the listing says keep it.

    From £520 a window

  • New windows made to match

    Box sashes made in our workshop to your old ones, moulding for moulding, in Accoya or Sapele, single or slim double glazed, horns and all.

    From £2,600 a window

  • Period doors

    Six-panel Georgian, four-panel Victorian, glazed Edwardian. Stripped, repaired, rehung and draught-proofed, or a new one made to the old pattern.

    From £650

  • Internal shutters

    Shutters painted into their boxes for sixty years, freed, repaired and hung again. Closed at night, they are the warmest thing you can do to a sash.

    From £380 a window

Guide prices

What sash work costs in Chester, 2026.

Per window unless it says otherwise, VAT included. After the survey you get a fixed price in writing, window by window, and that is the price you pay.

  • All prices include VAT at 20 per cent
  • Five windows or more, 5 per cent off; ten or more, 8
  • No deposit for restoration work
  • Consent drawings for listed houses included in the quote

  1. Survey and written condition report

    Free

    Every window looked at, a photograph of each, and what we would do, window by window. Free, and yours to keep.

  2. Draught-proof a box sash

    from £340

    Brush-pile seals in new parting and staff beads, sashes eased, cords checked.

  3. Re-cord and rebalance

    from £190

    New waxed cotton cords both sides, weights checked, pulleys oiled.

  4. Full overhaul

    from £780

    Repairs, re-cord, draught-proof, reputty, prime and paint, sashes back in the same day.

  5. Splice repair

    from £180

    Rotten timber cut out and a new piece of matched timber let in, to a sill or a rail.

  6. Replacement pane in restoration glass

    from £95

    Cylinder glass with the ripple, cut to the old pane and bedded in linseed putty.

  7. Slimline secondary glazing

    from £520

    Made to the reveal, in a slim frame painted to match, lifts out for cleaning.

  8. New sashes in your existing box

    from £1,450

    Made to match, slim double glazed in a putty-line profile, hung on new cords.

  9. New box sash window, made to match

    from £2,600

    Box, sashes and sill in Accoya, slim double glazed, primed and painted.

  10. Internal shutters, freed and rehung

    from £380

    Paint cut, hinges freed or replaced, panels repaired, bar and catch refitted.

  11. Period front door, restored

    from £650

    Stripped, repaired, rehung and draught-proofed, furniture refitted.

  12. New panelled door, made to match

    from £2,900

    Hardwood, to the old pattern, with its frame and fanlight if it needs them.

Restore or replace?

Six questions, and what we would tell you at the survey.

A verdict, a guide price for the whole house and the time on site. It is the same reasoning Rhys uses standing in your front room, and the survey confirms it window by window.

Which kind?
Push a screwdriver into the sill. What happens?
The glass?
What bothers you most?
Is the house protected?

The workshop, Steam Mill Street

From the survey to the last coat, by hand.

A canal-side unit five minutes from the Eastgate, with a spindle moulder, two benches and a wall of planes. Every new sash on this page was made in it.

  1. A joiner marking a line on a length of timber with a pencil, shavings on the bench

    The survey

    Every window measured, photographed and tested: the timber with a bradawl, the glass by eye, the cords by hand. You get the report in writing, window by window, before anybody quotes.

  2. Wooden hand tools on an old workbench in a sunlit workshop

    The drawing

    For new sashes, the old one comes to the workshop and is drawn full size, moulding by moulding. For a listed house, that drawing goes to the council with the application.

  3. A metal hand plane with a wooden knob resting in a drift of pale shavings

    The timber

    Accoya for anything that faces the weather, Sapele or slow-grown redwood where the old windows were redwood. Machined here, finished by hand, never a stock profile.

  4. Curled wood shavings piled deep on a workbench beside a plane

    The glass and the putty

    Old glass cleaned and kept, new panes in restoration glass, all of it bedded in linseed putty and left to skin before the paint. Slim double glazing goes in a putty-line profile.

  5. A joinery workshop with heavy wooden benches, vices and tools on the walls, daylight from a window

    The fitting

    Sashes out in the morning and back in by the evening, cords and weights balanced to the new glass, seals in, two coats on, and the room cleaned before we go.

We match the moulding, not the catalogue.

The glazing bar is how you date a sash, and the first thing a stock window gets wrong. These are the three we cut most, drawn as the joiner sees them, in section.

  • Ovolo

    Georgian, the walled city

  • Astragal and hollow

    Late Georgian and Regency

  • Lamb’s tongue

    Victorian, Hoole and Queens Park

Doors and shutters

The joinery either side of the window.

Six-panel Georgian doors under fanlights inside the walls, four-panel Victorian doors on Hoole Road, Edwardian doors with glazed tops in Handbridge, and internal shutters folded into their boxes and painted shut sixty years ago. We strip, repair, rehang and draught-proof them, or make a new one to the old pattern.

Door and shutter prices
  • A dark green six-panel front door with a brass knocker under a fanlight, ivy round the doorcase
  • A grey Edwardian front door with small glazed panes in its top half, ivy over the brick and a cat on the step
  • A pair of dark panelled internal shutters, one folded a little open with warm light at its edge

Recent jobs

From King Street to Tarvin, this year.

  • White sash windows with white louvred shutters and an iron lamp on a red-brick Georgian front
    King Street, inside the walls Six sashes overhauled, shutters rehung, all in listed building consent. Listed6 windows
  • A symmetrical red-brick Georgian front with white six-over-six sashes and a white doorcase
    Upton A Georgian farmhouse front: eight six-over-six sashes draught-proofed, two new. Restoration8 windows
  • A brick house front with a white panelled door under a small hood and pale blue sash windows either side
    Queens Park Front door stripped and rehung, both sashes re-corded and sealed. Door and sashes3 days
  • A small grey-painted cottage window from inside, green leaves outside the four panes
    Tarvin Cottage windows freed from sixty years of paint and hung again. Repair1 day
A long run of black-and-white gabled timber frontages with tall chimneys under a blue sky
The black-and-white revival: carved timber, leaded casements and sashes behind them, repaired in place.

Reviews

What Chester says once the sashes slide.

4.9 168 Google reviews Also on Checkatrade
  • ★★★★★

    Three firms told us to replace them. Rhys put a bradawl in every sill, found two that needed a splice and said the rest would outlive us. The front room is warm for the first time since we moved in.

    Catherine, Hoole Road

    Nine sashes overhauled and draught-proofed · March 2026

  • ★★★★★

    The lower sashes were beyond saving. They copied them exactly, horns and all, and you honestly cannot tell which are new from the road. The neighbours have asked for the number.

    Tom and Abi, Curzon Park South

    New sashes, slim double glazed · November 2025

  • ★★★★★

    Grade II, and I dreaded the paperwork. Jo drew the secondary glazing, sent it to the council and phoned me when it was approved. The old glass is still there and the traffic noise has gone.

    Mr Davies, Watergate Street

    Listed building, secondary glazing · January 2026

  • ★★★★★

    Our shutters had been painted shut since the 1960s. They are back in use, they fold away like they should, and closing them at night has made a real difference to the cold.

    Priya, Queens Park

    Shutters freed and rehung · October 2025

  • ★★★★★

    The door was split and dropped and I was quoted for a uPVC copy. They stripped it, let in new timber at the bottom and rehung it. It shuts with a click now.

    Gareth, Handbridge

    Edwardian front door restored · June 2026

  • ★★★★★

    Small job, two windows with snapped cords. They came when they said, were done by lunchtime and left the sills cleaner than they found them.

    Liz, Christleton

    Cottage windows re-corded · August 2026

Who comes to the house

Five of us, and nobody else.

  • Rhys MorganFounder and joiner. Twenty-two years on Chester’s windows, and still does every survey.
  • Hannah OwenWorkshop lead. Draws and makes every new sash, and matches the mouldings by hand.
  • Dan PritchardFitter and glazier. Cords, weights, putty and the seals that stop the draught.
  • Sian LloydPaint and preparation. Lead-safe stripping, primer, two coats, and the clean-up.
  • Jo BennettOffice, consent drawings and diaries. Talks to the council so you do not have to.
  • 10 years Guarantee on our joinery and workmanship, insurance-backed
  • 50 years The timber maker’s above-ground warranty on every Accoya sash
  • Lead-safe Old paint tested, stripped wet or with extraction, never dry sanded
  • £5m Public liability insurance, certificate on request

Questions

Asked at every survey.

Anything else, ring Jo on 01632 960 418, or come and see the workshop on a Saturday morning.

Is restoring really cheaper than replacing?

Usually, and by a long way. A full overhaul with draught-proofing is from £780 a window; a new timber box sash made to match is from £2,600, and a good uPVC copy of a sash is not far behind it. Restoration also keeps the old glass and the proportions, which is what a period house is worth. Where a sash is past saving we say so, and make one to match.

Can you put double glazing in my existing sashes?

Rarely well. An old sash is about 45 mm thick with a shallow rebate, and a double glazed unit is heavier and deeper than the glass it was made for. What works is new sashes made to the old pattern with slim units in a putty-line profile, hung in your existing box frame. If you want to keep the old glass, slimline secondary glazing inside the reveal does most of the same job.

We are on Hoole Road. Can we just put uPVC in?

Hoole Road is a conservation area. On a house that is not listed, replacing windows is often permitted development unless an Article 4 direction covers the street, and flats and shops need planning permission whatever happens. The honest answer is that we check Cheshire West and Chester Council’s map for your address before we quote, and tell you what it says, even if it means you do not need us.

Our house is listed. What needs consent?

Like-for-like repair, draught-proofing and re-cording usually need no consent. New sashes, a change of glass, slim double glazing and, on some buildings, secondary glazing all need listed building consent from the council. We draw what we propose, Jo sends it in, and nothing is made until it is approved. Allow about eight weeks.

Will we be without windows?

No. For an overhaul the sashes come out in the morning and are back in, sealed and painted, by the evening, with a board in the opening while they are out. For new sashes we make them first and swap them in a day.

What about the lead in old paint?

Paint on a pre-1960s window almost always contains lead. We test it, strip it wet or with an extracted infrared stripper, sheet the room, and never dry sand it. If you have small children or are pregnant, tell us at the survey and we plan the job round you.

Do you repair the black-and-white frontages in the city centre?

Yes, the timber joinery: casements, sashes, frames and the moulded boards around them, usually from the Rows gallery or a tower. The leaded lights themselves go to a leaded light maker we have worked with for fifteen years, and come back to us to refit.

Looking down a long shopping street of black-and-white timbered buildings with covered galleries on both sides

Where we work

From Steam Mill Street, a quarter of an hour in every direction.

  • City centre, inside the wallsEastgate Street, Watergate Street, Northgate Street, Abbey Square 5 min
  • BoughtonChristleton Road, Tarvin Road, Boughton, Steam Mill Street 3 min
  • HooleHoole Road, Faulkner Street, Westminster Road 6 min
  • Queens ParkQueens Park Road, Victoria Crescent, Lower Park Road 8 min
  • HandbridgeEaton Road, Handbridge, Overleigh Road 9 min
  • Curzon ParkCurzon Park North, Curzon Park South, Hough Green 10 min
  • UptonLiverpool Road, Upton Lane, Long Lane 10 min
  • ChristletonVillage Road, Plough Lane, Little Heath Road 10 min
  • TarvinHigh Street, Church Street, Tarporley Road 15 min

Further out, Tattenhall, Kelsall or the Wirral? Ask. For a whole house we will come.

Directions to the workshop
A white suspension footbridge leading over the river to villas among trees on the far bank
Over the Dee to Queens Park, where half the villas still have their sashes.

Free survey

Tell us about your windows.

Rhys comes round, tests every window, photographs it and writes up what he would do, window by window, with a fixed price. Free, and you have it within five working days.

Open Monday to Friday, 8 to 5

Opening hours
Monday 8am to 5pm
Tuesday 8am to 5pm
Wednesday 8am to 5pm
Thursday 8am to 5pm
Friday 8am to 4pm
Saturday 9am to 12pm · Workshop visits
Sunday Closed
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