Sash Windows and Casement Windows What Other's are Saying Superb timber doors supplied and fitted by our skilled carpenters. Making your home Secure, Warm and Beautiful. Bespoke timber doors handmade to orderto your requirements, delivered nationwide. We manufacture doors for painting from Accoya, a sustainable timber. We find that Accoya is the most stable and durable timber available. All Accoya doors come with a 10 Year Guarantee. We also manufacture doors from hardwoods and offer a 2 year guarantee. Quality and craftsmanship since 1977 We manufacture a range of doors including period doors such as : Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian DoorsAs well as a range of 1920's and 1930's Doors, Arts and Crafts Doors and Contemporary Doors.Supplied and Fitted all over London and the home Counties.What is your dream home? Close your eyes and picture it… you're thinking about what it looks like from the outside aren't But what if you find a house with good bone structure, in a
great location, at the right price, that is sadly lacking inIt isn't the end of the world. part of our series on exterior makeovers (see part three) we talk pebble dash and UPVC; common problem of overcoming poor renovations. This nineteenth-century terraced house in south-west London had been the victim of poor twentieth-century updates. render, uPVC windows and a concrete roof all played a part in stripping away its period charm. Johnny Holland of Hackett Holland reveals how he nursed it back to 'Perhaps it is a very British thing, to want to show a smart public face, but I am inclined to think that restoring the concord of the street, by bringing the house back to its original state, is a more effective method of improving the look of the outside than making a property stand out on its own. In the second half of the twentieth century, many houses like this were badly altered, which ruined the harmony of their streets.
Here, we wanted to reinstate 'Original Victorian sash windows had slim glazing bars, rarely more than 2.1cm, creating a delicate division between panes. building regulations can be an obstacle to achieving this delicateThey require heavier double-glazed units to be installed, often meaning ugly thick glazing bars to support them. can get dispensation if you live in a listed building or conservation area, where single-glazed replicas can be reinstated; this is what we did here. Ventrolla is a great company that can repair original windows, and provide authentic replacements. double glazing is mandatory or desired, new windows can be fitted with special thin, light-weight double-glazing - try SlimliteIf this is beyond your budget, you can get the look of a nice slim glazing bar by applying the wood directly to the glass on both sides with a special adhesive. There are numerous joinery companies making authentic traditional sash windows, but they
should be FENSA certified.' 'The front bay window of the house had been taken off to make room for a parking space, and replaced with a flat uPVCIn houses of this period, the decorative mouldings were mass-produced to a high standard, so the whole street would have been the same. To restore the window to its proper form, we got permission from the neighbours to let a stone specialist take a mould of theirs, which we then had reproduced in jesmonite, which is relatively cheap and durable.' 'The front of the house had been badly rendered in a concrete pebble-dash, which is terrible for old buildings, as it traps 'It is effectively glued to the surface beneath, and it can pull the fine face from the brickwork. My advice is to test a patch, andFortunately, here it had been badly applied, leaving the brick underneath relatively unscathed. it with a poultice - a process similar to waxing legs - and finally repointed it, filling the joints between the bricks with a lime
render to soften and define the brickwork. Many builders will try to do this in grey cement, which should be avoided at all costs, asIf the brick underneth is damaged and you can't go back, there is still hope. I would recommend re-covering the house in a natural hydraulic lime render such as UNILIT, which has a more natural look and can be made to look like stone. This also lets the house breathe.' 'The guttering here was plastic, which we replaced with good-quality ironwork from the TuscanI also love J & J W Longbottom in Yorkshire, which makes wonderful authentic cast-iron rainwater goods, and many other items such as decorative grilles, in its traditional foundry. For a more affordable option, supplies the Heritage Cast Aluminium range, which looks very similar to cast iron and will last forever.' 'Victorian houses have slim roof rafters, undersize by today'sSo if the roof has been replaced with heavy concrete tiles - as this one had - over time, this can lead the roof to sag
For listed buildings, the most popular types of slate to use are the British Welsh or Burlington. However, if you can find a good supplier, a more cost-effective alternative is Spanish slate, which comes in at around £1 per tile as opposed to £5 for theChinese slate is even cheaper, but you do gamble with the quality; I would recommend staying within Europe. For skylights suitable for older houses, try Lumen Rooflight or The Rooflight Company.' 'We replaced the cast-iron railings with a low masonry wall, a yew hedge and a timber picket fence, which is affordable and can be painted in nice colours. As a final touch we trained a wisteria over the front door, using a stainless-steel vine-eye.' part three of our series on house exteriors. Before and After: From ranch house to rustic modernism The London Door Company is renowned for making the highest quality period and contemporary doors to complement London’s vast architectural styles.