Heritage window costs in Dorking: seven worked examples

Illustrative example of a typical job

Four casements in an old Westcott cottage

Westcott still has many buildings from before 1800 on the lanes off the A25, a few of them thatched. Cottages like these have modest openings under low eaves, and replacement frames from the 1970s and 80s are often too heavy for them. This example assumes the cottage is not listed.

House

Older brick cottage off the A25, not listed

Windows

Four uPVC flush casements: at the front, two downstairs under the brick arches and a two-light casement upstairs in the gable, each about 1000 by 1200 mm, plus a small 600 by 900 mm casement at the back

Finish

White inside and out, slim flush sashes

Included

Scaffold for the upstairs opening, removal of the old frames, making good inside and out

Typically £4,550 to £7,450, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

If the cottage turns out to be listed, uPVC is unlikely to be accepted and the windows would be timber, priced at the survey.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Five casements on an interwar semi off Ashcombe Road

Ashcombe, Keppel and Calvert Roads were built between the wars on part of Bradley Farm. Houses of that kind were built with casements, often in pairs with small top lights, and the flush style puts back the flat, painted-frame look the originals had.

House

Interwar semi-detached, front and back

Windows

Five uPVC flush casements, about 1000 by 1200 mm

Finish

White, with top lights where the originals had them

Access

Checked at survey; no scaffold assumed for a job of this size

Typically £5,500 to £9,750, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Three sashes on an 1890s Dorking terrace

The artisan terraces of the 1890s, on roads such as Rothes Road, Ansell Road, Wathen Road and Hart Road, were built with vertical sliding sashes. On a narrow two-storey front that usually means one sash downstairs and one above it, with a third at the back.

House

1890s brick terrace, two at the front and one at the back

Windows

Three uPVC vertical sliding sashes, about 900 by 1800 mm

Finish

Sage green on the two front sashes, plain white on the rear one; two-over-two glazing bars

Included

Scaffold for the first-floor sash, removal, making good

Typically £5,550 to £7,850, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

Several of these streets were named in a council proposal for an Article 4 direction. Where one applies, the front windows need planning permission first, and the answer may be timber. Check your address before choosing; Planning in Dorking explains how.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Steel-look garden windows on a 1930s Westhumble house

Most of the houses on Pilgrims Way in Westhumble were built before the Second World War, after the Camilla Lacey estate was sold in 1932. Metal casements were common in houses of that decade, and owners who want that slim dark line on the garden side usually choose steel-look aluminium.

House

1930s detached, rear elevation, ground floor

Windows

One wide steel-look aluminium window about 1800 by 1200 mm with a pair of opening casements in the middle, and two single windows about 1200 by 1200 mm

Finish

Black, slim glazing bars in a small-pane grid

Access

Ground floor, no scaffold

Typically £7,550 to £13,500, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Five sashes on a Victorian semi near Tower Hill, in uPVC

After the railway reached Dorking in 1849, the National Freehold Land Society built around Tower Hill and on Arundel and Howard Roads. A semi from that period typically has four tall sashes across the front, two up and two down, and a smaller fifth sash to the side.

House

Victorian brick semi, front elevation, not listed and not under an Article 4 direction

Windows

Five uPVC vertical sliding sashes, priced at about 900 by 1800 mm each

Finish

White, two-over-two glazing bars

Included

Removal and making good; access for the first floor is assessed at survey

Typically £7,550 to £10,950, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Five painted timber sashes on a similar Victorian semi

A similar yellow brick Victorian semi of the same period, this one with a pair of sashes in its ground-floor bay, fitted with new timber box sashes. Some owners want timber whatever the rules say. On a listed building, or where an Article 4 direction applies, it may be what the council expects.

House

Victorian yellow brick semi with a ground-floor bay, front elevation

Windows

Five timber box sashes, about 900 by 1800 mm

Finish

Painted white; plain sashes, some with a single vertical bar in the top sash

Upkeep

A first coat of paint is due roughly three years after fitting, and then again at regular intervals; this is down to you, as the installer does not repaint

From £13,250 installed (five windows at from £2,650 each), supplied and fitted, including VAT.

Set this beside the uPVC version above. Timber costs more at the start and needs paint for as long as you own the house, so it makes most sense where planning requires it.

Illustrative example of a typical job

Whole house in flush casement: a 1930s detached house in Deepdene

The break-up of the Deepdene estate between the wars produced the houses of Deepdene Vale and Deepdene Park. A detached house of that kind often has a canted bay at the front and nine or so casement openings elsewhere.

House

1930s detached, every window

Windows

Nine uPVC flush casements about 1000 by 1200 mm, and a three-unit uPVC flush canted bay about 2000 by 1400 mm

Finish

White, with top lights matching the originals; the bay sits on a painted brick base

At survey

Bay support if the bay has dropped, and any rotten sills, are priced after the survey

Typically £13,300 to £23,000, supplied and fitted, including VAT.