Heritage windows

Timber windows in Dorking: when you need them and what they ask of you

Timber sash and casement windows are made and fitted for Dorking houses. They are the right answer on a listed building and sometimes under an Article 4 direction. Elsewhere, most owners are better served by uPVC or aluminium in a heritage style.

When timber is the right choice

• Listed buildings. The old town has well over a hundred, from the High Street to Rose Hill, Dene Street and Cotmandene. Window work on them needs listed building consent, and the expected answer is timber made to the existing pattern.
• Article 4 streets. Where Mole Valley's Article 4 directions apply, in parts of the Dorking and Brockham conservation areas, the front windows need planning permission. Timber is the safest application.
• Owner preference. Some people simply want timber, and that is fine.

Cost

A timber box sash is from £2,650 installed per window. Timber flush casements cost about twice as much as uPVC flush casements of the same size. The cost guide sets five timber sashes beside five in uPVC on a house of the same type on one house.

Upkeep

On a Dorking house, new painted timber should get its first fresh coat about three years after it goes in, and then be repainted at regular intervals for as long as the windows last. The south- and west-facing sides usually show wear first. Leave it too long and the bottom rails and sills go first.

The installer fits timber windows but does not provide a repainting service, so keeping the paint up is the owner's responsibility. Budget for a decorator, or your own weekends, over the life of the windows, not only for the day they go in.

If the house is listed and timber is out of reach

Secondary glazing fitted inside the existing windows is often accepted on listed buildings, because the original frames stay. It is covered on the planning page.