Restoring a Sevenoaks frontage: how a sash job is planned

This page explains what happens between the first phone call and the last frame going in, for a frontage or a whole house in Sevenoaks. It is written for the kind of job this site exists for: three sashes or more, usually the whole front of the house at once.

1. The survey looks at the front as a whole

The surveyor records each opening separately: width and height, the depth of the reveal, the shape of the head (square, segmental or arched), the sill, and the bar pattern of whatever is there now. If earlier owners changed some windows, the survey works out what the original pattern was from the ones that survive, or from the house next door.

2. The window type is settled by the building, not by preference

Listed: timber. Flat: planning permission first. Unlisted house: uPVC sash or aluminium heritage sash, your choice. The planning guide covers how to check each one.

3. Everything is made together

All the frames for the front are made in one batch, so the colour, the woodgrain and the sightlines match exactly. Two sashes ordered this year and three next year rarely do.

4. One scaffold, one installation

Upper-floor sashes need scaffold or a tower. On a small job that costs about £500, and on a three-storey villa the survey prices it. Doing the whole front at once means paying for it once. Each sash is taken out and replaced in the same day, so the house is never left open overnight.

5. Making good

The fitted prices include making good inside and out and taking the old frames away. Rotten sills, damaged brick arches and bay supports are only visible once the old frame is out or the surveyor has looked closely, so they are priced at the survey rather than guessed.

Why single windows are not quoted

The installer that handles enquiries works across west Kent, Surrey and Sussex and comes to Sevenoaks for frontages and whole houses. A single sash repair is better done by a local joiner, and you will get a quicker visit that way.

See seven example frontage and whole-house jobs with their typical totals, or ask for a survey.