FINE JOINERY slot-in replacement sash.
Engineered for long-life & low maintenance but also a low-cost solution because it blends into your existing (100 year old) frames.
Essentially we know of 5 ways to tackle the 'ageing sash window problem' - here is our appraisal of the pro's & cons of each (do tell us what you think?):
| Description | Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fit secondary glazing | Effective | High cost; unattractive; difficult cleaning, condensation, bulky in depth, the sash frames will still need renovating. |
| 2 | Refurbish & Weatherstrip sashes (single glazing) | Reduced drafts & sound penetration, sticking windows eased. | Limited benefits as still single-glazed so will not achieve current buildiung regulations 2011 full-frame insulation requirements.</abbr> Probably not good value-for-money. Temporary & limited solution (tinkering). |
| 3 | Refurbish existing glazed sashes (as item 2). Cut-out the rebates to take a sealed unit. | Retains original appearance reasonably closely, smart, smooth sliding | Installing double-glazed units into existing glazed sashes is a bad idea. Sash windows are designed to be as slim as possible. To fit DG sealed units is AT LEAST DOUBLING the weight & size of the panes (often 4 times original weight; and will require that a lot of that already optimised (for slimness) timber is removed. Even then the technical need for sufficient edge-cover and/or drained & vented frames [required for the double-glazed units] is likely to be compromised. STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED. The market has recently seen the availability of ultra-slim sealed units (requiring less timber removal). There are 2 types: very, very expensive with micro-spacers; and normal but 4mm gap & narrow edge spacer. In the view of fenestration experts the latter are technically suspect & ignore hard-learned lessons of the past. Plus they provide inferior insulation (below current regulations) and also the above note applies. We will therefore only provide these in very special circumstances (& at client risk). There are a number of issues (which are especially relevant in rising sashes): overloading the sash woodwork with extra weight; cutting away the glazing bar to take 12mm units; accepting units with reduced edge protection (less than 10yr warranty is a clue); expecting 4-way cruciform joints to stand up to extra loads without leaking or breaking. Reduced Edge Cover = Reduced Lifetime. |
| 4 | New replacement sash windows (double-glazed to 2011 standards) | Smart, effective, long life, low maintenance (assumes good quality timber& workmanship & microporus finishes).
|
High cost & disruption (lot of making good). For the windows to look right they need to be as slim-profiles as the originals (difficult to achieve with double-glazing sealed units). [Important: Ensure at least 6mm drained & vented glass perimeter clearance also (but ideally more)]. RugbySash technically advanced windows - we think a perfect solution. |
| 5 | Replace just the glazed sashes with 2010 equivalents to fit the existing frames | Retain original appearance Design strength for DG units Long Life Low Cost due to retaining existing box frames (even 100 year-old frames are typically suitable for refurbishment) |
If traditional Joinery then sections will of necessity be thicker than original sashes (see item 3 above). RugbySash technically advanced sashes are very close matches to the original and have no compromises in quality, lifetime, maintenance or function. We use full 20mm units with Warm Edge Spacer, 'low E' Heat Reflector & toughened glass. Existing box frames may need refurbishing (usually just painting but sometimesy simple carpentry). Varies from clean & redecorate to, occasionally, some cutting-out splicing-in/filling. Very poor condition frames may require new cills to be fitted. |
Do your existing sashes look like this?
Single-glazed & seen better days?
Better not to have new windows
- only fix what's broken
Insert Slot-In energy eSashes to achieve the following: |
|---|
| Retain original slim Victorian / Georgian appearance |
| Return to as-new functionality |
| Improve the performance to 2011 standards |
| Reduce future maintenance with stable wood & long-life finishes |
| Ensure a very long-life (another 100 years) |
In addition you will consider cost to be an important factor!
So how does it work?
It is a simple 2-stage process:
1. Refurbish existing box sash frames (usually just Painting). Local joiner/handman/decorator returns the frames to good condition & replaces old sashes temporarily.
2. We slot-in brand new engineered RugbySash, double-glazed replacement wood sashes & fit new beads. Fully weathersealed & Fixed or Sliding, Superior Balances or Weights & Pulleys.
When ordering there are options to consider:
a) Glazing bars. They are slim & neat even with double-glazing
b) Curved Head - if the top is not square then we need to know (check from outside).
Sending some photos along with your sizes is ESSENTIAL.
BTW How will you feel when your neighbour asks if you like her new sash windows but fails to even notice your 'invisible' slot-in replacements?
(will you say something ...
.....or just smile wryly & risk it)? ;-)