Timber Sash Windows – A Video Guide

Video Transcription:

Hi everybody, it’s Rob from Thames Valley Windows here again. This time we are talking about timber sash windows.

A more classic and elegant British window you will ever see. Here we have a classic example of a box sash window (also known as a double-hung sliding sash) with a single Georgian bar in the middle and the traditional cords and weights.

You’ll see timber sash windows in period homes on every terrace row in London or most major cities in Britain. Most of them are traditional sliding sash window and what’s happening is the dumbbell is inside the box mechanism here, which allows the window to be opened and closed, and it’s a counterbalance mechanism.

This particular one is the classic, which is weights and cords, and then there’s another one called string balance. There are two forms of it, there’s a straight forward spring, and there’s a second where the spring is covered with a cap, and that’s called Elegance, but this one is the traditional mechanism that you would find single glazed timber sash windows in Victorian homes.

If you’re building a modern home with straight forward brickwork, then the spring balances is a more sensible option because there’s no hidden pocket in the brickwork essentially. Still, there’s a vast choice of both Teknos and Farrow and Ball colours and stains, precisely the same as all of our other timber products. The bottom jamb is a hardwood to prevent future maintenance and rotting. You’ve got all the choices of the Farrow and Ball or the Teknos colour range.

They have lots and lots of different restrictors, means by which its travel can be prevented for safety and security. So these are the by far, in a way, the most popular type of travel restrictors; they’re called angel restrictors. So what you do is you open the timber sash window, you lift them, and you’ll notice there’s a little piece of metal poking out at the side here. They catch on a metal plate, and they prevent the window from opening very far, so both security and child safety and to de-engage them pop them in with a finger on either side.

They’re spring-loaded; you can now lift the window past all the way up to the top; when it comes back down, you’ll hear it pops them back out, and now when you go back up, they’ve re-engaged, so they’re self-resetting as well. Brilliant, outstanding design of a travel restrictor.

There are lots and lots of different forms of furniture. We’ve got relatively traditional looking clasps here and cam locks, but there are about four or five or even six various forms of opener and opener clasp. You can have traditional lift pulls where you just put your fingers underneath at the bottom, and I tend to specify two for wider windows and often, we’ll have a wrinkle at the top to pull the top slider down well.

You can have anything you like in the glazed field, lead work, glazing bars, obscure glass. It really is your choice in terms of what we put in the design for the actual glazed area. Now, there’s another thing about wooden sash windows; they are quite typically and well not all the time but certainly perhaps more often than any other casement window used in conservation areas and period properties.

Thames Valley covers the entire gambit of timber window frames necessary to pass the planning permission approval for conservation officers in listed buildings and conservation areas. We also do a very modern version that matches current building regs in the new build; for example, it’s called Secured by Design, and it has extra beefed up locking mechanisms and so forth.

Now, when you come to the installation of a replacement timber sash, they’re interesting. In most Victorian properties, you’ll see a series of timber linings and then architraves covering them on the inside. Those timber linings prevent the window from falling into the room, and the brickwork prevents it from falling into the road.

Now, you can’t take a sliding sash window out without removing all of that interior woodwork. So Thames Valley Windows provides a service when we quote for timber sash windows. We also provide a separate quote for all the labour costs necessary to remove the timber liners, all the architraves and sometimes the window board on the inside as well. Then we replace all of those when we do the window installation, and then all the customer has to do is paint over them, and the whole job’s finished.

So timber sash windows are definitely a window for not only a discerning customer, but you might even say a discerning home. It’s essential to do the installation right; they’re quite an unusual window because usually, they’re into stepped brickwork. To take them out, you’ve got to remove the liners and the architraves. Hence, it takes skill, dedication and expertise.

Preferably having fitting teams with a joinery background to do them properly, and if they’re not done correctly, they look awful, so it’s imperative to get this right. Thames Valley Windows, we’ve been in business for nearly 40 years, and we’ve got teams that have been trained in all of these areas to make sure that your implementation of replaced sash windows goes as smoothly as possible.

Sustainably Sourced and Energy Efficient Timber Sash Windows

Factory-applied micro-porous coatings

Multi-layer, twist & warp resistant timber.

All our double glazed timber windows and doors are factory finished and manufactured to the highest standards to achieve exceptional insulation and superior performance without compromising its traditional authentic style.

If you’re looking for inspiring ideas for your home renovation or new build, read our latest timber sash window project.