Hertfordshire
Beautifully crafted windows and doors for Berkhamsted.
From the brick terraces between the canal and the railway to the wider roads north of the line, we fit windows, doors, conservatories, roof lights and lanterns, porches and secondary glazing across Berkhamsted. Ten-year written guarantee, honoured by us.
Berkhamsted sits along the floor of the Bulbourne valley, and almost everything that shaped the town is within a few hundred metres of the water: the High Street, the Grand Union Canal, the West Coast main line, and the castle earthworks beyond them. The housing follows that history closely. Dacorum's conservation area appraisal divides the town into three identity areas — the High Street, the canal, and Charles Street — and each holds a different kind of house, from seventeenth-century frontages to tight Victorian terraces to the wider inter-war roads north of the railway.
We fit across all of it. Flush sash and casement windows in timber-effect uPVC suit the older terraces, where a slim frame and the right glazing bar matter more than anything else. Slim-frame aluminium works on rear extensions and newer houses. Everything is double glazed as standard and drawn to fit the opening in front of us, not ordered off a size chart.
Which Berkhamsted homes do we fit windows for?
All of them, though the town's three broad house types each ask for something different. Along the High Street and its side streets, Dacorum records red and yellow brick with slate or tile roofs, surviving chimney stacks, sash windows set under brick or stone lintels, and panelled front doors. Eleven properties in the eastern stretch of the High Street are statutory listed; five of those date from the seventeenth century.
Between the canal and the railway is the densest housing in Berkhamsted — George Street, Ellesmere Road, Bedford Street and William Street — almost all nineteenth century, built for the trade the canal and railway brought. The appraisal describes Ellesmere Road as a long, almost unbroken terrace of two-storey properties, and notes that the older houses there are buff brick, which is worth knowing: red brick replacements strike a discordant note against them. Station Road, developed after 1877, is more varied. Two-storey brick frontages under slate roofs, bay windows that often carry up to the first floor, and Arts and Crafts detailing in the windows and doors of individual houses.
North of Station Road, the council notes, almost everything was built after 1935 — detached and semi-detached houses on larger plots, each with its own garage. Those take a wider range: casements, tilt-and-turn on upper floors, aluminium bi-folds across the back.
Charles Street, Shrublands Road, Kings Road and Doctor's Commons Road form the third area, residential and largely Victorian, with low front boundary walls and consistent eaves lines that a badly proportioned replacement window will break.
What does the Berkhamsted Conservation Area mean for your windows?
It means the front of your house will be looked at more closely than the back. Berkhamsted Conservation Area is one of twenty-five in Dacorum. It covers the historic centre along the High Street and London Road up to the West Coast main line, and takes in the castle, the canal and the residential streets around Charles Street. Northchurch, immediately to the north-west, is a separate conservation area with its own boundary, as are Potten End and Frithsden nearby.
Dacorum's appraisal names the loss of timber windows and doors as one of the alterations that erodes the area's character, and records that a number of Article 4 (2) Directions have already been adopted within Berkhamsted, listed in an appendix to that document. An Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights over what the council describes as "porches, replacement of windows and doors and painting of the exterior of a building". Before you commit to anything, check with Dacorum whether an Article 4 direction applies to your street.
Where a period frontage has to keep its proportions, a timber-effect uPVC flush sash sits back into the frame the way the original does, and a woodgrain foil avoids the flat white finish that dates a Victorian terrace badly.
How far is Berkhamsted from our Hemel Hempstead base?
About five miles. Dacorum's own appraisal places Berkhamsted roughly five miles west of Hemel Hempstead, with the A41 running between the two. It is one of the closest towns we cover, which matters more than it sounds — the survey, the delivery and any return visit are a short drive rather than a scheduling problem. We have no showroom, deliberately: windows are best chosen in the light they will actually sit in, so we come to you. Call 01442 600 101 and we will ring back within two business hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Questions, answered.
Which windows suit a Victorian terrace in Berkhamsted?
Usually a flush sash in timber-effect uPVC. It closes flat into the frame rather than sitting proud of it, which is how the original windows on those terraces were made, and a woodgrain foil reads far better than gloss white against buff or yellow brick. On the canal-side terraces we would also look hard at the glazing bars, because getting those wrong is what makes a replacement window announce itself from across the street.
Do I need permission to replace windows in the conservation area?
That depends on your address, and Dacorum is the only source worth trusting on it. Conservation area status alone brings extra controls, and a number of Article 4 (2) Directions have been adopted within Berkhamsted that remove permitted development rights for replacing windows and doors. Check with the council whether an Article 4 direction applies to your street before ordering. We will raise it at the home visit if we think it applies.
Do you carry out home design visits in Berkhamsted?
Yes, and there is no charge for them. We come to the house, measure up, and talk through what would suit the frontage — which is a different conversation on Ellesmere Road than it is on a post-1935 semi north of the railway. No hard sell. You get an itemised quote in writing afterwards, and an official survey follows before anything is manufactured.
What does the ten-year guarantee cover?
The installation, in writing, for ten years — and it is honoured directly by Dukes rather than passed to a third-party insurer. That distinction matters: the number on your guarantee is the same number you rang to book the home visit, and the people who answer it are the people who fitted the windows. Alex Dukes co-founded the company to work that way.
Do you fit secondary glazing in Berkhamsted?
Yes. It is often the sensible answer for period houses near the High Street or the canal where the existing window stays put — you keep the original frame and its appearance from the street, and add a second layer behind it. It is also worth considering on the streets closest to the West Coast main line. We will tell you honestly whether it suits your situation better than replacement.
Which other areas near Berkhamsted do you cover?
Northchurch, Potten End, Frithsden, Aldbury, Tring, Hemel Hempstead and the villages between them, along with the wider area across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and North London. Berkhamsted is close enough to our Hemel Hempstead base that we cover it comfortably, and being nearby is part of what makes the guarantee straightforward to honour.
Is there an offer on at the moment?
Yes. Right now there is £500 off your first installation of £5,000 or more — the full terms are on our special offer page.
Book a home visit.
Book a home visit and we'll talk through your project at your house — no call centre, no hard sell. We call back within two business hours, and you'll get an itemised written quote.