Full house, twelve sash windows.

The homeowner had original Edwardian sashes that had been painted shut for the best part of twenty years. Two cracked panes on the front bay. Significant draughts on the first floor, particularly in the smaller rooms at the back of the house. A heating bill that didn't make sense for a property of this size. They had had three quotes before us — one from a national firm to replace the lot with sash-effect uPVC, one from a local craftsman to overhaul and retain everything as-is, and ours.

After the home visit, the homeowner asked us to draw an option that replaced every window with a new painted timber sash to the original Edwardian profile — the same glazing-bar pattern, the same horn detail, the same slim sight-lines. We held the same paint colour on the front elevation that the owner had chosen for the rear porch, so the elevations now read together.

This street isn't covered by an Article 4 direction, so technically the homeowner could have done what they liked. We still ran the proposed detail past the conservation officer at the council — partly to be sure, and partly because if the owner sells the house in eight years, the next buyer will be reassured to see that conversation on file.

The frames were bench-made over sixteen weeks at our manufacturing partner. Hardware was specified to the Edwardian period: cast brass sash lifts on the lower rails, hooks on the meeting rails, fitch fasteners where appropriate. The glazing was a slim modern double-glazed unit, scribed in to the original beading depth, so the sight-line from the street is identical to the originals it replaced.

The house is warmer, quieter, and now wears its windows properly. The ten-year guarantee is in writing, and the paperwork was all handed over the week the job finished. The heating bill, in the first quarter after the work, dropped by an amount the homeowner described as "the answer to a question I'd been asking for a long time."