Village cottages and river valley damp.
Eynsford is a small village with an unusually high concentration of old buildings, and it sits right in the middle of my run between Blackheath and the Kent towns. Listed cottages, flint and brick, weatherboarding and a conservation area that covers much of the village.
The windows here are often older and smaller than the town sashes I work on elsewhere, and a good many are in buildings where the joinery is part of what is protected. That calls for a lighter touch and a lot more hand work.
It also calls for honesty about what is worth doing. On a small cottage window, a careful repair and a proper repaint is frequently all that is needed, and I would far rather tell you that than sell you something bigger.
Book A Free Survey
High Street, Eynsford. Photo by Peter Trimming, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Darent runs through the village and the valley holds damp. Mist sits low through the colder months, ground level stays wet, and shaded elevations dry slowly. For timber windows that means a longer wet season than a few miles up on the higher ground, and decay that starts low and works upwards.
Older cottage windows also tend to sit closer to ground level than town house sashes, with less overhang above them. Splashback from paths and driveways, and water running off the wall face, both end up on the same few inches of timber. Sills, bottom rails and the lower frame corners are where nearly every Eynsford repair starts.
Every job in Eynsford starts the same way: a free survey, an honest conversation about what your windows actually need, and a written quote with no pressure attached.
Complete restoration of original timber sashes, done the traditional way.
Find out moreDecayed sections cut out and matching new timber spliced in.
Find out moreSnapped cords and unbalanced sashes put right so windows glide again.
Find out moreCracked panes, failed putty and slimline double glazed upgrades.
Find out moreMany of the older properties in Eynsford and the surrounding Darent valley villages are listed, and the surviving historic joinery is a large part of why. Windows, doors and frames in these buildings are often irregular, hand made and unlike anything you could order, which is exactly the reason they need saving rather than swapping.
I repair this kind of joinery by hand, matching timber, section and profile to what is already there, and I keep everything that can be kept. Where draught proofing is wanted it is fitted so that it is invisible and fully reversible, which is normally the only version a conservation officer will accept.
Yes, Eynsford, Farningham, Shoreham, Otford, Lullingstone and the surrounding villages, and across to Sevenoaks, Swanley and Dartford.
Not at all, it is normal in buildings of that age and it is exactly why they need a joiner rather than a window fitter. Everything is measured and made individually.
Yes. Timber doors, frames, porches and general period joinery are all part of the work, alongside sash windows.
Yes, regularly. Hand matched repairs, traditional materials, and anything that is likely to need listed building consent flagged clearly before work begins.
Based between Blackheath and the Medway towns, covering South East London, Kent and Essex. Not on the list? Get in touch anyway, I can often help with specific projects.