uPVC casement windows in Forest Row and the forest villages

Most houses between Felbridge and West Hoathly were built with side-hung casements, not sashes. That goes for the tile-hung cottages round Ashdown Forest, the interwar council houses in East Grinstead and the post-war estates such as Imberhorne. So a uPVC casement is the window most often replaced here.

Flush or chamfered

Flush casements close level with the outer frame, as a traditional timber casement does. They are the right choice for anything older than about 1930, and for houses in the Forest Row, Hartfield, West Hoathly or East Grinstead conservation areas, where the new windows need to look like the old ones to avoid planning permission. They come in white, cream, soft greens and greys, and in woodgrain.

Chamfered casements have opening sashes that sit proud of the frame with a bevelled edge. They are the plainer, cheaper option and suit the 1950s and 1960s estates, where the original windows were often metal or plain softwood with no glazing bars.

Details that matter on local houses

• Tile-hung upper floors often have shallow window heads tucked under the tile line. The surveyor measures the opening, not the old frame, so the new window does not crowd the tiles.
• Cottage windows with small panes need glazing bars in the same pattern. Bars on the outside of the glass look far better than bars sealed inside the unit.
• Sandstone cills and mullions should be kept and cleaned, not covered with a plastic cill.
• Escape windows: Building Regulations need an opening large enough to climb out of in upstairs rooms in many houses. Low-hinged escape stays solve this without changing the look.

Painted timber casements remain available, and are needed on listed buildings. For everyone else, flush uPVC gives the look without the repainting. See timber windows for the comparison.

A typical job

Illustrative example of a typical job

Four casements in a tile-hung cottage at Colemans Hatch: the uPVC option

A Victorian cottage with clay tile-hanging on the upper floor, not listed and not in a conservation area, close to the edge of Ashdown Forest.

• Four uPVC flush casements, about 1000 by 1200mm each
• Cream outside, white inside, slim flush sashes that sit inside the frame like a timber window
• Two upstairs and two down; access for the upstairs pair is assessed at the survey

Typically £4,400 to £7,800, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

The example jobs page also prices a similar tile-hung cottage in timber, so you can see what the choice costs.

All eight example jobs.