Sliding sash windows for Reigate's Victorian houses
Reigate has two sorts of sash house. On the roads round Wray Common and Somers Road the front sashes are protected. On the Victorian streets elsewhere, a uPVC sash at about half the price of timber is a sound choice.
Outside the conservation areas
South Park's cottages went up from 1863 on land sold by the National Freehold Land Society. Redhill's station streets and the terraces of Earlswood are of the same railway generation. Most have lost their first sashes already, often to top-hung casements that never suited the openings. A uPVC vertical sliding sash, white, puts the proportions back for £1,505 to £2,190 a window.
The heritage colour or woodgrain version, at £1,775 to £2,575, is worth it where the neighbours still have painted timber in cream or off-white.
Inside them
White painted sashes predominate around Wray Common, and the Somers Road villas of the 1850s have classical sashes. On the street side of those houses, the Article 4 direction makes the change from timber to uPVC a planning matter, and the council's appraisal calls uPVC alien to the area. A timber box sash at £2,650 to £3,800 is the realistic answer there. See the timber page for how that compares over time.
| Window | Size (mm) | Supplied and fitted, inc VAT |
|---|---|---|
| uPVC vertical sliding sash, white | 900 x 1800 | £1,505 to £2,190 |
| uPVC vertical sliding sash, heritage colour or woodgrain | 900 x 1800 | £1,775 to £2,575 |
| Aluminium heritage sash, slim vertical slider | 900 x 1800 | £2,710 to £4,305 |
| Timber box sash | 900 x 1800 | £2,650 to £3,800 |
| Tall conservation sash, slim units and true bars | 1100 x 2400 | £4,700 to £7,900 |
Where aluminium sits
The slim aluminium heritage sash is a premium product in its own right. At £2,710 to £4,305 it costs about the same as timber, so it is not a cheaper alternative to it. People choose it for the narrow profile and the finish that never needs paint, usually on a house outside the conservation areas.
Tall sashes
Some of the 1850s stucco villas on Reigate Hill have tall ground-floor sashes well beyond the standard size. A conservation sash at 1100 x 2400 with slim units and true bars costs £4,700 to £7,900. Most of those houses are inside the Somers Road area, so the drawings go to the council first.
Send a photo of the front and the installer will tell you which kind of sash house it is.