Timber windows in Forest Row, for listed buildings and those who want them

Timber windows are sold here plainly, and recommended where they are needed. In this area that mostly means listed buildings: the 43 in East Grinstead town centre, the 22 in the West Hoathly conservation area, the 24 in Hartfield's, the 16 in Forest Row's, and the farmhouses and manor houses scattered across every parish.

When timber is the answer

• Listed buildings. Any change to a listed building's windows needs listed building consent from Wealden, Mid Sussex or Tandridge. Consent almost always asks for timber, made to the pattern of the originals.
• Flats in a conservation area, such as above the shops on Hartfield Road in Forest Row or on East Grinstead High Street, where planning permission is needed and timber is often the safest choice.
• Owners who simply want timber, and accept the upkeep.

What timber costs you over time

A timber flush casement costs roughly twice a uPVC flush casement of the same size. Expect to repaint a painted timber window for the first time about three years after it goes in, and then on a regular cycle after that; the damp, shaded walls of houses at the forest edge make keeping up with it matter. Repainting is not a service the installer provides, so the brushwork, or hiring a decorator for it, falls to you as the owner. For an unlisted cottage outside a conservation area, a flush uPVC casement in cream or green is the sensible choice for most people. The two Colemans Hatch examples on the example jobs page show the difference on one cottage.

Timber sash windows

Box sashes in timber are made to measure, with weights and pulleys or spiral balances, and slim double glazing where consent allows. If consent for new windows is refused, secondary glazing fitted inside the old sashes is the usual way to cut draughts and noise; a unit for a typical sash opening is an indicative £450 to £1,200 supplied and fitted, including VAT, as a market range rather than a quote.

A typical job

Illustrative example of a typical job

Five timber box sashes for a listed Georgian-fronted house in Forest Row

A listed house in Forest Row with an eighteenth-century painted brick front. Listed building consent from Wealden District Council is needed before any window is changed.

• Five timber box sash windows, about 900 by 1800mm, made to match the existing glazing bars
• Painted white, slim double glazing or single glazing, whichever the consent allows
• Consent drawings and the council's decision come before any order is placed

From £13,250 installed (five windows from £2,650 each), including VAT.

Here timber is the right answer because the listing requires it. Where consent for new windows is refused, secondary glazing behind the old sashes is the usual route.

All eight example jobs.