Timber windows in Steyning: when you need them and what they cost to keep

Timber is the original material of nearly every old window in Steyning. It is also the most expensive to buy and the only one that needs painting.

We supply timber flush casements and timber box sashes. We will tell you plainly when you need them and when you do not.

When timber is the right answer

The conservation area alone does not require timber for a house that is not listed. The case for timber is strongest on the 109 listed buildings inside the conservation area, where any change to the windows needs listed building consent and the council will normally expect like for like. It also suits an owner who simply wants timber and is happy to maintain it.

Homeowner standing on the garden path repainting a ground-floor timber casement window in a flint cottage wall — Repainting is down to the homeowner: the installer fits timber windows but does not come back to paint them.

The upkeep

A new painted timber window should get its first fresh coat after about three years, and from then on it needs doing regularly, more often on a south or west wall that takes the weather coming over the Downs. Leave it too long and the bottom rails and sills soften.

The installer does not offer a repainting service, so keeping the paint up is your job, or your decorator's, for as long as you own the house. That is the cost nobody puts on the quote.

What it costs against the alternatives

A timber flush casement costs about twice a uPVC flush casement of the same size. A timber box sash is from £2,650 installed per window, against a uPVC sliding sash at a little over half that. The clearest comparison is the same Steyning cottage priced both ways on the what it costs page.

Repair before replacement

On a listed house the council's management plan for Steyning wants historic windows kept and repaired wherever possible, and notes that well-kept old windows can last more than 200 years. If your windows are original, get a joiner's view on repair alongside any quote for new. For heat loss on a listed sash, secondary glazing is often the route consent allows; as an indicative market range, a unit for a 900 by 1800 mm sash opening costs about £450 to £1,200 including VAT.

To talk it through, call 01903 948046, or send your details.