Handyman Service in Nunhead

Replacing the windows in a Victorian terrace here is often not an option. Conservation area status covers a good deal of SE15, original timber windows contribute directly to the character the designation protects, and in any case a sound frame with a hundred years left in it is not an obvious candidate for a skip. Secondary glazing is the answer that keeps both the window and the warmth.

What a secondary unit does that a sealed unit cannot

Secondary glazing is an independent pane fitted on the room side of the existing window, and the wide air gap between the two is what makes it effective. For noise in particular it outperforms a modern sealed unit, because sound reduction depends heavily on the distance between panes and on the two panes not being coupled together. A gap of a hundred millimetres or more does real work against traffic and aircraft noise. For heat it is a substantial improvement over single glazing while leaving the original window untouched and fully reversible.

Measuring a reveal that is not square

Nothing in a house of this age is rectangular. A reveal is measured at top, middle and bottom for width and at both sides and the centre for height, and the smallest figure governs. Out-of-square openings are handled either with a packing strip behind the frame or, where the discrepancy is visible, with a scribed timber sub-frame that presents a square opening for the unit to sit in. Fitting a rigid frame into a tapered reveal without allowing for that leaves a wedge of daylight at one corner and a unit that will not slide properly.

Depth, catches and getting at the original window

The secondary unit has to be openable, because the window behind it still needs cleaning and the original still needs to be operable for ventilation and escape. Horizontal sliders suit wide openings, vertical sliders suit a tall sash, and hinged or lift-out panels suit a small window that is rarely opened. Before anything is ordered, the reveal depth is checked against the original window's own hardware: a stay, a handle or a curtain arrangement that fouls the new frame will only be discovered at installation otherwise. The same reveals and the same hardware run through the adjoining district covered by our handyman service in Peckham.

Sealing the new frame and not sealing the old one

The performance depends on the inner frame being genuinely airtight against the reveal, so it is bedded on a continuous seal rather than fixed dry and caulked afterwards. What must not happen is the original window being sealed shut as well. The outer window needs to remain slightly leaky, because the cavity between the two panes has to be able to dry to the outside. Sealing both faces traps moisture in the cavity, and the result is condensation running down the inside of the original glass where nobody can reach it.

Ventilation has to come from somewhere else

A room that was heated and draughty becomes a room that is heated and sealed, and the moisture a household produces has to have a route out. That usually means confirming the extraction in kitchen and bathroom actually works and discharges outside, with any fan needing replacement or rewiring passed to the electrical services team in Forest Hill, and keeping a trickle vent or a small opening available. Rooms that go from draughty to tight without that adjustment develop cold-corner problems within a season, and where a dark bloom has already appeared on a reveal the surface treatment falls to mould removal for landlords in Nunhead.

Hills, steps and getting panels to the house

This is steep ground, and many of the terraces here sit above a flight of steps with a narrow gate at the bottom. Glazed panels are heavy, awkward and unforgiving of a slip, so the route in is walked before the delivery rather than after. Where a large panel cannot be brought up in one piece, a unit made in two coupled sections solves it. Cavities and voids opened around a reveal during fitting occasionally reveal activity that belongs with professional wasp nest removal in Nunhead and is far easier to deal with while the opening is exposed.

How a fitting visit runs

The work divides into a survey visit, where every opening is measured and the hardware behind it checked, and a fitting visit once the units have been made. Preparation for the second is straightforward: curtains, blinds and poles down, sills cleared, and furniture pulled back from the wall. Cost follows the number and size of openings and the time on site rather than a rate per window. The wider spread of tasks appears on the handyman service.