whyohwhyohwhy
Member
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- 1
- Location
- Surrey
On top of a bunch of other (very expensive) woes with my Grade II listed house recently, a freak accident has resulted in a shattered window pane (as far as we can tell it's no one's fault - likely a stone flicked up by a passing vehicle). The window is a large, three-paned thing (the house is a former shop) and (luckily) only one pane is affected. Our insurers have said they won't cover the replacement because it would cost less than our excess but they did get someone round to put a sticky thing on the window to hold it together so we're hoping it's safeish in the short term.
My partner and I have spoken to a company each today who have both said that because the window is low to the ground (less than 800mm) the pane would need replacing with safety glass, rather than the like for like replacement that we would want to keep the window looking right and to stay on top of all the planning laws, etc. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here. This was an accident and I just want it to be sorted quickly but my understanding is that replacing with safety glass would mean securing planning permission, listed building consent, etc, and that this could take many weeks, leaving our house vulnerable. And of course there is also the potential for the whole pane to fall out on a passerby (worst case scenario!). My understanding is a like for like replacement would require no faff and time wasted with consents and approvals, but based on what we've heard today, building regs mean companies won't do it (I understand the need for building regs but it seems particularly silly in this instance as we have secondary glazing anyway that wouldn't shatter should someone fall against it).
Does anyone have any advice or experience for a situation like this? Is there any way to get by the safety glass requirement on the basis that the property is listed and needs to be treated with sensitivity? I'm having a really hard time finding information, guidance or even anecdotal experiences online. How should I proceed? Any help would be so appreciated - having a bit of a tough time at the moment and this is feeling like the final straw right now!
My partner and I have spoken to a company each today who have both said that because the window is low to the ground (less than 800mm) the pane would need replacing with safety glass, rather than the like for like replacement that we would want to keep the window looking right and to stay on top of all the planning laws, etc. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here. This was an accident and I just want it to be sorted quickly but my understanding is that replacing with safety glass would mean securing planning permission, listed building consent, etc, and that this could take many weeks, leaving our house vulnerable. And of course there is also the potential for the whole pane to fall out on a passerby (worst case scenario!). My understanding is a like for like replacement would require no faff and time wasted with consents and approvals, but based on what we've heard today, building regs mean companies won't do it (I understand the need for building regs but it seems particularly silly in this instance as we have secondary glazing anyway that wouldn't shatter should someone fall against it).
Does anyone have any advice or experience for a situation like this? Is there any way to get by the safety glass requirement on the basis that the property is listed and needs to be treated with sensitivity? I'm having a really hard time finding information, guidance or even anecdotal experiences online. How should I proceed? Any help would be so appreciated - having a bit of a tough time at the moment and this is feeling like the final straw right now!
