sash window refurbishment in London...

[Niallg]

Am I alone in being somewhat surprised at the number of companies in this game, not just in London, but nationwide? There are dozens of them at it just in the capital. How can there be enough business for them all? And it's virtually impossible to find any up to date reviews of anyone, even Ventrolla London, for example.

What experiences has anyone had in the last year in London with any of these companies? Is it best to simply find a good local joiner who will do the work instead? Are these sorts of companies 'over-the-top', so to speak? Who to avoid? who's good? It looks like a right minefield.

Any advice is greatly appreciated...

 

[MatthewC]

Bumping this one up as first posts take a while to appear.

You're right, it IS a minefield. My windows are not yet done as I'm waiting to have the time and opportunity to do them myself. If you can find a local joiner who will do them for a sensible price then please let us all know!

I did get a quote from Ventrolla, as did my neighbour. Their work seemed impressive but when they added up the costs for the venetian sash on my lounge, I realised that I could get a new window for the same price, if not less. However, my neighbour also got a quote from them which he accepted, so I can report that he is happy with their work (and I presume he was happy with their price!). What I can say is that their first action is to break the old wavy glass as they replace it all with new; I would NOT have been happy with that, so I'm glad I didn't go ahead. I still regret not getting my neighbours glass as I could do with some spare!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Hmm, the parting bead from ventrolla is plastic, so not so attractive. I know this as the landlord of my old rented house had this done. I don't think they did anything a competent DIYer couldn't do. They might be better than many local "joiners", but if you can find a tradesperson with good recommendations they would probably be best.

 

[Willmatt]

Hmm, the parting bead from ventrolla is plastic, so not so attractive. I know this as the landlord of my old rented house had this done. I don't think they did anything a competent DIYer couldn't do. They might be better than many local "joiners", but if you can find a tradesperson with good recommendations they would probably be best.

Very sound advice. I understand Ventrolla may sub contract and have a high turn over of staff and the quality of the work they do can be variable as a result. Specialist joiners we used on the last house recommended by the Scottish equivalent of English Heritage were about half the price.

If you ask Ventrolla about the parting beads being plastic and why they can't use timber (I.e. the white plastic parting bead will be visible to the upper inside and lower outside of the frame particularly if you don't paint your windows white) the only answers I got was how superior PVC is to timber (hence how all Georgian and Victorian windows are an anomaly) and you could try painting the PVC as they declined to use timber....easy choice then.