Property Maintenance in Westerham (TN16)
Westerham's centre is old and wears it plainly, and on buildings like these the fabric is generally worth matching rather than replacing. Nowhere is that truer than the windows and doors, which are easier to rip out than to put right and almost always better put right.
An old window is a repairable object
Timber windows were built to be maintained.
They come apart, and the parts that fail are the ones nearest the water — the bottom of the sill, the ends of the bottom rail, the joints at the corners. Those parts can be cut out and new timber spliced in, while the rest of the frame is very often perfectly sound underneath a failed paint film. Older joinery was also made from slow-grown timber that outlasts most of what is easily available now, which is why a hundred-year-old window that has been looked after is still there and a thirty-year-old replacement is not. Draughts, rattles and sashes that will not run are separate problems with separate fixes: new cords, adjusted beads, draught seals, and putty and glazing made good. None of that requires taking the window out of the wall.
Doors, ironmongery and the finish that protects it all
The same applies at the door. A door that has dropped usually needs its hinges and its frame attending to rather than its edge planing, and a threshold or weatherboard that has rotted can be replaced on its own. The joinery repairs and the making good are our carpenters' work. Painting is not — decorating is a specialist trade, and the decorators are ones we have used for years, brought in and run by us so there is one firm answerable when the finish is looked over. Old ironmongery is generally better freed off and refitted than swapped for something that does not suit the door, and once the timber repairs are done the coating is what keeps water out for the next several years, which means doing it in the right order: repairs, filling and sanding, priming the bare timber and the end grain, then the finish coats.
Brick frontages, and the houses towards the edges
Beyond the joinery, the brick frontages around the old centre need their pointing kept in a mortar softer than the brick, and their gutters and downpipes kept clear so no elevation stays wet for long.
Work in the centre of the town carries conservation considerations, so a repair matching what is already there is generally both the right technical answer and the acceptable one. Out towards the edges the substantial detached and semi-detached family homes need a more ordinary list — guttering, render and pointing, external timber, damp traced back to its cause, and the small jobs that have piled up. Both get the same treatment: a proper look round, and a written price item by item.
More in Westerham
Everything we do in Westerham is on the Westerham area sheet, and the full detail of how we approach this trade is on the building maintenance page.
Common questions
Q.01My windows are draughty. Do they need replacing?
Usually not. Draughts, rattles and sashes that will not run are repairs in their own right, and an original window with sound timber under a tired paint finish is worth keeping and putting right.
Q.02How much of a rotten window can actually be repaired?
More than most people expect. Decay concentrates at the sill and the bottom joints, so those sections are cut out and new timber spliced in while the sound frame stays exactly where it is.
Q.03Do repairs in the centre of Westerham need permission?
Like-for-like repair usually causes no difficulty, but anything changing the appearance of a building in a conservation-minded centre can. We establish the position before work starts rather than partway through.
Q.04Do you cover Westerham from Godstone?
Yes. We are at 27 High Street, Godstone, a short run along the A25, and we work across the TN16 area. Ring 01883 337 700 for a visit and a written price.
Thinking about building maintenance in Westerham?
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.