Sash windows in Epsom: uPVC sashes for Victorian houses, and timber where the street needs it

Epsom's Victorian and Edwardian houses are spread through the town: the streets laid out after the 1869 enclosure along Burgh Heath Road, College Road and Worple Road, the terraces built over Epsom Court from the 1890s, and the small brick cottages of Church Road. Most have vertical sliding sash windows.

uPVC sash

A uPVC vertical sliding sash with run-through horns and proper glazing bars is what most owners of these houses choose. In a cream or woodgrain finish it looks right from the street and needs no painting. It costs a little over half as much as timber.

Timber sash

Timber box sashes start from £2,650 installed per window. They are the right choice for a listed house, and for the front of a house where an Article 4 direction applies, such as Stamford Green or Ewell Village. The Church Street appraisal notes that many original 18th and 19th century sashes survive there, and the council's advice is to repair and keep originals where possible.

New painted sashes usually want their first fresh coat about three years after fitting, and then need repainting at regular intervals for as long as you own them. The installer fits timber windows but does not come back to paint them, so that work falls to you or a decorator you hire. Add that to the higher price and it is why we recommend timber only where planning or the building itself calls for it.

Aluminium sash

Slim aluminium sliding sashes exist, but they are a premium product and cost more than the timber starting figure. They are not a cheaper alternative to timber.

Our price examples show the same four sashes in timber alongside the uPVC job below.