What affects the cost
No two windows cost the same to reglaze. These are the things that move the price, so you can read a quote — ours or anyone else's — and know what you are paying for.
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The factors, roughly in order
1. Glazing bars
The single biggest driver. A Victorian one-over-one sash takes two vacuum units per window. A Georgian six-over-six takes twelve small ones, each measured, ordered, rebated, bedded and puttied separately. The glass costs more per square metre in small sizes, and the bench time roughly follows the number of panes.
2. Size
Glass is priced by area, and tall Regency or Victorian sashes can be two square metres of glazing per window. Very large single panes also take two people to handle and heavier counterweights.
3. Special shapes
Arched heads, fanlights and curved bays need templates and shaped units, which cost more than rectangles of the same area and can take longer to arrive. Usually only one or two windows on a house are affected. Special shapes has the detail.
4. Condition of the timber
Rot in a bottom rail or sill, loose joints, missing beads, a box with a broken pulley — all repairable, all extra time. The survey finds them; the quote itemises them per window so you can see which windows are carrying the cost.
5. Access
Ground- and first-floor sashes that can be brought inside are the straightforward case. Windows above a conservatory, on a top floor with no room to work inside, or facing a lightwell may need ladder or tower access, which is priced and, on London streets, sometimes licensed.
6. Listed buildings
The method is the same; the paperwork is not. Section drawings, a sample sash and time spent with the conservation officer are extra items when a house is listed. The consent application fee itself is the council's. Listed buildings & conservation areas explains what is involved.
7. Finishing and extras
Exterior putty, primer and paint on the reglazed sashes are included as standard. Full redecoration, new furniture, secondary work such as shutters or sills, and colour changes are optional items.
How a quote is put together
After the survey each window gets its own line, split into the parts that make it up:
- Glazing — the vacuum units for that window, by size and shape, and the labour to rebate and fit them.
- Restoration — the timber repairs that window needs, and nothing it does not.
- Draught-proofing — seals, new parting and staff beads, shown separately because the VAT treatment differs.
- Cords, weights and pulleys — renewed on every reglazed window; the extra weight is part of it.
- Finishing — exterior putty, primer and paint.
- Access — only where a window needs it.
You can take the whole scope, or leave out windows or items — some owners do the front elevation first, or reglaze the bedrooms on the road and only draught-proof the rest.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Do the house in one visit rather than several: the survey, the workshop set-up and the glass order are shared across every window.
- Decide the scope before the glass is ordered; changes after that mean a second lead time.
- Clear access inside and a parking space outside save paid hours on the day.
- If a window is a later replacement with thick modern bars, say so — it may take a cheaper unit or need less work.
- Keep the historic glass where a conservation officer wants it; a sash left single glazed costs nothing to reglaze.
What is not in the price
Consent application fees, scaffolding licences, and any work on the surrounding wall, plaster or shutters unless it is asked for. Nothing on this page is a quote; the survey is.
FAQ
Why is there no price list on this site?
Because two windows that look the same from the street can be an hour apart in work: one has sound joints and a single pane per sash, the other has six panes, a rotten bottom rail and a sill that needs splicing. A price list would either overcharge the first or undercharge the second. Quotes are per window, after a survey, itemised so you can see what each part costs.
Is there a minimum number of windows?
There is no fixed minimum, but the workshop, the survey and the glass order are the same overhead for one window as for ten, so small jobs cost more per window. If you are thinking of doing the house in stages, ask for the whole house to be surveyed and quoted in one go — the stages can then be priced consistently.
Is reglazing cheaper than replacement?
Usually, and by a margin, for a house with sound frames — because the box frames, sills, architraves, shutters and plaster around them are all left alone, and nothing has to be made off site. Where a window is genuinely beyond repair, remaking a sash to the original pattern is still less work than a whole new window in a period opening.
Does the quote include painting?
The exterior finish — new putty, primer and paint on the reglazed sashes — is part of the job, because bare putty and stripped timber cannot be left. Redecorating the whole window inside and out, or changing colour, is a separate item you can add.
What about VAT?
Glazing, timber repairs and decoration are standard-rated. Draught-stripping is currently zero-rated for VAT (until 31 March 2027, after which a reduced rate is due). Quotes show the elements separately so the right rate is applied to each.
Get a per-window quote
A window count, the style and your postcode are enough for a first conversation; the survey turns it into an itemised quote.