We make the glass we fit

A glass workshop, not a window showroom

We work out of a glass processing workshop at 6 Atlas Road in Wembley. We cut, we edge and polish, we toughen, we laminate and we make up sealed units on site. That is unusual in this trade. Most companies quoting you for sealed unit replacement for replacement double glazing glass are fitters who buy the units in from a processor, which is fine on a simple rectangle and awkward on everything else, because they cannot tell you what is possible until they have asked someone else.

Controlling the glass changes what we can say yes to. An odd thickness to suit a shallow timber rebate. A shaped head taken from a template. A unit with one toughened pane and one annealed, because that is what the position actually requires. A remake because a frame turned out to be further out of square than the survey showed, which is our cost and our problem rather than a three week argument with a supplier. If you have been told that something cannot be done in glass, it is worth asking us before you accept it.

Why we would rather sell you glass than a window

We do not have a window sales team, there is no appointment at your kitchen table, and nobody here is on commission for upgrading you to a frame. That is not a pose, it is just how the business is shaped. We make glass, so a glass-only job is a good job for us. A customer who is told the truth about their frames and comes back in six years for the other elevation is worth more than one who is sold a houseful of windows they did not need.

The practical result is that we turn work down. If the glass in your window has failed and the frame is sound, we will tell you that is a cheap repair. If the frame is finished, we will tell you that too, write it down, and not take your money for glass that will fail in it.

How a job actually runs

You call 020 4634 6045 or send photographs. Photographs of the window from outside, a close up of the beading and the edge of the glass, anything stamped in a corner of the pane, and a rough tape measurement get us a long way towards a sensible conversation. From there we book a free site survey anywhere in London, usually grouped with other surveys in your area.

The survey takes twenty to forty minutes for a typical house. The surveyor measures the glass rather than the frame, records the rebate depth and the existing unit thickness, checks the diagonals, looks at the drainage slots, notes the spacer type and colour, photographs any pattern, bar layout or leaded design, identifies which positions are critical locations under Approved Document K, and checks the route into the house and the access at each window. For anything above ground floor level the surveyor establishes whether the frame is internally or externally beaded, because that decides whether the unit can be changed from inside.

You then get a written fixed quotation, itemised unit by unit, with the make-up in millimetres for each one. The price does not change afterwards unless you change the specification or something is found behind a bead that could not be seen at survey, and in that case you hear about it before any work continues. We make the units, we book a fitting date, our own team fits them, and the old glass leaves with us.

What we will tell you not to do

Honest advice is cheaper to give than to withhold, so some of it is here in writing before you ever speak to us.

• Do not replace a window because the glass has misted. That is replacing a car because the tyres are worn.
• Do not pay to have a unit drilled and vented. It is not a repair and the staining does not come out.
• Do not put triple glazing into frames built for double. The thickness, the weight and the sightlines all fight you.
• Do not do the whole house because one elevation has gone. Measure them all, price them all, then choose.
• Do not buy solar control glass for a north facing room, or acoustic glass for a quiet back bedroom.
• Be careful with the phrase A rated glass. Window energy ratings apply to a whole window, frame included. A sealed unit has a centre pane U-value. Anyone selling you an A rating for glass going into your existing frame is quoting a figure that does not apply to what you are buying.

Standards and paperwork we work to

Sealed units are made to BS EN 1279, the standard covering insulating glass units and their durability. Toughened glass is processed to BS EN 12150 and laminated glass to BS EN 14449. Where safety glass is required in a critical location, the unit meets BS 6206 Class A or the equivalent impact classification, and the pane is permanently marked so that it can be identified years later. Where glazing is also restraining people at a change in level, we work to the barrier loading requirements of BS 6180 and will usually specify laminated glass for it. Thermal specification follows the principles in Approved Document L, and where security glazing is part of the requirement, such as an accessible door or an easily reached ground floor window, we can specify laminated glass that satisfies the intent of Approved Document Q.

We are a FENSA registered installer, which matters when a complete window is replaced. It is worth understanding what that does and does not mean for your job. Replacing the sealed unit inside an existing frame is not a notifiable window replacement, so there is no FENSA certificate for glass-only work, and anyone offering you one for a sealed unit swap is either confusing the two or hoping you will not ask. What does still apply to glass-only work is safety glazing. Putting ordinary annealed glass into a door panel or a low level light is a breach of the building regulations whoever fits it and whatever paperwork is or is not issued.

Who comes to your house

Our own installation teams, not subcontractors. The reason that matters on this particular product is accountability for a measurement. When the person who measured, the person who made the unit and the person who fits it all work for the same company, a unit that is three millimetres too wide is simply remade. When they do not, you get a self-employed fitter who has already paid for the glass, a supplier blaming the surveyor, and a customer in the middle of it. We would rather absorb the occasional remake than put you there.

Pricing and quotations

Free site survey across London. Written fixed quotations, itemised per unit, with VAT shown separately. No finance products, no discount that only exists today, no price that drops when you say no. If you want a rough idea on the phone we will give you a range and say plainly that it is a range, because a made to measure unit without sizes is not something anyone can price honestly. What we will not do is quote low to win the survey and find reasons to climb afterwards.

What we will not do

• Drill or vent a failed unit, whoever asks.
• Fit a new unit into a rotten or badly distorted frame without telling you in writing that it will fail.
• Fit annealed glass into a critical location, even on request.
• Guess a rebate depth so we can quote without measuring.
• Leave your old units in the garden or the side return.
• Cold call, doorknock, or ring you back repeatedly after you have said no.

Hours, coverage and getting a straight answer quickly

We are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, on 020 4634 6045. We cover Greater London and we are strongest across north, west and central London, which is simply where the workshop is and how the vans route. We survey further out as well, grouped by area so the visits stay free and the diary stays honest.

If you want the fastest useful answer, measure the glass itself to the nearest centimetre, count how many units are affected, and tell us which elevation they are on and which floor. That gives us the three things that actually drive the price: area, quantity and access. Add a photograph of any pattern or Georgian bar layout and we can tell you on the phone whether it is a straightforward match or a pattern we will have to show you alternatives for.

What you should have when the job is finished

A written specification of what went into each opening, the make-up in millimetres, safety marks visible in the corners of any pane in a critical location, drainage slots clear, beads refitted properly without a gap at the mitres, and a guarantee whose terms you have actually read. If any of that is missing, on our job or anyone else's, ask for it. On a product you cannot see inside once it is fitted, the paperwork is most of the evidence you will ever have.