East Lothian Trading Standards Trusted Trader is a council-backed scheme that vets traders against rogue trading, and windows are where that matters, because a bad installation is sealed over and hidden as soon as it is made.
What This Article Covers
- George Herkes & Son Joinery holds that accreditation and is rated 5.0 out of 5 from 62 reviews under it, which are not Google reviews.
- A stone reveal is measured at head, middle and foot, because it is seldom the same width at all three, and the frame is made to the smallest.
- Fixings hold the frame straight and sealant is the last thing on, never the thing doing the holding.
- A sticking sash is usually painted shut, out of balance or on stretched cords, so repair is looked at before replacement.
- Cills are throated and drips are cut, because on the coast towards North Berwick and Dunbar driven rain finds any gap the sealant missed.
- Supplied windows are re-measured against the structural opening when they arrive, before anything comes out of the wall.
George Herkes & Son Joinery has worked across East Lothian since 1989 as a family run business, and the same team that fits the windows builds the fitted wardrobes in East Lothian when a room is being done throughout.
Send through the openings and what you want in them, and George will come out and measure them.
Window Installation and Replacement
The reveal is where it goes wrong
A stone reveal is seldom the same width at head, middle and foot. A frame made to the widest of the three needs packing at the other two, and that packing telegraphs through the finish within a year. So all three are measured. The frame is made to the smallest.
The order of the fit
Old unit out, opening cleaned back to sound masonry, frame set and plumbed, fixings into something solid, then sealing and making good inside and out. Sealant is the last thing, never the thing holding the frame straight. Fixings first. Sealant after.
Get a free quote for Window Fitters in East Lothian. You will be talking to George, not a call centre.
Double Glazing and Energy Efficiency
The unit is not the whole story
People choose glass and ignore the perimeter. A sealed unit in a frame that is not draught-proofed loses at the joint, not through the pane, and the cold spot a householder feels is usually air movement rather than glass.
Where it shows in this county
Property along the shore towards North Berwick and Dunbar takes wind off the Forth, and driven rain finds any gap the sealant did not reach. Cills are throated and drips are cut so water leaves the face of the frame. Draught seals are fitted into a rebate rather than stuck on. That is the same attention paid on a bathroom specialist across East Lothian job, where the failure is also the part you cannot see.
Sash Window Repair and Restoration for East Lothian Homes
Repair before replacement
A sash that sticks is rarely rotten. It is usually painted shut, out of balance, or running on cords that have stretched. Splicing a new section into a sound sash and rebalancing the weights keeps original glass and original proportions. Replacement throws both away.
Where sashes matter most
The Georgian and Victorian stock in Haddington’s burgh centre and along the older coastal streets carries sashes with sightlines a modern casement cannot match. Slim-profile units go into a refurbished sash where the box will take them. Draught-proofing into a routed rebate does most of the work people expect from new glass. The same joinery thinking runs through cupboard fitter in East Lothian work: match what is there, then improve it.
Doors, Conservatories and Related Glazing
Doors and windows in one opening
A patio set or a French pair is a window problem with a door’s tolerances. The threshold has to shed water and the leaves have to stay in line under their own weight, so the structural opening is checked before anything is ordered.
Glazed extensions and existing glazing
An existing conservatory or a glazed link usually fails at the junction with the house rather than in the roof. Flashings and upstands are the first thing looked at. Replacement units go into sound frames only, which is the same rule applied to window replacement installation in Elphinstone and everywhere else. Sound frame first.
Planning Window Fitters in East Lothian? Get a free quote from George Herkes & Son Joinery and find out what it takes.
Installation Only and Trade Subcontracting in East Lothian
Fitting windows you have already bought
Supplied units are checked against the openings before anything comes out. A frame ordered from a single measurement, or from the old frame rather than the structural opening, arrives wrong, and it is better to find that before the wall is open than after. Openings are re-measured when they arrive.
Who is on the job
The survey, the fit and the making good are done by the same family run team, and core work is not passed out to somebody else’s diary. That is what keeps a programme. It is the same across our doors and windows work. One team. One programme.
Making good, inside and out
The finish after a window goes in is what a householder actually looks at. Internal reveals are made good and left ready to decorate, external pointing is cut back to sound mortar before it is repointed, and the old frame and glass go out as they come out. A neat opening with a rough edge round it is a job half done.
Casement, Flush and Heritage Window Options
Casement and flush casement
A standard casement sits proud of the frame face; a flush casement closes into it, so the elevation reads as a single plane. Flush is the harder fit, because the rebate has to be consistent all the way round or the shadow line wanders.
Heritage and matching
In a period property the sightline and the glazing bar decide whether a replacement looks right. A bar applied to the face of a unit reads differently from one that divides real panes, and on a principal elevation that difference is the whole of it. Matching what came out is the specification, not an upgrade on it.
Free quotes on Window Fitters across East Lothian. Speak to George at George Herkes & Son Joinery.
People Also Ask: Window Fitters in East Lothian
Do I need planning permission to replace windows in East Lothian?
For a like-for-like replacement on most property, no. What changes that is a conservation designation or a listing, and the older burgh centres around Haddington and parts of the coastal towns do carry them. Where a designation applies, the sightline, the glazing bar and the opening method are usually what the council cares about, so it is checked before anything is ordered rather than after.
Can sash windows be double glazed?
Often, yes. Slim-profile sealed units can go into a refurbished sash where the box and the stiles will carry the extra weight, which is checked before it is offered. Where they will not, draught-proofing into a routed rebate and rebalanced weights do most of what people expect from new glass, and the original glass and proportions stay.
Do you repair windows as well as replace them?
Yes, and on the period stock in this county repair is often the better answer. A sash that sticks is usually painted shut, out of balance or running on stretched cords rather than rotten. A new section spliced into a sound sash keeps the original glass. Replacement throws that away and it cannot be undone.
Can you fit windows I have bought myself?
Yes. They are checked against the structural opening when they arrive, before anything comes out of the wall. Frames ordered from a single measurement, or measured off the old frame rather than the opening, are the common problem, and it is much better found then than with the wall open.
How is the coastal weather handled?
It is a real specification difference in this county rather than a talking point. Property on the shore towards North Berwick, Dunbar and the stretch under Bass Rock takes wind off the Forth and salt with it. End grain is sealed before a frame goes together, cills are throated, drips are cut so water leaves the face, and draught seals go into a rebate rather than being stuck to a surface.
Who actually does the work?
The survey, the fit and the making good are done by the same family run team, and core work is not passed to a subcontractor. That is the answer to the programme question as much as the quality one, because a job only waits when it is waiting on somebody else's diary.
