Banstead's 1930s stock, and what actually fails in it
Croydon Lane takes us up onto the downs and into SM7 most weeks. Six miles from the crossroads, JM Glass & Glazing keep a yard at 24 Waddon Close, Croydon CR0 4JT. As glaziers in Banstead the work follows the Nork estate: perished putty in a deep timber bay, a bowed leaded panel over a hall door, an early sealed unit gone cloudy.
The Nork estate was sold to developers in 1923 and built out through the twenties and thirties, with density in places held down to around six houses an acre. That is why so much of SM7 looks the way it does: wide-fronted detached and semi-detached houses, tile-hung and mock-Tudor gables, deep timber bays, and leaded lights in the top sashes. They are good houses. They also give us the same two phone calls over and over.
The first is the timber. Ninety-odd years on, the putty in an original casement has perished, water has been sitting in the bottom rail, and the glass has gone loose in a frame that has softened. Sometimes that is a re-glaze and fresh putty and you get another twenty years out of it. Sometimes the rail has gone and there is no sense bedding good glass into rot. We will tell you which one you have got before you spend anything, and most window repairs in Banstead start with that conversation.
The second is the first generation of double glazing that went into those same houses in the eighties and nineties. Those seals are twenty-five and thirty years old now, so you get the cloudy patch that comes and goes with the weather, then the permanent film you cannot clean off. Misted double glazing in Banstead is nearly always a sealed unit swap rather than a new window. We measure on site, the unit is made to that size, and we come back and fit it into the frame you already have.
Leaded lights in Nork and the old village
Plenty of Banstead houses still carry their original leaded panels, usually in a hall door, a stair window or the top lights over a bay. Once the lead came softens the panel bows and the quarries start to rattle. We can take a panel out, rebuild it and put it back, or copy the pattern into a new double-glazed unit so you keep the look and lose the draught. Either way it gets measured on site, because no two of them are the same size.
Rose Bushes, High Beeches and the big-plot houses
The 1960s Rose Bushes estate and 1970s High Beeches are a different job again. Oversized single-glazed picture windows and wide sliding patio doors, long past their working life, often in frames nobody makes parts for any more. That is glass replacement at a size most vans cannot carry, so it wants measuring properly. Banstead plots are also generous by south London standards, which is why we fit more roof lanterns, conservatory and orangery glass out here than we do in Croydon. Edge Building Products made one of our roof light refurbishments their Installation of the Month for July 2025: forty-four shaped double-glazed units into 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars. The bigger houses bring glass balustrades on open-tread stairs and splashbacks in kitchen refits too.
Shopfront glass on Banstead High Street
Banstead High Street runs from the war memorial down to the library, with Marks and Spencer and the Waitrose that was rebuilt after the 2008 fire anchoring it. What makes the parade unusual is how much of it is offices rather than shops: six estate agencies, three firms of solicitors and a notary public sit alongside the retail. That mix means toughened glass entrance doors, large fixed panes at pavement level and manifestation on glazed screens, which is a different set of jobs from a run of ordinary shopfronts.
We do the same work on the smaller pitches: the Nork Way parade, the Drift Bridge parade where Fir Tree Road meets the A240, and the handful of shops in Woodmansterne village. If a pane goes in, the first job is boarding up so the unit can trade or lock up. Toughened and laminated glass is cut and made to order, so the permanent pane follows once it comes in. Shopfront glass replacement is measured on site every time, because old parades are rarely square.
Windows in the Banstead conservation area
The conservation area covers the old village core around All Saints' Church, including the Grade II eighteenth-century well-head. Inside it the council takes a closer interest in anything you can see from the street, and window changes on a front elevation are exactly that. Talk to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council before you order anything. Like-for-like timber, or slim double-glazed units behind an existing pattern, is usually the route that goes through. The best glass in Banstead is not ours anyway: the west window at All Saints' was designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and made in William Morris's workshop.
One thing we will always say straight. Swapping a misted sealed unit into a frame that is sound is not notifiable work. Replacing a whole window frame is, and we are not registered to self-certify it, so that job needs a building notice through Reigate and Banstead Building Control. You will hear that from us at the quote rather than afterwards.
How we get to Banstead from Waddon
Our base is 24 Waddon Close in Croydon, about six miles from the Banstead crossroads. The usual run is the A232 west through Beddington and Wallington, then up Croydon Lane onto the downs; the Brighton Road down from Sutton is the other way in. Twenty-odd minutes when it is clear, longer either side of the school run. Banstead sits on the same round as Sutton and Coulsdon, so we are often out that way already. It is a small firm, so Jason, Ray or Craig will be the one who measures and the one who comes back to fit.
Emergency glazier in Banstead
If a window has gone in overnight or a shop door has been put through, ring the mobile rather than emailing. We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, and that normally means a board-up first while the replacement glass is made. Emergency glazing calls from SM7 usually come from the village, Nork and the Fir Tree Road side.
Glazing services we provide in Banstead
Everything here is supply and fit. We measure at the property in Banstead, cut or order the glass to that size, and come back to fit it. These are the jobs SM7 asks for most.
Areas near Banstead
We also cover Croydon, Purley, Coulsdon, Kenley, Sutton, Epsom. See every area on our areas covered page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Banstead is about six miles from our base in Waddon, out through Wallington and up Croydon Lane to the crossroads, or down the Brighton Road if we are coming from Sutton. Twenty-odd minutes on a clear run. SM7 sits on the same round as Sutton and Coulsdon, so we are regularly over that way anyway.
Usually, yes. If the timber or the uPVC frame is still sound, the sealed unit comes out and a new one goes in, and the frame stays where it is. We measure on site, the unit is made to that size, and we come back to fit it. If the bottom rail has rotted we will say so rather than glaze into it.
Not always, and it is worth checking before you order. The conservation area covers the village core around All Saints' Church, and the council looks harder at window changes you can see from the street. Speak to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council first. Like-for-like timber, or slim units behind the original pattern, is often the route that goes through.
We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, and that usually means boarding up first. Ring 07956 138 582 rather than emailing if it has just happened. Toughened and laminated glass is made to order, so the permanent pane normally follows a few days after the property is secure.
Yes. Cabinet panes, shelves, table tops, greenhouse and shed glass, mirrors and toughened panels are all cut to size and brought out to SM7. Send measurements and a photo to 07956 138 582 on WhatsApp for a straightforward piece, or we will come and measure if the opening is out of square, which in 1930s houses it often is.
All of it. Banstead village and the High Street, the whole Nork estate, Woodmansterne, Rose Bushes, High Beeches and the roads around Nork Park. We work the edges too: the Drift Bridge parade on Fir Tree Road, Burgh Heath and Tattenham Corner on the KT side, and Chipstead over the CR5 line.
Most of it can be repaired. Banstead's leaded panels are usually in a hall door, a stair window or the top lights over one of the deep timber bays on the Nork estate. Once the lead came goes soft the panel bows out and the quarries rattle. We can take the panel out, rebuild it and refit it, or match the pattern in a new sealed unit if you want the draught gone as well. It is measured at the house, because no two are the same size.
Usually what people mean is the glass, and in SM7 that is normally all it is: a blown sealed unit or a cracked pane in a frame that is still sound. Swapping the glass is quicker and costs far less than a new window. Where the putty has perished and the bottom rail of a 1930s casement has rotted through, we will tell you at the quote. We are glaziers, not a window company, and a new frame needs a building notice through Reigate and Banstead Building Control.