What we fix in Caterham's valley villas and hilltop semis
JM Glass & Glazing work out of Waddon in Croydon, CR0 4JT, seven miles down the A22 from Caterham. As glaziers in Caterham we deal mainly with glass rather than frames: replacement sealed units for the timber bays up on the Hill, a reglazed sash pane in a Harestone Valley villa, leaded panels mended, and glass cut to size for Whyteleafe and Chaldon.
Caterham is really two towns, and the glazing is different in each. The railway reached the valley in 1856 and the streets that followed it are Victorian and Edwardian: substantial villas and mansions on the Harestone Valley slopes with tall sliding sashes, steep gables and a good deal of original stained glass. Up on the chalk plateau, Caterham on the Hill is mostly interwar and post-war semis and terraces with timber bay windows, curved and square.
That split decides the work. In the valley we're usually cutting new glass into a frame that stays put: a cracked sash pane, a leaded panel that has bowed, a slim unit into old timber casements where the joinery is still sound. On the Hill it's misted double glazing, and plenty of it. The sealed units fitted into those bays through the late eighties and nineties have reached the end of their life more or less together, so one blown unit in a bay is rarely the only one.
The Village, and the first round of replacement units
The old Caterham Barracks ran from 1877 until it closed in 1995, was made a conservation area in 1996, and was rebuilt by Linden Homes between 1999 and 2003 as The Village: 361 homes, with the listed chapel and eighteen other barracks buildings kept and converted. Two different jobs sit on one site. The converted barracks buildings have tightly controlled window openings, so whatever goes in has to match what's already there. The new-build houses and flats are now past twenty-five years old and their original sealed units are misting up. We change the glass and leave the frames alone.
Glass replacement and window repairs across CR3
- Misted double glazing. We measure the failed unit, make it up and swap the glass, frame, hinges and handles stay put. Sealed unit replacement is the single most common call we get from CR3.
- Glass cut to size. Toughened, laminated, obscure, low-iron and mirror, cut for a shelf, a table top, a cabinet, a greenhouse or a gap someone else has left behind.
- Sash and casement panes. Single panes reglazed and puttied in the valley's Victorian and Edwardian villas, plus window repairs where the timber is sound but the glazing isn't.
- Leaded and stained panels. Repaired where they can be, remade to match where they can't.
- Splashbacks, mirrors, showers and balustrades. Toughened splashbacks, made-to-measure mirrors, shower screens and glass balustrades, the kitchen and stair work that comes off a Caterham extension.
- Broken glass. Boarded up and reglazed, often the same day. See emergency glazier.
If you already know the size, ring it through and we'll price it over the phone. If you don't, we'll come and measure, and that costs nothing. Jason has spent his working life in the glazing trade and will tell you straight whether new glass will fix it or the frame has had its day. We're rated 5.0 on Google, and Edge Building Products made us their Installation of the Month in July 2025 for a roof light refurbishment, 44 shaped double-glazed units fitted into 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars.
Caterham Valley is where the trade is. Church Walk Shopping Centre sits directly opposite the station with a Morrisons inside it, and the parades carry on from there along Station Avenue, Croydon Road and Godstone Road. Caterham on the Hill has its own centre on Chaldon Road and Coulsdon Road, with the Westway community and wellbeing centre alongside. Then there are the trade and light-industrial units strung along the Godstone Road towards Whyteleafe, and two large schools in Caterham School and de Stafford, which have a lot of glass between them.
A shop front is a different job to a house. The pane is usually toughened, often big, and the unit has to be trading again in the morning. We board up the same evening where we can, measure once the shutters are down, and come back to fit the new glass before opening. Same approach for the office partitions, door panels and internal screens in the units off the Godstone Road.
Conservation areas, and what they mean for your windows
Two conservation areas cover a fair slice of CR3. The Caterham Barracks area was designated in 1996 and takes in The Village. Chaldon's was designated in 1973: seven hectares centred on the church and Chaldon Court. Inside them, and on any listed building, you can't simply swap timber for uPVC: the glazing has to match. That is exactly why glass work beats frame replacement in these streets. A pane reglazed in the frame that's already there keeps the building looking right and keeps you out of a planning argument.
One thing worth saying plainly. We're not on a self-certification scheme. Where a job needs Building Regulations sign-off, that goes through Tandridge District Council building control, and we'll tell you before we start rather than after. Most of what we do in Caterham is glass into existing frames, which doesn't need it.
Getting to Caterham, and emergency call-outs
We're based at Waddon in Croydon and the run down is simple enough: Purley Way to Purley, then the A22 Godstone Road through Kenley, Riddlesdown and Whyteleafe up to Wapses Lodge. About seven miles, and quicker outside the school run. For a break-in or a smashed pane we aim to make the property safe the same day where we can, and we'll say honestly on the phone if we can't. Houses on the escarpment take longer than the mileage suggests: steep drives, tight access, and large panes that have to be carried in by hand rather than parked next to.
Glazing services we provide in Caterham
The glass work we do most in Caterham. All of it supply and fit, measured on site, or cut to a size you give us over the phone.
Areas near Caterham
We also cover Purley, Coulsdon, Kenley, Woldingham, Oxted, Godstone. See every area on our areas covered page.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's about seven miles from our Waddon base: Purley Way down to Purley, then the A22 Godstone Road through Kenley and Whyteleafe. For broken glass we aim to make the property safe the same day where we can, normally with a board-up, then come back with the cut glass once it's made. If we can't get to you we'll say so on the phone rather than leave you waiting.
Yes, and that's usually the right answer on Caterham on the Hill. If the frame, hinges and handles are sound, we measure the failed sealed unit, make a new one and fit it into the frame that's already there. The window looks the same afterwards and costs a fraction of a full replacement. If the frame itself has gone, we'll tell you.
Quite possibly. The former Caterham Barracks site has been a conservation area since 1996 and Chaldon since 1973, and there are listed buildings inside both. Replacing frames there normally needs consent and a like-for-like specification. Reglazing an existing frame is far less likely to. Check with Tandridge District Council before you order anything and we'll work to whatever they set.
Yes. Toughened, laminated, obscure, low-iron and mirror, cut to your measurements: shelves, table tops, cabinet fronts, greenhouse and shed panes, and replacement panels for doors. Give us the size and the thickness and we can price it over the phone. If you'd rather we measured it ourselves, we'll come out to CR3 and do that.
Usually, yes. A lot of Caterham sits on the North Downs escarpment and plenty of houses have drives a van can't reverse up. Big panes get carried in by hand with suction lifters and enough people to do it safely. Tell us about the access when you ring and we'll turn up with the right kit and the right number of hands.
Yes. Whyteleafe sits in the same valley further down the Godstone Road, and Woldingham shares the CR3 post town with Caterham, so both are on the same run for us. Oxted and Godstone are a short way further on over the hill. Ring the office and we'll tell you when we're next out that way.
Yes. Laminated holds together when it breaks, which is why it goes into the parades opposite the station at Church Walk, along Station Avenue and Croydon Road, and in the trade units strung down the Godstone Road. If a front goes through overnight we board it that evening where we can, so the shop can trade, measure once the shutters are down, and fit the new pane once it has been made to size.
Usually not. The semis on Caterham on the Hill were double glazed through the eighties and nineties, and those sealed units are reaching the end together. The glass has failed, not the timber. Where the frame, hinges and handles are sound, swapping the glass costs less and takes far less time than a new window. The same goes for the Village houses now past twenty-five years old. We don't sell or fit complete replacement windows, so if the frame has gone you need a window firm.