Selsdon's windows came from three builders, and each one fails differently
A century after Costain laid out Selsdon Garden Village, the steel Crittall casements are still in place: rusted, swollen and cracking the panes they hold. Cutting out the failed pane, treating the rebate and reglazing is ordinary work for us as glaziers in Selsdon, along with radius glass for the suntrap bays and the picture windows at Forestdale. JM Glass & Glazing are based at 24 Waddon Close, Croydon CR0 4JT.
In 1925 Selsdon was a farmhouse, a mansion about to become a hotel and two narrow lanes. Then Richard Costain and Sons took the government's £75-a-house subsidy and laid out Selsdon Garden Village, and the first families moved in that September. Costain built semis and short terraces on curving roads, and as the estate ran on into the 1930s the houses picked up genuine moderne detailing: low-pitched and flat roofs, horizontal glazing bars, steel Crittall casements and curved suntrap bays. A century on, that original glass is what we get called out to. It is single glazed, the steel has rusted and swelled, and the putty has long gone.
Steel casements are their own trade. Rust jacks the frame apart and cracks the pane, and the whole frame is one long cold bridge, so the room runs with condensation from October onwards. Sometimes the answer is a repair: cut out the failed pane, wire-brush and treat the rebate, reglaze and repaint. That is straight window repair work. Sometimes the steel has gone too far and the sensible move is a slim-sightline frame that keeps the thin lines and the horizontal bar rhythm the elevation was designed around. What we will not do is drop a fat white plastic frame into a Deco opening and call it an improvement.
Suntrap bays, corner windows and Deco coloured glass
- Curved bays. The suntrap bay with horizontal bars is a real Selsdon feature and a real job: radius glass, a curved head and cill, and bar spacing that has to match the houses either side of you.
- Corner windows. On the flat-roofed moderne houses the wrapped corner is the whole point of the front elevation. Put a mullion in the wrong place and you have changed the house.
- Coloured and stained glass. Front doors, fanlights and half-landing windows around Selsdon Garden Village still hold their original Deco glass. It can usually be lifted out, cleaned, releaded where it needs it and encapsulated inside a new sealed unit, so you keep the panel and lose the draught.
- Forestdale picture windows. The Wates houses in CR0 9 went up with oversized single-glazed timber picture windows, full-height glazed stair panels and patio sliders. Big panes, heavy lifts, and timber cladding that has to be made good around the new frame.
- Monks Hill and Selsdon Vale. The 1950s and 60s council-built stock has standard openings on concrete lintels, so glass replacement there is straightforward, though mixed tenure means we often need a word with the freeholder first.
Misted double glazing in Selsdon is a steady stream of work on its own. The place sits at roughly 150 metres on the edge of the Downs, and west-facing elevations here take driving rain that Waddon never sees. Units that were fine for fifteen years start to go along the bottom edge where the water sits. Nine times out of ten the frame is sound and only the sealed unit needs swapping, which costs a fraction of a new window. That is misted unit replacement.
Flat roofs are the other Selsdon theme, from the 1930s moderne houses to Forestdale and the rear extensions behind both. Roof lights mist up, leak and get walked into. Edge Building Products named one of our roof light refurbishments their Installation of the Month for July 2025: 44 shaped double-glazed units into 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars. We also cut glass to size for shelves, table tops and cabinet fronts, so if you want glass cut to size in CR2 rather than a full installation, ring with the sizes.
Selsdon's shops still stand in the blocks Costain built for them: two parades of five, one finished in 1926 and one in 1927, on Addington Road east of the Farley Road and Old Farleigh Road junction. The Broadway is a tight, walkable line of independent shopfronts, with cafes, takeaways, pharmacies, estate agents, the library at CR2 8LA and Sainsbury's at number 130. Shopfront glass is a different animal from house glass. It is toughened or laminated, it is heavy, it usually sits in aluminium framing, and it has to satisfy the insurer as well as the shopkeeper. We take out cracked and shattered panes, refit door closers and patch fittings, add manifestation so nobody walks into a clear pane, and handle shop front glass replacement after a break-in.
Within a mile there is also Croydon High School on Old Farleigh Road, the former Selsdon Park Hotel site and golf course on Addington Road, several care homes, and the smaller parades on Old Farleigh Road and inside Forestdale. On those jobs access, timing and getting the shutters back down at the end matter as much as the glass itself.
Emergency glazier in Selsdon
A put-through window will not wait. Ring 020 8680 8334, or 07956 138 582 outside office hours, and say what has gone and roughly how big it is. We board up first so the building is secure and dry, take proper sizes while we are there, and come back with the glass. Toughened and laminated panes have to be made to size, so a shopfront is usually boarded on the first visit and glazed a few days later. We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, see emergency glazing.
No conservation area in Selsdon, but two things still catch people out
No conservation area covers Selsdon and there is no Article 4 direction here, so on most houses you can change the windows without going near the planners. That is not true a couple of miles away in some of Croydon's older streets. Two things do still apply. Building Regulations cover replacement windows and doors wherever you live, and we are not a FENSA or CERTASS registered installer, so we do not self-certify: where a job needs signing off, the route is a building notice to Croydon Council's building control, who inspect it. Second, if you are leasehold on Monks Hill, in Selsdon Vale or in a Forestdale block, check the freeholder's rules on frame colour and style before anything is ordered.
Getting to Selsdon from Waddon
We work out of 24 Waddon Close, CR0 4JT. That is about 3.2 miles from the Selsdon clock in a straight line and four and a half to five by road: Duppas Hill, through the middle of Croydon, then Croham Road and Selsdon Road out to Addington Road. Twenty minutes off-peak, and allow thirty at peak, because it is Croydon town centre that slows the trip rather than the distance. Close enough that we can measure, go back for the glass and return to fit it without losing a day to travel.
Glazing services we provide in Selsdon
The jobs we are called out to most in Selsdon and the surrounding CR2 roads.
Areas near Selsdon
We also cover Croydon, South Croydon, Sanderstead, Shirley, Riddlesdown, West Wickham. See every area on our areas covered page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. They are one of the commonest jobs on the Costain-built roads. Where the frame is sound we cut out the broken pane, treat the rust in the rebate, reglaze and repaint. Where the steel has rusted through, we price a slim-sightline replacement that keeps the thin frames and the horizontal bars instead of a chunky plastic one. We will measure both ways before you decide.
Usually, yes. A curved bay needs radius glass bent to the right sweep, and the head and cill have to follow it, so it is a measure-and-order job rather than something off the van. We take a template on site and match the glazing bar spacing to the houses either side, so the row still reads as one. Fitting happens when the glass comes in.
Around twenty minutes off-peak from our base in Waddon, nearer thirty in traffic. It is under five miles by road, through Croydon town centre and out along Selsdon Road to Addington Road. For emergencies we aim to make the property safe the same day where we can: board up first, then glaze once the pane has been cut to size.
Usually not. Misting means the seal on the double-glazed unit has failed, and if the frame, hinges and locks are sound we swap the unit alone. We measure it, order it to size and fit it on a second visit. On the exposed west-facing elevations around Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, units tend to fail along the bottom edge first.
On most Selsdon houses, no. There is no conservation area and no Article 4 direction here, so window changes do not normally need planning permission. Building Regulations are separate and do apply. We are not FENSA or CERTASS registered, so we do not self-certify, and where a job needs signing off the route is a building notice to Croydon Council's building control.
Yes. CR2 8, CR2 0 and the CR0 9 side of Forestdale are all the same trip for us. The Wates houses in Forestdale have big single-glazed picture windows and full-height stair glazing, and Monks Hill has standard openings that are quick to reglaze. Ring with a rough size and we will tell you what is involved.
Yes. The Wates houses in Forestdale went up with oversized single-glazed picture windows, full-height stair glazing and patio sliders, and panes that size are a two-man lift with timber cladding to make good around them. At that scale, and that close to the floor, it is toughened or laminated, made to size before it ever gets to the van. We measure the opening rather than work off a number over the phone, then come back and fit once the glass is in.
Mostly it is not a whole window. On the exposed west-facing elevations around Selsdon Vale and Forestdale the sealed units fail along the bottom edge while the frame is still fine, so we swap the unit and the frame stays: quicker, and a fraction of the cost. Steel Crittall casements can often be cut out, de-rusted, reglazed and repainted rather than replaced. Where the frame has actually gone you need a window company. We fit glass, and we do not self-certify under Building Regulations.