What we fix in Waddon's 1920s and 1930s estate houses
Our yard is at 24 Waddon Close, CR0 4JT, in Croydon's Waddon ward, which makes JM Glass & Glazing glaziers in Waddon rather than glaziers who drive to it. Most of the work within walking distance is the interwar Corporation estate: two generations of uPVC failing at once, blown sealed units, seized hinges, a cracked top-opener. Closer to Duppas Hill the older terraces need arched heads templated and door glass matched.
Waddon is mostly a between-the-wars estate, and it is a big one. In the interwar years Waddon had more Croydon Corporation housing than any other part of the borough: 1,125 council houses and 80 council flats, laid out as cottage-style semis and short terraces with steel or timber casements. A large share has gone right-to-buy since, so windows now get replaced house by house rather than street by street. That is most of our domestic work within walking distance of the yard.
The problem on those roads is timing. The first uPVC went in during the late 1980s and 1990s, the second lot ten to fifteen years ago, and both are giving up at once. So we see the same three jobs over and over: misted double glazing in Waddon where the sealed unit has blown, hinges and handles seized on an otherwise sound frame, and a cracked pane in a small top-opener. A blown unit is a glass job, not a new window, we measure it, order the unit and swap it into a frame you already own.
Matching matters more here than people expect. If the stock next door was done in one go and you are upgrading on your own, the frame sightlines, the bar layout and the shade of white all have to line up or the front of the house looks wrong from the pavement. Send us a photo of the neighbouring house before you decide anything.
The older core around Waddon Road and Duppas Hill
Closer to central Croydon the stock changes. Waddon Road, Waddon Court Road and Duppas Hill have 19th-century terraces with timber sashes, arched heads over the upper windows, and coloured or etched glass in the front doors and fanlights. Arched units have to be templated, not measured off a tape. Original door glass is usually worth saving. If one panel has cracked we will talk about matching or reglazing that pane before anyone suggests a new door.
- Blown and misted sealed units, including shaped and arched heads, sealed unit replacement
- Glass replacement in timber sashes, steel and timber casements and uPVC frames
- Window repairs: hinges, handles, locks and beading on frames worth keeping
- Toughened glass for low-level panes, doors and door side panels
- Coloured, etched and leaded front door glass, matched where we can
- Made-to-measure mirrors and splashbacks cut for the small kitchens the estate houses were built with
We also do glass cut to size in Waddon for people fitting it themselves: a shed window, a greenhouse pane, a shelf, a table top, a picture frame. Ring with the measurement and what it is for and we will tell you the right thickness and whether it needs to be toughened.
How fast can a glazier get to Waddon?
Faster than anywhere else we cover, because we are already here. Our yard is at 24 Waddon Close, CR0 4JT: a Waddon address in Waddon ward, not a Croydon office with Waddon on a list. Waddon station, Waddon Ponds, Duppas Hill Recreation Ground and the Purley Way retail parks are all inside about half a mile. We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, and if a window goes in the evening we would rather board it overnight and glaze it properly in daylight. Call 020 8680 8334 or 07956 138 582.
Purley Way runs along the western edge of Waddon, and it is the reason this page has a commercial half. The A23 bypass opened in April 1925 and the factories followed: Trojan, Redwing Aircraft, Tizer, Croydon Foundry. What is there now is retail and trade: Valley Retail and Leisure Park, built in 1992 on the old Croydon 'B' power station site with the two chimneys kept at IKEA, the Colonnades, Croydon Fiveways, and the Imperial Way, Trojan Way and Ampere Way estates behind them. All of it is a few minutes from the yard.
Along that stretch we do shop front glass replacement, toughened and laminated panes for trade counters and unit frontages, aluminium door glass, curtain-wall infill panels, and glass cut to size for workshops and fabricators. Shutter damage and a broken frontage usually come in after hours, which is when emergency glazing and boarding up matters. Being based in Waddon means an overnight board-up on Purley Way is a short drive, not a call-out from the other side of London.
Flats, communal doors and managing agents
Waddon has flats and a few tower blocks as well as houses, plus newer blocks around the station, Waddon Marsh and Wandle Park. That work is nothing like a house. Communal entrance screens and doors need laminated or fire-rated glass with the right beads, closers and access panels, and it is normally a managing agent or block manager instructing rather than a resident. On the newer aluminium systems we match parts to the system instead of forcing a generic unit into it.
Planning, listed buildings and building control in Waddon
No conservation area covers Waddon and there is no Article 4 direction on windows here, so changing glass or a window on an estate house or a Waddon Road terrace is not a planning matter. Two things do apply. Airport House and the former Croydon Airport terminal and control tower on Purley Way are Grade II* listed, and glazing work on a listed building needs listed building consent from Croydon Council before anyone touches it. And we are not a FENSA or CERTASS registered installer, so where a job is a full replacement window and frame rather than a glass or sealed unit change, it needs a building control application to the council. We say that before we quote, not after.
This is the home patch, not a service area
Everything above is written from a few streets away. Jason has spent his working life in the glazing trade and the vans come out of Waddon Close. Edge Building Products named a JM Glass roof light refurbishment their Installation of the Month for July 2025 (44 shaped double-glazed units into Edge 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars), which gives you a fair idea of the shaped and made-to-measure end of what we do. We are rated 5.0 on Google. Have a look at the gallery, or read what customers have said.
Glazing services we provide in Waddon
The jobs we get called to most often in Waddon, and the pages that explain how each one works.
Areas near Waddon
We also cover Croydon, South Croydon, Purley, Coulsdon, Shirley, Sutton. See every area on our areas covered page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. 24 Waddon Close, CR0 4JT, in Croydon's Waddon ward. Waddon station, Waddon Ponds and the Purley Way retail parks are all within about half a mile. Most area pages on the internet describe somewhere a firm drives to. This one describes the street the vans park on.
Usually, yes. The interwar estate houses were built with the same casement openings, so the sizes repeat down a road. Send a photo of the neighbouring house with your enquiry and we will tell you what we can match. The frame sightlines, the glazing bar layout and the shade of white are what make a house look right or wrong from the pavement.
Almost always just the glass. A misted or blown pane means the seal on the double-glazed unit has failed, not that the frame is finished. We measure the unit, order it and fit it into your existing frame, which is a couple of hours on site rather than a full window replacement. If the frame itself is rotten or the beads have perished, we will tell you straight.
Purley Way is minutes from our yard, so we can usually get there quickly, and we aim to make a property safe the same day where we can. We will not promise a set number of minutes. Nobody honest can. Board up first, measure, then glaze properly in daylight with the right toughened or laminated pane.
No. No conservation area covers Waddon and there is no Article 4 direction on windows here, so replacing a pane or a window on an estate house or a Waddon Road terrace is not a planning matter. The exception is Airport House and the old Croydon Airport terminal on Purley Way, which are Grade II* listed and need listed building consent.
Yes. We cut and supply glass to size for shed and greenhouse panes, shelves, table tops, picture frames, cabinet doors and door panels, as well as fitting it ourselves. Ring with the measurements and what the glass is for, and we will tell you the thickness you need and whether it has to be toughened. 020 8680 8334.
Yes. The 19th-century terraces on Waddon Road, Waddon Court Road and Duppas Hill have arched heads over the upper windows, and an arch has to be templated rather than measured off a tape. We take a template on site, order the shaped unit and come back to fit it. The same goes for the coloured and etched glass in the front doors and fanlights along those roads, which is usually worth saving rather than replacing.
Only up to a point. We change glass and hardware, not frames. On the interwar estate two generations of uPVC are failing at once, so most calls here turn out to be a blown unit or a seized hinge on a frame that is still sound, which costs a fraction of what a new window would. If the frame itself has failed, it needs a building control application to Croydon Council, which we are not registered to self-certify, so that one goes to a window company.