SW18 is terrace country, and the stock changes street by street
Bays settle. The brickwork shifts, the frame goes slightly out of square, and either the pane cracks or the sealed unit lets go. That is the job that brings JM Glass & Glazing up Garratt Lane into SW18. We are glaziers in Wandsworth, working from our Croydon yard in Waddon, CR0 4JT, templating Earlsfield bay panes, reglazing Tonsleys box sashes and swapping failed units at Ram Quarter.
Most of Wandsworth's glass sits in a Victorian or Edwardian terrace. Earlsfield is the clearest example: street after street of medium-sized, bay-fronted terraced houses, the classic side-return and loft-conversion stock. The Tonsleys, tucked between the town centre and the river, is the older Victorian core of Wandsworth. Southfields is different again: the London County Council approved nine new streets there in December 1891, and by 1906 the Grid held 1,766 houses, maisonettes and shops on a rigid parallel street plan.
Then the scale jumps. East Hill and the west side of Wandsworth Common carry much larger Victorian houses, including the Toast Rack, where the townhouses are some of the most expensive in London. Layered on top of all of it is the riverside: the Ram Quarter on the old Young's brewery site, and Riverside Quarter. That's glass-fronted apartment stock barely a decade old, with a completely different set of glazing problems to a terrace on Magdalen Road.
What that mix means for the glass
A bay front is the job we get called to most in Wandsworth. Bays settle. The brickwork moves a fraction, the frame goes slightly out of square, and either the pane cracks or the sealed unit lets go. On a period bay every pane is a different size, so it's a measure-and-make job rather than something off a shelf. We template each opening and cut to it.
- Misted double glazing. Condensation sitting between the panes on a bay or a rear casement. We take the failed unit out and fit a new one into the existing frame, see sealed unit replacement.
- Original box sashes. Cracked or broken glass in timber sashes on the Tonsleys and East Hill terraces, reglazed and puttied back in.
- Side-return and rear extension glazing. Earlsfield and Southfields are extension country, roof lanterns, fixed panes and replacement glass in bifolds and rooflights.
- Riverside flats. Failed units, balcony balustrade glass and juliet balcony panels at Ram Quarter and Riverside Quarter.
- Glass cut to size. Toughened, laminated, obscured, low-iron and mirror, made to the size we take off the opening. See glass replacement.
Not everything needs replacing. A good share of the window repairs we do in Wandsworth come down to hinges, handles, locks and a failed unit on a uPVC casement from the 1990s or 2000s: the glass and the gearing, not the whole frame. Repairs like that are quicker and cheaper than a new window, and on a period bay they're usually the only sensible option anyway.
Broken glass and boarding up in SW18
If a pane goes in overnight on Garratt Lane or Replingham Road, the first job is making the house safe. We board up, clear the broken glass out properly, and come back with the right pane once it's made. We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, and if we can't get up there quickly we'll say so on the phone rather than leave you waiting. That's emergency glazing, 07956 138 582.
Shop fronts on Old York Road, Garratt Lane and Replingham Road
Wandsworth has two separate trading catchments and neither of them is mall glazing. Wandsworth Town has the High Street, the Southside Shopping Centre and the parade of independents on Old York Road by the station, plus the ground-floor commercial units in the Ram Quarter. Earlsfield's trade runs the length of Garratt Lane: estate agents, cafés, delis, butchers, pubs and hairdressers, with The Earlsfield sitting in the old station house.
That's small-unit frontage work. Toughened shop front panes, glazed entrance doors, display windows, back-of-house and internal glass. If a front goes in overnight we board it so you can open in the morning, then fit the replacement toughened pane when it's made. Shop front glass replacement is a good part of what we do, and Bellevue Road on the Common is the same kind of job.
46 conservation areas, and the answer changes by street
Wandsworth has 46 conservation areas. The ones covering SW18 include Wandsworth Town, Old York Road, Magdalen Park and Wandsworth Common. Inside those, a replacement window that's visible from a public space needs full planning permission. It isn't a like-for-like swap you can just get on with.
Magdalen Park picked up an Article 4 Direction in 2023, and Wandsworth Common has had an Article 4(2) Direction since 2001. Both strip out permitted development rights, so window replacement there is an application. Meanwhile the Southfields Grid and most of the Earlsfield terraces sit outside any conservation area, where straightforward sash and casement replacement is permitted. Two houses ten minutes' walk apart can have completely different rules, so check your address with the council before you order anything.
We're glaziers, not planning consultants, and we aren't FENSA or CERTASS registered, so we don't self-certify replacement window installations under Building Regulations. What we do is the glass: reglazing, sealed units, repairs, shaped and made-to-measure panes. If your job needs a certificated frame installation, we'll tell you that straight away.
Getting to SW18 from Waddon
We're based at 24 Waddon Close in Croydon, roughly eight miles south of Wandsworth Town. The run is usually Purley Way and Mitcham up to Tooting, then straight along Garratt Lane through Earlsfield, which is how nearly all our SW18 work is reached. On a clear morning that's about half an hour. In traffic it isn't, and we'd rather say so than promise a time we can't hold. Glass is cut and loaded in Croydon before we set off.
Edge Building Products named us their Installation of the Month for July 2025, for a roof light refurbishment: 44 shaped double-glazed units into Edge 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars. That's a supplier feature rather than an accreditation, but shaped roof glazing is exactly what a Wandsworth side-return lantern asks for. We're rated 5.0 on Google, Jason has spent his working life in the glazing trade, and there are more finished jobs in the gallery and in what customers have written about us.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the street. Wandsworth has 46 conservation areas, and the SW18 ones include Wandsworth Town, Old York Road, Magdalen Park and Wandsworth Common, inside those, a replacement window visible from a public space needs full planning permission. Magdalen Park also has an Article 4 Direction from 2023. Most of the Earlsfield terraces and the Southfields Grid sit outside. Check your address with the council first.
We're in Waddon, roughly eight miles south of Wandsworth Town, and the run is usually up through Mitcham and Tooting onto Garratt Lane. On a clear morning that's about half an hour. In traffic it is not. We won't give you a fixed time down the phone, but we will tell you honestly when we can be there, and we aim to make a property safe the same day where we can.
Yes, and it's the job we do most in SW18. Every pane in a period bay is a slightly different size, so we template each opening rather than order standard sizes. The new unit goes into the existing frame, so nothing happens to the brickwork or the sill. Normally one visit to measure and one to fit once the glass is made.
Yes, all of SW18. That takes in Earlsfield, Southfields and the Grid, Summerstown, Magdalen Park, West Hill, East Hill, the Tonsleys and the Wandsworth Common side. It's the same trip for us, so where you are within SW18 doesn't change anything. Tell us the road when you call and we'll usually know what sort of house it is.
Yes. Toughened, laminated, obscured, low-iron and mirror, cut to the size we take off the opening. For a side-return roof lantern or a shaped panel we template on site first, because very little in a Victorian extension is properly square. The glass is cut and loaded in Croydon and brought up to SW18 in the van.
Often yes, but the block matters. Newer riverside apartments usually have a managing agent who controls anything on the outside of the building, and balcony access can need permission or a platform. Speak to the agent first, then call us with the panel size and the specification. Failed sealed units and juliet balcony panels are straightforward once access is agreed.
Yes. Earlsfield and Southfields are side-return extension country, so much of what we toughen goes into roof lanterns, fixed panes and rooflights, along with balcony and juliet panels at Ram Quarter and Riverside Quarter. Shaped and oversized pieces are templated off the opening, because those rear extensions rarely give you a right angle. We cut laminated, obscured, low-iron and mirror as well, all of it cut and loaded in Croydon before we set off.
Not whole windows. We are glaziers, so we do the glass: failed sealed units, cracked panes, reglazed box sashes on the Tonsleys and East Hill, and the hinges, handles and locks on 1990s and 2000s uPVC casements. On a settled bay in Earlsfield that is normally the only sensible option, and it costs a good deal less than a new frame. We do not sell or install replacement windows or frames, so a frame that has failed needs a window firm.