I've decided to tackle my kitchen and at the moment the old Victorian sash is so low that its going to make installing modern worktop almost impossible, the wooden cill sits right at the same high as what the worktops should be. So my idea is to reduce the height of the window and buy a new sash to fit, the problem is the outside cill is made of a wapping bit of solid stone. It must weigh an absolute tonne but my theory is that i can knock out the existing window and remove a few bricks above the stone cill and lift it upwards. My question is really whether I'm going about this the right way and whether I'm being realistic about moving the cill.
Sheesh, Dubsie, talk of going aboot it the hard way. Why not chust lower your kitchen floor while you're at it... Nice idea **. Don't forget, Dubsie, you do have some control over the overall height of your worktops - your units will have telescopic legs, and you can either leave a small gap at the top of the plinths which cannot be seen, or even run an extra beading along the top/front of the plinth to cover any larger gap. Obviously don't go silly with height. Similar with going lower by a half-inch or so. Just trim your plinth to suit - but watch out if washing machines or whatever need to slip under. Or, just lower the part under the window - make it a feature, man. Position a base unit evenly below the window and remove the drawer from it - cut the unit down and have the worktop stepped down the same way - continue it a few inches either side of the window too.
Surely, if your going to have a new window frame made, why not have it made with an extra deep base rail? Inside, you'll probably have enough height to have the worktops at the regular height.
It's an old house, just within the Victorian period i believe. The kitchen worktops can't go any lower because of the washing machine and dishwasher. I want the worktops to be flush with the wall to aid keeping things clean and at the moment there is a window preventing me from doing this. So the option is remove the window and fit a smaller one....which is exactly what they have done in my neighbours....the difference is they have made a real mess and not put a sash back and removed the lovely stone cill. It looks pants. I'm thinking of using a couple of strong boy acros to try and lift the cill but I'm not sure it will work. I use them for opening up chimneys when im fitting stoves and oil fired ovens. I've no idea how good they are at pushing up masonry. I'd like to do the job myself as I can't afford to tackle the entire job all at once but maybe I'll call a builder friend to do it all for me and I'll just work around him.
I can't see why you can't put a fillet under your lower sash to raise it to the level you want, within reason.
I think what JJ is suggesting(and if so, I'd agree) is to have a window made up to include extra frame height only at the bottom. You can then raise the sill inside, but keep the external sill where it is. Mr. HandyAndy - Really
Cheers that's a brilliant idea, why didn't i think of that. If I was to fit a UPVC do you think the manufacturer would accommodate this.
Strongboys won't "push up" masonry. To do it this way, your looking at removing at least a row of bricks/stone, moving the window upwards, then doing the same with the stone sill (and filling in with brick/stone underneath)
I'm sure that any good upvc manufacturer would accommodate any ideas when making a window for you. After all, your the customer and what you say, goes.
I've just worked out its weight and its over 300 kilos which has definitely put me off moving it. if that falls on me toes i'm gonna know about it. Also getting a limestone replacement if I break it ain't cheap either....virtually the price of half my kitchen.
why did i buy a derelict old house.....i must have been mad. I've got roofers on the roof, builders sorting out flag floors with damp. Plasterer tanking and plastering..... Never ending......trying to save some money by doing some of the jobs myself.....I thought this one might save me a couple of thousand.
Raising the window sill should be a simple straight forward job, 300kg or not, a couple of strong straps and a genie and the jobs a gooden and it won't look like it's been bodged to accommodate the worktop.
Dubsie, what actual distance are we talking about? If you were to have an extra thick window frame section along t'bottom, how much thicker would it have to be? I think trying to move that stone cill is crazy. Does this window face the front of the property? Will the appearance of an extra couple of inches of matching timber along the bottom of the window from the outside be a visual issue?
The only issue i can see in moving the sill is if there are others on the same level, this then would stand out from an ascetic point of view, but if that's not a problem, I feel it is best to move it, unless it is a small distance like one course of bricks, if that's the case than a thicker frame at that point would certainly be an easier option, but would make that window stand out from the others. Can you posts some pics, from both inside and out, to give us a clue as to how it might look.
Just fit upstands to the back of the worktop. Run it straight across the window reveal. Job done. It is how we do it in listed buildings and looks fine.
The distance is too far really to add it to the window and after chatting to the window manufacturer they are advising me to move the cill. It's about 7 inches as the traditional sash already has a timber fillet at the bottom....
Forums
Facebook
Twitter
You Tube
Instagram
Shop