Choosing windows for Crowborough's high, exposed ground
Crowborough sits higher than any other town in the High Weald, and the weather knows it. This guide covers what to ask for so new windows stay quiet and dry on the ridge.
How exposed is your house?
Crowborough Beacon reaches 242 metres, the second highest point in East Sussex. The ground falls away north towards Eridge, south and west towards Ashdown Forest, and east into the valley at Jarvis Brook, where the station opened in 1868. The houses that take the most weather are on the open top: Beacon Road, Warren Road, Southview Road and the streets that edge the golf course and Crowborough Common.
Lower down, the terraces of Jarvis Brook and the estates off Walshes Road are more sheltered, but the west faces of houses on the slopes of Crowborough Hill still catch rain that arrives sideways on a south-westerly.
What to ask for
- A weather rating for exposed sites. Windows are tested for air, water and wind resistance under BS 6375-1. On the upper slopes, ask for the exposure category the window was tested to, not just its energy rating.
- Proper drainage that will not clog. Much of the Victorian conifer planting on Beacon Hill and the Warren is still standing, and pine needles end up in every drainage slot. Hooded or covered drainage outlets help.
- Good compression seals. Casements and tilt-and-turn windows press onto their gaskets when closed, which is why they suit the most exposed elevations. A well-made uPVC or aluminium sash with brush and fin seals is fine on most of the town.
- Stainless steel hinges and fixings. Wet, windy weather on the ridge finds the weak point in cheaper hardware first.
- Trickle vents that suit the room. Since June 2022, replacement windows are expected not to reduce a room's background ventilation. In a damp north-facing bedroom in an older Jarvis Brook terrace, a vent in the head of the window helps.
- A finish that copes with sap and rain. Powder-coated aluminium and uPVC wipe clean. Painted timber needs repainting every five to eight years, and sooner on exposed elevations like the ones round the Beacon.
Doing the exposed side first
If the budget will not stretch to the whole house, many owners on the hill start with the south-west face, the one that lets in draughts and rain, and do the sheltered side later. On a two-storey house that usually means scaffold, which adds roughly £500 to a small job, so doing the whole house at once is usually better value. See typical prices.
Front doors face the same weather. A composite door, from £2,200 to £4,020, does not swell and stick on a wet west-facing porch the way an old timber door can. See front doors.
Get a price for your house
Tell us the street, the house and roughly how many windows. A FENSA-registered installer will arrange to survey and send a written quote.