Post by @greg_harvey@tooting.ch

2026-05-03 19:51 UTC

@wenslauw That sounds familiar to the sort of UK rationale at the time. Here in France we were able to replace original windows with identical new wooden ones that were double-glazed, but certainly my parents at the time were told the actual window frames *and glass* were part of the listed status of the property and therefore must be preserved. And even adding secondary glazing, which needed screwing into the frames on the interior, was technically against the rules. But my dad did it anyway. 😉

Replies (2)

@greg_harvey@tooting.ch 2026-05-03 19:58

@wenslauw Of course the problem with that was the glass was very old and very brittle! My mum put her hand through one pane, and I put a cricket ball through another. 😂 The only thing you could do was replace them with like-for-like single-glazed panes, held in place with putty, because the trames couldn't hold anything thicker. And you weren't allowed to order new frames with thicker wooden structure for the fatter double-glazed panes.

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@wenslauw@beautifullosers.org 2026-05-03 20:02

@greg_harvey Yeah, sounds quite similar. We have secondary glazing in the living room and I think it's even legal, but it's a pain in the arse. They are huge (2+m by 1+m), no way to get them off. No access to the window and no way of opening them. So now can I see the rotting of the wood from behind the extra layer of glass. I like the French way better. I see quite a few illegal changes here. I can even see an air conditioning mounted so it's visible from the street. Must be highly illegal.

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