Leadlight Window Repair in Wellington
Glass and Window Repair Wellington repairs and refits leadlight and stained glass panels in the city's older homes. We take out sagging or cracked panels, replace failed lead came, match and replace broken pieces, re cement and refit them into the sash, and can have a panel sealed inside a double glazed unit so it never has to come out again.
- Bowed and sagging panels straightened and re leaded
- Cracked pieces matched and replaced
- Panels can be sealed into a double glazed unit
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Leadlights are everywhere in Wellington's older stock. Front door fanlights, hall windows and bay window top lights turn up constantly in villas through Mount Victoria, Aro Valley and Mount Cook, in Brooklyn and Island Bay bungalows, and in Berhampore and Seatoun. Lead came has a working life of around eighty to a hundred years, which means a great many Wellington panels are due now.
Why panels bow and what it means
Lead is soft. Over decades, gravity and wind loading make a panel bow outwards in the middle. Once the bow passes about 15mm the cement between the lead and the glass cracks out, the panel starts to rattle, and pieces begin to crack at the corners.
A bowed panel is not a lost cause. It comes out, gets flattened, and either has failed came replaced or the whole panel is re leaded onto the original pattern. The glass is reused.
Matching old glass
The coloured and textured glass in a Victorian or Edwardian leadlight is not made any more. Matching it means finding period glass or the closest modern equivalent, and being honest about which one you are getting.
For a small repair in a busy pattern a close match disappears. In a plain field of a single colour it will show, so sometimes the better answer is to move an original piece to the visible position and put the new glass somewhere it cannot be seen.
Double glazing a leadlight
A restored panel can be sealed inside a double glazed unit, with the leadlight sitting in the cavity between two panes of clear glass. It keeps the appearance, protects the panel permanently from weather and handling, and brings the opening up to modern thermal performance.
It is the usual approach when a character home is being double glazed throughout, since it means the front door fanlight does not have to be the one cold spot left in the house.
Leadlight Window Repair at a glance
- Common faults
- Bowing, cracked cement, broken pieces, failed solder joints
- Repair
- Panel removed, flattened, came replaced, re cemented and refitted
- Glass
- Period glass sourced where possible, closest modern match otherwise
- Double glazing
- Restored panel sealed inside an insulated glass unit
- Lead life
- Around 80 to 100 years before came needs replacing
- Temporary
- Opening glazed or boarded while the panel is off site
Leadlight Window Repair in Wellington: common questions
My leadlight is bowing outwards. Can it be saved?
Almost always. It comes out, gets flattened and re leaded, and the original glass is reused. Left too long the pieces start cracking, which adds cost.
Can a leadlight be double glazed?
Yes. The restored panel is sealed inside a double glazed unit, so it keeps its look and gains thermal performance and protection.
Can you match the coloured glass?
Usually very closely. Period glass is not manufactured any more, so an exact match depends on what we can source. We show you before fitting.
Recent Wellington jobs
Got three quotes for retrofitting the front of the house. Only ones who measured every opening and explained why the north facing rooms needed different glass. Eleven windows over two days, and the road noise dropped more than I expected.
Landlord here. Had four properties assessed for the Healthy Homes ventilation rule and two needed openable sashes freed up rather than new joinery, which saved me a fortune. Straight answers, written report, no upselling.
Ranch slider had been jamming for years and we assumed it needed replacing. Turned out to be rollers and a bent track. Two hours, a fraction of the price we were braced for.
Fogged unit in the lounge, measured on the Tuesday and in by the following Monday. Fair price and they cleaned up after themselves.
Get a price for leadlight window repair in Wellington
Free measure, fixed written quote, and a straight answer on whether it needs repairing or replacing.
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