Belfast's housing runs from dense Victorian and Edwardian terraces through inter-war and post-war estates to modern apartment and infill development, and each needs a different approach. The older terraced stock has solid walls where breathability matters and narrow sills hard against the footpath. The suburban stock has the standard cast sills and garages we work on constantly. On top of that there is a very large commercial and light industrial base.
Terraced and older townhouse stock here often has narrow sills sitting hard against the pavement or a small front garden, catching splash-back as well as direct rain. Access is straightforward at ground floor but masking matters more when the sill is a foot from a public footpath.
The post-war and 1960s to 1980s housing here was built with standard cast concrete sills, and they are now at exactly the age where the surface starts crumbling and paint stops holding. They are the most common sills we coat, and because the openings are a consistent size across a street the work is efficient.
Commercial frontages and units here benefit from sill restoration as a low-disruption way to tidy an elevation without closing anything or touching the glazing. It is generally scheduled around trading hours.
Where properties sit in a conservation area or have any listed status, changing the external appearance can need consent. We will flag it if we think that applies to you and we would expect you to check with the council before we start, rather than find out afterwards.
On terraced streets the practical constraints are access and masking rather than the work itself, since sills often sit within a foot or two of a public footpath and there is rarely anywhere to set up off the street.
