You have arrived to open up and there is a pale, cloudy shape across the window that was not there last night. It looks like the glass has been frosted in patches. It will not wash off, it will not scrape off, and by the time you have tried you have made it slightly worse.
That is acid etched graffiti. Somebody has smeared a corrosive gel onto the pane and walked away, and the acid has bitten into the surface of the glass. Nothing is sitting on top of it, which is precisely why nothing you own will shift it.
We take it out where it stands, normally the same day, for a small fraction of what new glass would cost. No boarding, no ordering, no waiting.
Do you need graffiti removed from your property? Get a fast, hassle-free quote today! Click here to get a professional graffiti removal quote or call us today on: 020 8050 5997
The Soho Problem: Nobody Is Sure Whose Window It Is
Soho buildings are narrow and tall and almost none of them has a single occupier. A restaurant on the ground floor, a members' club or a bar in the basement, edit suites or a post house on the first and second, offices or a flat above that. Several leases, sometimes several landlords, and a managing agent who may or may not hold the whole building.
When somebody works their way along a frontage at four in the morning, the damage does not respect any of that. It crosses the restaurant's display glass, the shared entrance door, the fanlight over it and the stair window above. Four panes, three demises, and a genuine argument about who instructs the work and who pays for it.
We deal with this constantly, so we handle it differently here.
We quote pane by pane. Not one lump sum for the frontage. Each affected pane is priced separately and identified by position, so the split between tenant, landlord and service charge is obvious on the page rather than something to negotiate afterwards.
We will attend on one instruction and invoice several parties. There is no sense in three contractors visiting the same building on three mornings. One attendance, itemised, with each party's portion separated out.
We photograph the whole elevation, not just the panes we treat. Dated, from both sides, so whoever ends up in a conversation with a landlord or an insurer has the full picture rather than a crop.
We will tell you what we think the split is. We are not solicitors and we do not read your lease for you, but after enough Soho frontages you learn where the boundary usually falls, and we will tell you where to look in the document.
Recent Acid Etched Graffiti Removal Projects
There Is No Shared Opening Time In Soho
Most areas have one window in which work can happen. A high street is quiet before nine. An office estate is empty at the weekend. Soho has no such hour, because no two premises in the same building trade on the same clock.
The restaurants open for lunch and run to late evening. The bars and clubs go on into the small hours. The theatres have matinees. The post houses and edit suites frequently run overnight because that is when the work gets turned around. A frontage that is dead at seven in the morning for one tenant is mid shift for another.
So we do not offer a standard Soho slot. We ask each affected occupier when their genuinely quiet hour is and build the attendance around the building rather than the street. In practice that is often mid morning, after the late trade has finished and before the lunch service starts, which is the one part of the day when most of Soho is briefly still.
Where We Get Called Out Around Soho
Old Compton Street. Dense bar, cafe and restaurant frontages with glass right on the pavement edge, heavy late night footfall and very little setback between the window and the people passing it.
Dean Street and Wardour Street. Media and post-production houses, private members' premises and restaurants, often with discreet frontages and entrance glazing that matters more to the occupier than a passer by would guess.
Frith Street and Greek Street. Restaurants, music venues and bars in narrow period buildings with the multi-occupancy pattern described above in almost every one.
Berwick Street and Rupert Street. Market trading alongside fixed premises, so the pavement is occupied for much of the day and access has to be planned around the stalls rather than through them.
Brewer Street, Lexington Street and Broadwick Street. Independent retail, food and drink, with a mix of original shopfronts and modern replacements fitted into historic openings.
Soho Square and Golden Square. Office and studio frontages around the squares, quieter at night and considerably less overlooked than the main streets.
The Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus approaches. Where general West End footfall pours into Soho, and where the frontages take the heaviest exposure.
We Have Done This Street
The evidence is on site, with the photography, rather than in a claim.
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New Glass Or Restored Glass In A Soho Frontage
| Replacing the panes | Restoring the panes | |
|---|---|---|
| Timescale | Days to weeks, longer for a non standard opening | Usually the same day |
| Historic openings | Bespoke sizes, bespoke price, bespoke wait | Size is irrelevant, the glass stays in the frame |
| Multi demise frontage | Separate orders, separate fitters, separate visits | One attendance across every affected pane |
| Meanwhile | Boarded, on a street that trades on appearance | Nothing covered at any stage |
| Vehicle access | Fitting crew needs kerbside space you may not get | Kit carried in, minimal footprint |
| Conservation and listed fabric | Consent may be required | Nothing altered, no consent question |
| Cost | Full price of the units and their fitting | Up to 90 per cent less |
The kerbside point is not trivial here. Soho's streets are narrow, loading is restricted and a glazing crew needs space at the door for long enough to lift a pane out and a new one in. Restoration needs a technician, a contained working area and a bucket. The comparison in full is in glass replacement vs protection: the true cost, and the decision itself in should I replace or restore etched graffiti glass.
Do you need graffiti removed from your property? Get a fast, hassle-free quote today! Click here to get a professional graffiti removal quote or call us today on: 020 8050 5997
Conservation Area And Historic Shopfronts
Much of Soho sits within a conservation area and a good deal of the building stock is protected. If your premises is listed this changes the calculation before cost enters it.
Altering a listed building can require consent, and works carried out without it are a criminal matter rather than a paperwork problem. That protection commonly extends to the shopfront, its surround and the opening, even where the glass within is modern. Westminster's shopfront policy in a conservation area is not permissive either.
Restoration alters nothing. The pane stays in the frame, the frame stays in the opening, and the consent question is never reached. For anyone holding Soho stock as a landlord or managing agent, that is usually the deciding argument.
Etching, Scratching Or Paint?
Three things that look alike from across a narrow street, each needing a different answer.
Paint or marker. Solid colour, hard outline, and a fingernail lifts over a raised edge. It is on the glass, and the correct solvent removes it.
Acid etching. Pale and hazy, still letting light through, and a fingernail finds a faint grittiness sitting flush with the surface. The outline blurs where the gel ran before somebody wiped at it. From inside with the lights on it is far more obvious than from the pavement, which is why staff usually notice it before customers do.
Scratching. Bright, fine, deliberate lines cut with a blade or a key, and a fingernail drops into the groove.
Soho frontages regularly carry all three at once. Photographs to compare against are at glass scratching vs acid etching and white frosty window graffiti. There is background on the trend in the rise of acid-etch vandalism in London.
Before Anyone Touches It
Anything still wet is a chemical. Etching gel is corrosive to skin and eyes. Keep staff and customers clear of it, and on a shared frontage tell the other occupiers rather than assuming they have noticed.
No blades, no scourers. Scraping cuts permanent lines into a pane that would have come back cleanly, and rubbing at wet residue carries it onto glass that was undamaged a minute earlier.
No graffiti remover. It achieves nothing against etching and adds an unknown chemical to the situation.
Flood it with cold water if residue is visible and it is safe to do so, gloved, with eye protection, pouring rather than wiping.
Photograph the whole elevation, dated, from inside and outside, not just your own pane. On a multi occupancy building that record is what settles the conversation about who was affected and by how much.
Report it and keep the reference. This is criminal damage and the crime reference number is normally needed before an insurer will engage. The process is covered in what to do when your shop window is vandalised.
How We Restore Etched Glass In Soho
Identifying the glass. Float, toughened, laminated, coated, mirrored or a sealed unit, and how deep the etch has gone. Soho runs from original single glazing in period frontages to modern units in refitted ground floors, sometimes in the same building.
A trial patch. We prove the method on a small section out of public view before committing to the full pane.
Masking and containment. Frames, gaskets, seals, vinyl lettering, manifestation and signage all protected. On pavements this narrow the working area has to be tight and the slurry has to stay contained, because there is nowhere for pedestrians to divert to.
Working through the grades. Progressively finer abrasives lift a layer thinner than a hair, tapered well past the mark so nothing shows where the work ends. Polish the letters alone and you leave a shallow bowl in the glass that bends everything behind it. That is the giveaway of a general contractor taking on glass work, and it is a worse result than the graffiti was.
Cerium oxide to finish. Clarity comes back under wet cerium oxide, judged by looking through the pane at the light rather than at the reflection.
Checked from both sides. From the pavement, from inside against the interior lighting, and at a low angle, because in a narrow street people see your glass obliquely far more often than square on.
A single pane is normally complete within three hours. The method is documented at acid etched graffiti techniques and removal methods and how to polish shopfront glass to optical clarity, with the finishing stage in how to use cerium oxide glass polish.
We will also tell you when it cannot be done. Etching deep enough to compromise the pane, a unit with a failed seal, or a functional coating in the wrong place can all mean the glass genuinely needs replacing. You get that at assessment, in writing, before anything is spent.
Do you need graffiti removed from your property? Get a fast, hassle-free quote today! Click here to get a professional graffiti removal quote or call us today on: 020 8050 5997
What We Restore Around Soho
- Float glass and standard windows in period shopfronts and upper storey glazing.
- Laminated shopfront glazing on refitted ground floors.
- Toughened glass in lobby screens, entrance doors and stair balustrades.
- Sealed double glazed units, worked on the outer pane with the cavity left intact.
- Mirrors and mirrored panels behind bars, in restaurant interiors and in club fit outs.
- Frosted, etched and textured glass, including privacy glazing on members' premises, re-matched to the existing finish rather than polished flat.
- Glass block in older commercial frontages and lightwells.
- Thresholds and stall risers in polished granite and polished marble.
- Stainless steel and polished metal door furniture, frames, fascias and entry panels.
Acid gel damages any polished face, and on a shared Soho entrance the damage usually crosses the display glass, the door, the entry panel and the threshold in one go. We deal with all of it in a single attendance rather than passing you between trades.
Who We Work For In Soho
Restaurants, bars and late night venues. Worked around service and around the building's other occupiers, not around our convenience.
Media, post-production and studio premises. Discreet frontages and entrance glazing, restored without a visible operation outside the door during a client visit.
Private members' premises. Privacy glazing and frosted finishes matched rather than removed, and attendance timed to avoid guests entirely.
Managing agents and landlords. Multi demise frontages priced pane by pane, with the evidence needed for service charge recovery and leaseholder reporting.
Independent retail. Berwick Street, Brewer Street and the parades off them, restored before trading or in the mid morning lull.
Who Pays On A Shared Frontage
The lease decides, and in Soho there is usually more than one lease in play. The repairing covenant tells each occupier whether their display glass sits inside their demise, and the shared entrance, fanlight and stair glazing are normally the landlord's, recovered through the service charge. On a building with several landlords the boundary can sit in an unexpected place, so the demise plan matters as much as the wording.
This is exactly why we price pane by pane. A quote that identifies each affected pane by position lets each party see their portion immediately, and lets a managing agent recover the communal element without unpicking a single figure.
On insurance, compare the quote against the excess before notifying anyone. A single pane restoration frequently sits below a commercial excess, which makes a claim pointless and costly at renewal. Where a whole frontage across several demises is affected, the position usually reverses. Either way, dated photography from both sides and a written description of works is issued as standard.
Stopping The Next One
Restoration returns the glass to clear. It does not deter anybody, and Soho frontages are hit more than once with some regularity given the hours this area keeps.
Sacrificial anti-graffiti film takes the next attack instead of the pane and is peeled off and replaced in minutes for a fraction of another restoration. It is optically clear, so a display, a lit interior or a frosted privacy panel looks exactly as it does now. On a shared frontage there is a further advantage: the film can be specified across every pane in one go regardless of demise, which is far simpler than agreeing a joint restoration after the next incident.
The detail sits on our anti-acid etched graffiti protection page, with how the film works, how long it lasts, what it costs and whether it blurs a window. For retail frontages see protecting retail displays from glass vandalism.
Areas We Cover Next To Soho
For the complete picture on the service, including our process video and the full FAQ, see our main acid etched graffiti removal page.
Soho Acid Etched Graffiti Removal: Frequently Asked Questions
Can this be taken out of the glass, or do we need a new pane?
Taken out, in the great majority of cases. The damage occupies a layer far thinner than a hair at the face of the pane, and the work removes that layer and brings the clarity back. Only unusually deep etching, a failed seal or a coating in the wrong position forces replacement, and you will know which applies before spending anything.
The damage crosses our window and the shared entrance. Who instructs you?
Whoever calls first, and we will work with the rest. We quote pane by pane, identified by position, so each party can see their own portion without unpicking a single figure. We attend once and invoice separately rather than sending three crews to the same door.
Is the shared door and fanlight our responsibility or the landlord's?
Usually the landlord's, recovered through the service charge, while your own display glass sits inside your demise. That said, Soho buildings vary and some have more than one landlord, so check the repairing covenant and the demise plan rather than assuming. We will tell you where to look and quote both parts regardless.
When can you actually work here?
Whenever your building is genuinely quiet, which differs by occupier. Mid morning suits most frontages, after the late trade has finished and before lunch service. We ask each affected occupier rather than imposing a standard slot.
We are a members' club and cannot have work visible during opening.
Then it does not happen during opening. We attend outside your hours, keep the working area contained and leave nothing outside the door. Discretion is part of how we work on premises like yours.
Our frosted privacy glass has been etched. Can that be matched?
Yes, and it needs to be matched rather than polished away, otherwise you end up with a clear patch in a privacy panel. Decorative and frosted finishes are assessed individually because the existing texture has to be recreated.
Our building is listed. Does that affect the decision?
It strengthens the case for restoration. Altering glazing in a listed building can require consent and proceeding without it is a criminal matter. Restoration leaves the pane in the existing frame and opening, so nothing needs applying for.
Will the treated area show?
It should not. The worked zone extends well beyond the mark and tapers out, leaving no edge for the eye to find. The failure to watch for is polishing only the lettering, which creates a shallow lens that warps what is behind it. We sign off from the pavement, from inside and at a low angle.
There is paint and scratching as well as etching.
All handled in one visit. Paint lifts with the correct solvent, etching and scratching both respond to the same abrasion and polishing sequence. Depth decides the outcome, and the occasional very deep gouge sits beyond recovery.
What about the mirrors and steel inside the bar?
Acid gel damages any polished face, so back bar mirrors, marble thresholds, steel fittings and entry panels are all affected and all recoverable. Multi surface damage is dealt with in the same attendance.
Do you need a parking space outside?
Far less than a glazing crew would. Restoration needs a technician, a contained working area and water, not kerbside space for long enough to lift a pane out and another in. On these streets that difference matters.
What does it cost?
Against replacing the same glazing, counting the unit, the fitting and the trade lost while boarded, restoration comes in up to 90 per cent cheaper. The variables are the affected area, the depth, the glass type, access and whether protective film is fitted afterwards. The figure is confirmed in writing first. No lazy contractors. No hidden fees.
Should we claim on insurance?
Compare the quote against your excess before notifying anyone. On a single pane the restoration often falls underneath it. Across a full frontage spanning several demises, a claim usually makes more sense.
It has been there for months. Too late?
Almost never. Weathered damage takes longer on the day than fresh damage, but it is nearly always still recoverable.
Can you cover several of our sites across the West End?
Yes. We work across multi site portfolios with one point of contact, consistent photographic reporting and consolidated invoicing.
How do we get it priced?
Send photographs of the whole elevation, not just your own pane. In most cases that alone tells us whether it is etching, scratching or paint, shows us the demise split, and lets us indicate cost immediately. After that it is a site assessment, a firm written price, and attendance at the hour that suits the building.
Do you need graffiti removed from your property? Get a fast, hassle-free quote today! Click here to get a professional graffiti removal quote or call us today on: 020 8050 5997
Other London Locations We Cover
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