£6192 for 3 new double glazed windows.

[a1ex2001]

No, i'll stick to my listed house thanks, oak frames yo.

wooden windows for the win! unless you hause was built in the last 30-40 years please please don't put PVC anywhere near it especially if it's pre war I'm sick of seeing beautifull victorian houses etc with cheap plastic windows.

One thing thats not been mentioned in this thread which surprises me is the quality of the plastic used, cheap windows use cheap plastic whcih you will know nothing about for the first few years but they will then start to retain the dirt much more noticeably than quality windows and in some cases start to turn grey/yellow. The other downside to cheap windows is the locking mechanisms, the victorian sash windows in my house still work exactly as they did when they were installed some 100 years ago with the origional locks, cheap plastic windows have cheap locs that break and fall off and also cheap hinge mechanisms that will work fine for a few years and then start to flex in ways they shouldn't. With all things in life pretty much you get what you pay for and cheap windows are no different.

Fitting of windows is also a key component cheap window fitters will generally do a less professional job as they need to be in and out fast, it will probably look fine as they will hide the nasty nasty work under plastic flashings but there is a good chance the window will be held in with poorly placed an secured screws and an abundance of expanding foam. Windows fitted in this way have been responsible for deaths in the obvious way is they fall out but also in the less obvious way that during a house fire the foam burns off exceptionally quickly creating a hole around the window an allowing more air in to feed the fire. Don't think for a minute that fencer registration guarentees quality it is exactly the same as the Corgi scheme you still get good and bad fitters and plenty of cowboys.

 

[Izi]

wooden windows for the win! unless you hause was built in the last 30-40 years please please don't put PVC anywhere near it especially if it's pre war I'm sick of seeing beautifull victorian houses etc with cheap plastic windows.

thats all well and good if you can afford it. I have a 900/month mortgage on top of everyother living expense. I am not going to pay double for windows when I dont intend to live in town all my life.

Town is ugly anyway.

 

[Izi]

These cost £12,000 for 12 PVC sash windows and a window converted to a pair of patio doors .

heck, thats more than a car!

for what is essentially plastic and sand thats a joke. Fair enough if it was wooden so craftman ship had gone in to it, but its toys r us plastic.

 

[Makunouchi]

thats all well and good if you can afford it. I have a 900/month mortgage on top of everyother living expense. I am not going to pay double for windows when I dont intend to live in town all my life.

Town is ugly anyway.

Well its worth it if you view it as an investment, chunky quality wooden frames will add value to a property.

 

[Mark A]

Well its worth it if you view it as an investment, chunky quality wooden frames will add value to a property.

Got to agree here, i do much prefer wooden hardwood windows being a cabinet maker. My dad made some oak windows for his house and they look much better than plastic oak effect windows.

To keep wood looking good you need to maintain it, most people want to fit windows and forget about them.

 

[Mark A]

heck, thats more than a car!

for what is essentially plastic and sand thats a joke. Fair enough if it was wooden so craftman ship had gone in to it, but its toys r us plastic.

To be fair these windows are specially made to replicate old wooden sash windows. Yup they fail at this but its the nearest thing to it. They are 120mm deep which is about the depth of the old sash windows. Fitting a 70mm frame wouldn't look right.

The glass has to be weighed and then a matched spring has to be fitted so the window wont just slam shut. They also come fully glazed and have to be carried up the stairs to be fitted so we get £200 for fitting each one.

atpbx, I didn't realize the Wickes frames came in standard sizes, that explains the prices. If the OP can find one in his size it might be worth a shot.

 

[a1ex2001]

thats all well and good if you can afford it. I have a 900/month mortgage on top of everyother living expense. I am not going to pay double for windows when I dont intend to live in town all my life.

Town is ugly anyway.

Decent painted softwood windows (Which are what the victorians put in just about every terraced house in the country) cost little if anything more than good quality plastic, look much nicer and add value to your home (whilst also being greener if thats your thing)

The 12k plastic windows look to be top of the range sliding sashes and if thats the case the home owners money would have been much better spent on new wooden ones or refurbing the old ones. Expensive plastic sashes make no sense.

 

[Mark A]

I agree, they look OK but they still look like plastic at the end of the day.

Only problem with softwood these days is its not going to last 100 years like the Victorian windows. The timber used in Victorian windows you wont find today unless you used reclaimed. You'll get normal kiln dried redwood frames that you'll be lucky to get 10 years out of. If you make the effort of repainting every year then you might get longer but thats a lot of work. Also after a good few coats of paint have been put on they start to look a bit naff.

 

[Mark M]

That was from weatherseal.

To be fair once he had taken of my 'special' discounts it came to £3100. Thats for 3 windows 80cm wide and 190 cm tall - nothing special, made from UPVC.

Needless to say i laughed. I said that I had a quote of £350 / window and i thought that was expensive. He turned around and said 'you dont get a 30 year warentee with them either do you?!' to which i replied: no, but i could get them replaced every 10 years and still save money.

Anybody know a good place to get quotes for double glazing in newcastle area?

Hi mate, I used a company based in Lemington called Colwood. Dont have their number to hand at work but they did a fantastic job and knocked spots off everyone else. Also got them back for a new back door, guttering and soffets!

 

[Izi]

Hi mate, I used a company based in Lemington called Colwood. Dont have their number to hand at work but they did a fantastic job and knocked spots off everyone else. Also got them back for a new back door, guttering and soffets!

just spoke to him. you mind me asking how much you paid and for what?

 

[Mark M]

I honestly cant remember for the windows unfortunately, was the first thing we had done when we moved in. Im sure it was around the £2k mark (no bays or anything fancy)

For the guttering, soffets, new garage door and backdoor he charged about £1300 if my memory serves which was much cheaper than any other quote I got.

Hes a nice guy though and will give a quote with each window itemised (over the phone). My Dad has also used him for his windows and doors and neither of us have had any complaints.

 

[Izi]

cheers mark

 

[Chabsy]

Decent painted softwood windows (Which are what the victorians put in just about every terraced house in the country) cost little if anything more than good quality plastic, look much nicer and add value to your home (whilst also being greener if thats your thing)

The 12k plastic windows look to be top of the range sliding sashes and if thats the case the home owners money would have been much better spent on new wooden ones or refurbing the old ones. Expensive plastic sashes make no sense.

What the Victorians put in was not quick grown kiln dried softwood, if you want anything like the the timber quality you will be looking at spending triple or quadruple what pvc sashes will cost, chances are you will get spring balances not weights and cords so they will fail just like a pvc sash.

You are then into the maintenece every 4 or so years so unless you want to burn off the paint and repaint yourself then you are paying a decorator.

The other thing with timber sashes is that to get sealed units into the frames you have to make the frames deeper that the original frames so they sit bck into the room and look cluncky or have very thin sealed units or reduce the timber on the sashes so much that the dimentions are all wrong.

If PVC replacement windows are done well they can look just as good as timber replacements.

If you have existing timber sash windows then great refurb them and if you look after them then they will outlast us all, but new timber sashes will not last any long than pvc

 

[HTMLHugo]

explained why i dont have those vents, was thinking i got ripped

Not sure what 'Secure by design' is tbh. I think most plastic window profiles use a pretty universal locking system these days. The windows we use just have 2 roller bolts, but you can pay more and get shoot bolts as well. They lock in 2 positions as well to allow a bit of air to circulate while still being secure, this does away with the older trickle vents which are unsightly imo.

 

[NeilMick]

Windows are the biggest rip off ever.

 

[Chabsy]

Windows are the biggest rip off ever.

I know... my driver has just droped me off from an evening of champagne quoffing. Now we are orf the the 3 star Michelin place down the road, then my Lear jet flying us to my country retreat for the weekend

 

[Izi]

I know... my driver has just droped me off from an evening of champagne quoffing. Now we are orf the the 3 star Michelin place down the road, then my Lear jet flying us to my country retreat for the weekend

fail