Should I replace my windows with UPVC

Depends on cost vs the value of your house and likelihood/timing of moving. BUT I would gen up on slim profile double glazing and 'heritage' double glazing. You may find there is a style and colour you really like (things have changed a lot recently). As you are thinking about this I'd not have them seen to just now! The actual work is not to be feared - usually very quick.

crazyH

White UPVC windows here - love them - maintenance free - window cleaner cleans the frames when he does the windows .

Indeed.

Our new windows, all round the back of the house, invisible to everyone apart from us are brilliant. Inside our home as well, the wood and pretty moulding, millwork all round the PVC window frames is white gloss - fantastic in loft revision, conservatory addition, 10s of meters of kitchen windows.

I admit to liking clean crisp white in family areas.

White UPVC windows here - love them - maintenance free - window cleaner cleans the frames when he does the windows .

Where I live - a small development on the site of an old farm steading - like Forsythia all the houses were built with dark wood windows, doors and trim on and in the houses - think Potton style.
Over the years, every house has had the windows replaced and no-one has changed their brown to white. Even new automatic garage doors are all brown, as are any conservatories, but it compliments the style of the build.
Houses here change hands very rarely, so I don’t know if a prospective purchaser would be put off, or not.

PamelaJ1

SporeRB

If you are going to downsize one day, why not replace the damaged windows for new wooden windows and the ones which are cloudy, just change the glass.
Job done and then you can concentrate on the next task eg., replacing your garage roof.

I was also going to suggest just changing the glass. Ours are stained hardwood, we have lots of windows. My DH just replaces the glass if it has blown. If we got the glass company to do it we would have a 10year guarantee but, of course, it costs more. My DH spent a few years working as a carpenter so can do it himself. As they need doing he has taken some wood off the frames to install thicker double glazing.

Can I borrow him please?

We had dark, hardwood windows in our house. I loved the idea of them, but used to think that the outside of the house looked so dull, and they needed a good overhaul. I was reluctant to change them, but at the beginning of lockdown, we bit the bullet and had white UPVC installed. I love them! They are easy to take care of, certainly warmer, and the house looks so much better. Go for it!

SporeRB

If you are going to downsize one day, why not replace the damaged windows for new wooden windows and the ones which are cloudy, just change the glass.
Job done and then you can concentrate on the next task eg., replacing your garage roof.

I was also going to suggest just changing the glass. Ours are stained hardwood, we have lots of windows. My DH just replaces the glass if it has blown. If we got the glass company to do it we would have a 10year guarantee but, of course, it costs more. My DH spent a few years working as a carpenter so can do it himself. As they need doing he has taken some wood off the frames to install thicker double glazing.

If you are going to downsize one day, why not replace the damaged windows for new wooden windows and the ones which are cloudy, just change the glass.
Job done and then you can concentrate on the next task eg., replacing your garage roof.

We had all the windows in our house replaced with double glazed units in wooden frames some 20 years ago. Apart from periodically needing repainting they are fine, and efficient in cutting draughts and noise. But our house is 300+ years old and there is no way I would have put UPVC windows in.

However, might not be so easy to do if you have huge windows.

MayBee70

It’s very good wood: the best hardwood you could get at the time. Only a few are cloudy: in fact one of the newer ones is the worst. It would be 11 windows and two doors. And in the kitchen and bathroom I don’t see how it could be done without damaging the tiles. I wish I could just snap my fingers and I would have white everything! I’ve got to have the porch replaced and a new garage roof this year as well. Annoyingly two builders that were coming round to give me advice didn’t turn up today. I’m not very good at making decisions! I’ve wanted new doors throughout the house ( the ones I’ve got are cheap 1970’s ones) but I’ve never been able to decide what style to go for!

We had windows which went cloudy in an extension we had built.
Apparently it can be caused by the type of seal and could be due to using linseed oil putty, so we were told. They were replaced under guarantee.

We have wood and we'd always want wood. It's an old house and some in the area have gone down the UPVC route and it looks unusual.

Also a neighbour of mine has had dreadful problems so the low maintenance angle isn't always correct,

Brown PVC outside and white inside works well.

We have beautiful brown wood at the front and sides of our home. Extra work, but looks well with our old old home. Back side of our home - including kitchen and baths, each revision, addition, or loft conversion - white double glazed PVC.

You'd never notice, it's lovely and not at all disjointed.

Maybe try a front and back approach, depending on which windows are broken, buggy, cloudy?

In your shoes, I would replace the windows. You’ll be cosier and have no maintenance worries.

We’ve also got brown wood windows as have all the properties in our little road. Nobody has replaced them with white outside. We are going to have brown UPVC outside but white inside. It will make it look lighter inside I think.

It’s very good wood: the best hardwood you could get at the time. Only a few are cloudy: in fact one of the newer ones is the worst. It would be 11 windows and two doors. And in the kitchen and bathroom I don’t see how it could be done without damaging the tiles. I wish I could just snap my fingers and I would have white everything! I’ve got to have the porch replaced and a new garage roof this year as well. Annoyingly two builders that were coming round to give me advice didn’t turn up today. I’m not very good at making decisions! I’ve wanted new doors throughout the house ( the ones I’ve got are cheap 1970’s ones) but I’ve never been able to decide what style to go for!

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👍🏼 Maybee70

I’m not planning on moving. I just want to get everything in place for the future in case I do develop any health problems etc. I think it was because I was staying at a house that had just been renovated and was all pristine and lovely and my own house was getting to me. I’m feeling a bit more in control today.

MayBee70

I’ve got a friend who’s an estate agent and he’s just retired so I’m going to ask him for advice.

Totally agree - and if you're thinking of downsizing, it may be better to sell it as it is

We had pvc windows installed in our house in France, a friend who visited regularly was horrified. When he and his family visited, he said it was only when he went to open the French doors he remembered because otherwise the windows looked completely unchanged. Identical glazing patterns and window rofiles as the windows they replaced.

I certainly wouldn't put plastic windows in our 555 year old house or the very stylised late 19th century house we had before. The main problem is that most people exercise no sense of style or appropriateness when putting pvc windows in and do the most dreadful things to houses. About 10 years ago a developer built a row of large terrace house in a style that distinctly reflected the older houses around the site. The pvc windows had a glazing pattern and sashes that fitted the design, and again the area.

I went down this road last week and one of the owners had removed all the windows the house came with and replaced them with frames with just one huge piece of glass that seemd to swivel on central(horizontal) pivots. It looks abolutely awful and devalues the whole terrace.

I have to say, I loathe upvc windows. If we had spare cash I'd have ours out in a trice even though our wooden ones take more maintenance.

If you are keen to move I'd look to do that and get 3 estimates from estate agents.
Ask each one what their thoughts are about the windows as the state of them will almost certainly come up in surveys.

Our house in France, where we are now, has had pvc windows for 15 years now and we have had absolutely n problems with them at all. All are still as good as new. This is DD's experience as well - and she has had pvc windows for nearly 20 years.

I think you must be unfortunate Hetty.

maybee Cut your losses, sell as is and keep the money to get your next home fitted out to your taste.

I’ve got a friend who’s an estate agent and he’s just retired so I’m going to ask him for advice.