New windows - any advice?

I would always recommend a local company. If they are worth their salt, they will put you in touch with people they have done work for so that you can talk to them. We did this in our last house, a 1930’s semi without double glazing. We lived there thirty years and had no problems. We still used the same firm in this house for two new external doors and some replacement glazing panels. We also chose a local company for a solid roof on our conservatory. DD’s NDN had a large national firm to replace all the windows in their house and didn’t fit some of them properly. They had to come back and start from scratch with them.

Thanks all, this is very helpful. The sizes won’t be standard as it’s an older house and nothing’s very straight either 😀. Mr D is keen on UPVC as it won’t need upkeep, but I am keener on wood.

PS that included French doors too.

The big companies (E. London) wouldn't come and discuss with me unless Mr e was present!
Small local company did the job perfectly.
I think the bays and a few flat ones were around £12k in 2019. Keep the documents and guarantees safe for when you want to sell. It's called a FENSA certificate.

From experience, I’d pick a local co. - preferably after a recommendation - and steer well clear of the companies that advertise on TV. Around 25 years after exactly the same thing happened, we had a salesman tell us that ‘Normally it’d be £XXXX, but JUST for today, JUST for you, I can make it half that!’

I couldn’t believe they were still pulling this stunt. And when someone phoned to ask why we hadn’t ordered, I told her!

Dh btw puts a lot of faith in the Which? Trusted Traders website, he’s found it very helpful and hasn’t been let down yet.

We had wooden framed triple glazed large windows in yhe last house, which was eco built. They were the best windows ever, no draughts, easy clean and all had perfect opening systems

My new build has the usual white upvc double glazing. They are fine but I do feel draughts from some. No idea of cost but certainly are better than single glazed, over which I used cling film put on with hair dryer help in the old days. Easy clean and all mine have the open/close vents at the top, which I would insist on having

We have had ours replaced in may. House feels warmer.
Living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, back door and patio doors.
Other windows and doors didn't need replacing.
Went with a local company. Cost was £5670.
So pleased with the work. We needed a new garage door and asked
them if they could recommend. Not something they normally did.
It took over 2 months and they had sorted it out.
That cost £1500. It's enhanced our property.

Before they were fitted we got quotes from a couple of bigger companies.
Dearest was over £15k and cheapest £9k.
Go local.

I wish I could do Maybee but I can’t. I squirm.

And end up feeling so bad that I then don’t want the thing anyway😬

Lathyrus3

It was some years ago in my old home. I had PVC (no maintenance) white on the inside but a wood looking finish outside which suited the house.

The main thing was that my son did the negotiating and got thousands literally off the first price and the following ‘special offer”. I’m no negotiator and was so embarrassed at the price my son was suggesting that I had to leave the room.

Just to say don’t be afraid to come back at them with a figure as preposterous as their first quote.

Not that I can do it😳🙄😳😳😳😳😳😳

My partner, who was in sales, even haggles when he buys things from John Lewis. He was buying some bed linen once and got a buy one get one free deal!

PS. I think most UPVC windows now have structural steel running through them, so lintels might not be needed, they should tell you this when they come to quote.

Meanwhile Google all you can about double glazing and the pros and cons.

Perhaos I should add it is a relatively large house, with lots of windows[we put on an extension years back].

I think if I was you, I would be getting lots of quotes. Not even just the normal 3.

Normally with each quote, you learn something new. About costs, ideas, the current market, whatever.

We got quotes for the whole house about 4 years ago.
The costs were so eye watering, even back then[lots of our windows are not standard sizes], that we just changed a couple of panes.

Google says a 3 bed house double glazed UPVC should be between £ 4000 and £7000.
A large difference, but if you keep the 7k in mind then get at least 3 quotes, you should be able to get a good idea of the actual cost.
Meanwhile look for a local Company with good reviews then get some ideas of the type of windows that you want so that when they come to quote you get what you want and not what they ‘suggest’ you have. If you have sashes then best to replace like with like IMO.
Plenty of windows around either online or look at local houses for ideas.
Decide it you want double or triple glazed.
You could always opt for a couple of replacements, see how much mess they make and then decide if you want to do the rest. But make sure they can still get your style at a later date, obviously you want the one who gives you the longest guarantee dates.
Organise it now to fit in the Spring? If the windows aren’t a standard size it might take a while to get them.

We had 2 upstairs windows replaced a few years ago, because MrOops brother didn’t realise that one was locked and he almost wrenched the handle off (idiot) we decided to replace the 2 windows as the new one had to be ‘ means of escape’ windows, we used the same local company that we had used 25 yrs ago, no mess, took 1 day ( summer, so started early in the morning and worked until late) and cost £900. Not cheap but good quality.

It was some years ago in my old home. I had PVC (no maintenance) white on the inside but a wood looking finish outside which suited the house.

The main thing was that my son did the negotiating and got thousands literally off the first price and the following ‘special offer”. I’m no negotiator and was so embarrassed at the price my son was suggesting that I had to leave the room.

Just to say don’t be afraid to come back at them with a figure as preposterous as their first quote.

Not that I can do it😳🙄😳😳😳😳😳😳

Definitely use a local firm and avoid the nationwide companies advertising on TV and in the press.

Look around your area and if you spot a home with good windows just knock on the doors and ask people.......can't beat local recommendations.

You do not say where you live OP but if you PM me I am happy to share the name of the company we use.......who knows, they might be in your locality.

Good luck.

J52

I would also go with a local firm, especially if you can get personal recommendations.
Fortunately, our house is one house outside the conservation area so when we replaced two large bays we could use UPVC.
Opening windows cost more, so in a bay it’s best to limit them within the building regs ventilation rules. Building regs also require an ‘escape’ window on the first floor, so the middle pane of our upper bay opens.
Sorry I can’t remember the costs, but I imagine it would be different measurements etc. in each case.

Yes. Definitely get recommendations. UPVC isn’t as strong as wood so I had an ongoing problem of not knowing if I needed to have lintels put above the windows which would have cost a fortune. Thankfully the surveyor decided that it wasn’t necessary but, given that it’s a sixties house with huge windows if I replace the much larger downstairs ones I’m thinking about having lintels put in. The men who did the front of the house didn’t do as good a job as the ones who did the back. The surveyor told my partner ( he had all of his windows replaced)said he can always tell which men have done a job by the standard of workmanship. Now, he hasn’t had to do any filling round his windows, and he had a large patio window and door replaced, too but I’m still getting cracks around mine and having to fill them. I assume it’s because he had UPVC windows before whereas I had to have very solid wooden windows hammered out. I’ve also had to replace my blinds because they were screwed into the wood and I can’t do that with UPVC. Being huge windows it’s working out quite expensive. I hate the way everyone fills everything with that rubbery squirty stuff. Prefer polyfilla myself. The price of glass has gone through the roof so I would assume the quote I had for the downstairs windows wouldn’t stand now, but I couldn’t face having every window done.

I would also go with a local firm, especially if you can get personal recommendations.
Fortunately, our house is one house outside the conservation area so when we replaced two large bays we could use UPVC.
Opening windows cost more, so in a bay it’s best to limit them within the building regs ventilation rules. Building regs also require an ‘escape’ window on the first floor, so the middle pane of our upper bay opens.
Sorry I can’t remember the costs, but I imagine it would be different measurements etc. in each case.

We had the whole house including doors by a local firm it was a few years ago but the price was much better than any of the big firms and they came back when asked to adjust the French doors. PVC double glazed the house was immediately warmer and they still look good years later.

We have a Swedish home. The windows are wood and triple glazed .Three need replacing and the cost is prohibitive as they have to be made specially. Sometimes I wish we had double glazed plastic as we had in our old home. No trouble at all.

We have wood, double glazed on the front and bits seen from the front. Quite an expense, beautiful and look lovely (as possible, a very old farmhouse). I suppose it's helped heating.

Everything (26) across the back and bits that can't be seen from the front are double glazed vinyl -pvc. White and lovely on that side of our home, certainly help with heating. The windows were trimmed out beautifully with new wood and painted white.

Sorry, Sago - where are my manners? Thank you for replying - I was too deep in thought to say so.

There was talk of this becoming a conservation area a while ago, but it didn’t happen, so we do still have a choice. I don’t know. We’ve had a few things done already and there is still a list. Maybe we should speak to an estate agent about ceiling pricing for the street and see whether the extra cost would be worth it?

Assuming we decide against, what do we need to ask when choosing pvc ones?

We live in a conservation area so had to have new wooden sashes, the cost was eye watering but it does look really good.

Oh, and if anyone has an idea of costs, that would be helpful too.