Replacement window & door recommendations MEGATHREAD. NO JOBS, ADS OR QUOTES

[jtkl2009 10]

Just a point, if you are forming new window openings in a gable you will need Building Regulations approval regardless as you are forming a new structural opening. You will need a Building Regulations application as they have to control the new opening (lintels etc.) as well as certifying the glazing.

 

I may be wrong (quite probably infact) but I think FENSA registered installers can only certify replacement glazing fitted in existing openings, not glazing in new openings?

[ricgem2002 11]

So are you not allowed to fit your own windows?

another money making scheme to hit the builders (wonder who thought that one up)

[mc55 10]

Just a point, if you are forming new window openings in a gable you will need Building Regulations approval regardless as you are forming a new structural opening. You will need a Building Regulations application as they have to control the new opening (lintels etc.) as well as certifying the glazing.

 

I may be wrong (quite probably infact) but I think FENSA registered installers can only certify replacement glazing fitted in existing openings, not glazing in new openings?

 

yes we had a new opening put into our bathroom last year and had to have building regs application & visits.

 

They agreed size of opening, specified exact lintels to be used (which was a farce as they had no idea what they were taking about, so it took several conversations to agree) came to see the lintel in place before the opening was knocked through and then final window & lintel in situ. I think we had to have a certain type of window, but I can't remember if they were bothered about the fitter.

[mactheblade 10]

I think you will find you will require planning because if it overlooks another ptoprty their opion has to be taken into account as for the fitting any builder can do it.

[monkey104 10]

I have arranged for a few double glazing companies to come round over the next week or so to give me quotes for replacement windows.

Does any one have any recommendations or bad experiences with any double glazing companies ?

 

Regards

[aliceBB 10]

No, but as a decorator and at the risk of doing my fellow decs out of a job, ask the joiners (I'm assuming you're getting wooden ones not those nasty uPVC), how much extra it would be to have them sprayed or painted (whatever colour you want) before the glass is put in. I mean with an undercoat, then an eggshell or gloss finish, not just the primer which comes as standard. You will get a much more professional finish (for the first 8 years at least, at which point they'll need re-painting).

 

Weigh this against the cost of getting them professionally painted after installation (for sash windows, allow up to £75 per window).

[ll49 10]

No, but as a decorator and at the risk of doing my fellow decs out of a job, ask the joiners (I'm assuming you're getting wooden ones not those nasty uPVC), how much extra it would be to have them sprayed or painted (whatever colour you want) before the glass is put in. I mean with an undercoat, then an eggshell or gloss finish, not just the primer which comes as standard. You will get a much more professional finish (for the first 8 years at least, at which point they'll need re-painting).

 

Weigh this against the cost of getting them professionally painted after installation (for sash windows, allow up to £75 per window).

 

Nasty uPVC???????

 

What a random sweeping statement, and also personal taste which for some reason you're inflicting on the OP.

 

Remember what assuming does!!!!

[aliceBB 10]

Nasty uPVC???????

 

What a random sweeping statement, and also personal taste which for some reason you're inflicting on the OP.

 

Remember what assuming does!!!!

 

It's my opinion, and it is shared by most people with taste! OP doesn't have to agree with it.

 

Seriously, people are ripping out old, discoloured uPVC dg frames these days and replacing them with hardwood ones. This is because:

 

(i) wooden frames add value to a property; plastic ones do not, or they actually devalue it

(ii) you can paint wooden ones any colour you want; uPVC ones generally come in white or cream.

(iii) I have it on good authority that houses with wooden windows suffer less from condensation mould, even when double glazed

[ll49 10]

It's my opinion, and it is shared by most people with taste! OP doesn't have to agree with it.

 

Seriously, people are ripping out old, discoloured uPVC dg frames these days and replacing them with hardwood ones. This is because:

 

(i) wooden frames add value to a property; plastic ones do not, or they actually devalue it

(ii) you can paint wooden ones any colour you want; uPVC ones generally come in white or cream.

(iii) I have it on good authority that houses with wooden windows suffer less from condensation mould, even when double glazed

 

'shared by most people with taste'....again forcing your opinion!!

 

Your right you can paint wooden ones any colour, but you can get uPVC in a huge range of colours too, if you want pink and green then you can have it.

 

Plastic windows by no means devalue a property!!

 

Wooden ones fade, and rot if not well maintained, that never happens to plastic ones.

 

Your good authority obviously isn't that good, because that is absolutely not true. If you have well fitted a rated windows it makes absolutely no difference when it comes to condensation mould. The only time this would be hugely different is with the old aluminim framed windows.

 

It seems you have very outdated knowledge of this subject!

[aliceBB 10]

'shared by most people with taste'....again forcing your opinion!!

Calm down. I was only saying it to wind you up. It worled...

 

Your right you can paint wooden ones any colour, but you can get uPVC in a huge range of colours too, if you want pink and green then you can have it

Are you sure about that? Please suggest a reputable manufacturer of coloured plastic dg windows.

Plastic windows by no means devalue a property!!

They do where I live! And the National Park won't allow 'em, either. That's how nasty they are.

 

Wooden ones fade, and rot if not well maintained, that never happens to plastic ones.

Plastic ones definitely fade.

 

Your good authority obviously isn't that good, because that is absolutely not true. If you have well fitted a rated windows it makes absolutely no difference when it comes to condensation mould. The only time this would be hugely different is with the old aluminim framed windows.

I was merely passing on an observation by a builder I know with 30 years' epxerience of these things.

 

It seems you have very outdated knowledge of this subject!

Whatever. OP is free to ignore it, if he chooses.

[echo beach 574]

I wouldn't describe uPVC windows and doors as "nasty" but they are certainly two of the items that I would consign to Room 101.

Their one advantage over timber is lower maintenance and for that reason I can appreciate why people choose them.

Give me wooden frames and doors any day of the week. For a start they are sustainable and they are not manufactured from a finite source of precious carbon fuels. In addition, in my opinion, they tend to be much more aesthetically attractive. Some plastic front doors, in particular, are horrendously designed; often appearing as though they have been thrown together from a variety of separate interchangeable components: which they no doubt are.

My wooden windows have lasted 40 years with the occasional re-paint. I'd like to see what some of the uPVC ones look like after a similar period.

The tide is slowly changing. Our ancestors weren't stupid. The future's timber!

 

echo.

[ll49 10]

Calm down. I was only saying it to wind you up. It worled...

 

Are you sure about that? Please suggest a reputable manufacturer of coloured plastic dg windows.

They do where I live! And the National Park won't allow 'em, either. That's how nasty they are.

 

Plastic ones definitely fade.

 

I was merely passing on an observation by a builder I know with 30 years' epxerience of these things.

 

Whatever. OP is free to ignore it, if he chooses.

 

I do know of a company who have been around for many many years who offer a wide range of colours and wood effect plastic windows, why you feel I'm incorrect unless I prove this to you though I'll never know....jist because you don't know of it doesn't mean it isn't out there!!

 

I understand the National Park won't allow them, but I think you'll find similar to the way that Wentworth have all property doors and windows the same colour, it's because of age old tradition and they want everything in keeping with the much older traditional properties which they won't change the appearance of, which were obviously erected with timber windows due to their age.