Double Glazing

[AlVal]

Sorry - the search facility isn't currently working - I suspect the topic or similar is already around here plenty





Any ideas how much I should expect to pay for A energy rated windows/doors, in the same style as pics and fitted (i.e. aluminium or upvc with a similar wood effect finish and leading - I presume in double glazing leading goes in the inside of the glazing?) by a fensa registered fitter, in Luton, Bedfordshire?

total 10 windows, front door, back patio doors and a side door

I took the measurements brick-to-brick, but I won't purchase until the fitter actually measures, because I'd rather not be liable for the measurements!

front door + opaque sideglass w-120cm X h-210cm
side door w-90cm X h-210cm
patio door w-210cm X h-210cm
1 x window w-177cm X h-137cm
1 x window w-64cm X h-104cm (opaque)
1 x window w-64cm X h-121cm
2 x windows w-177cm X h-121cm
2 x windows w-120cm X h-104cm (1 is opaque)
3 x windows w-120cm X h-121cm

Any advice appreciated. Also, could someone in the know explain to me - when a window fitter is round fitting windows, what kinds of things should I be looking out for to ensure a good job is being done?

Should I be looking to choose the manufacturer/windows myself, then find a fitter? or just go with whichever product the fitter tends to source and let them source? I usually like to be able to make the choice of products I buy, but with double glazing there seem to be countless manufacturers, and the homeowners don't seem to generally have an interest in or knowledge of who the manufacturers of the products are - so should I forget trying to buy based on manufacturer/model like I do with everything else?

thanks

Edited by AlVal on Saturday 8th December 17:40

[Pcot]

Price should be around 8/9K

I would look for a local established one man band, or a small business.

The lead will be on the inside & outside of the outside pane of the double glazed unit.

Rehau is a very good system. Google it.

Good luck.

Edited by Pcot on Saturday 8th December 18:56

[AlVal]

Thanks so much - do you work in the industry?

[Pcot]

I do indeed.

[LooneyTunes]

AlVal said:

Should I be looking to choose the manufacturer/windows myself, then find a fitter? or just go with whichever product the fitter tends to source and let them source?

FWIW, I recently spoke to a few manufacturers and fitters about a new window.

I couldn't get close to the price the fitter could on sourcing the unit (I was quoted more for the window than he charged to supply it AND fit it).

[Pcot]

LooneyTunes said:

FWIW, I recently spoke to a few manufacturers and fitters about a new window.

I couldn't get close to the price the fitter could on sourcing the unit (I was quoted more for the window than he charged to supply it AND fit it).

.

Good. That's how trade & retail should be.

[AlVal]

Can anyone explain how double glazing is made? let's take rehau - how much of it do they make, and how much of it is down to the "fabricator"?

I'm trying to work out if it's possible to do the work bit by bit as I have the money, rather than taking any credit out, and so I'm wondering how it's possible to ensure that I choose a system where if do the back of house for example this year, that the range will still be available when I go to do the next bit next year or year after? is this a viable idea? for this to work out, would rehau AND the fabricator I chose both need to be still around? and would my range remain available, even if technology etc has moved on?

[pmanson]

Are you near Leighton Buzzard? I can recommend a guy if you are.

Cheers,
Phill

[Wozy68]

Why do you want to go to the expense of new windows, are the old wooden ones rotton?

[AlVal]

Wozy68 said:

Why do you want to go to the expense of new windows, are the old wooden ones rotton?

single glazing leaks ever-more-expensive heat and doesn't provide decent noise insulation, nearly 30 years old, doors swelling up all the time and hard to open, window hardware very basic/poor, and the way it's been screwed into the wooden frames has caused splits in the wood, doors have big keyholes that let draughts through, the leading is badly faded and poorly stuck on in places, at least one windowsill rotted as well as bottom of side door.. that enough?

[pmanson]

Try http://www.unicornwindows.co.uk/

IIRC the sales guy is Tony - nice chap, no hard sell, we got a price p/window (with the proviso that if we do multiple windows at the same time we'd get a discount).

[darronwall]

Pcot said:

Price should be around 8/9K

I would look for a local established one man band, or a small business.

The lead will be on the inside & outside of the outside pane of the double glazed unit.

Rehau is a very good system. Google it.

Good luck.

Edited by Pcot on Saturday 8th December 18:56

£7600 black ash rehau profile,a rated with the relevant certs

[johnnywgk]

Get your friend to do it! the gauraunntee (fk spelling)


Will be the same.

[AlVal]

johnnywgk said:

Get your friend to do it! the gauraunntee (fk spelling)


Will be the same.

eh?! what friend? I'm lost here...

are you my friend? is that what you're saying?

[Wozy68]

AlVal said:

single glazing leaks ever-more-expensive heat and doesn't provide decent noise insulation, nearly 30 years old, doors swelling up all the time and hard to open, window hardware very basic/poor, and the way it's been screwed into the wooden frames has caused splits in the wood, doors have big keyholes that let draughts through, the leading is badly faded and poorly stuck on in places, at least one windowsill rotted as well as bottom of side door.. that enough?

Ok buddy, only interested.

Personally I would repair the rotton cill, say £100.00. Put keyhole covers over door locks £30.00, replace the door if needed £350.00, replace all hardware £250.00? Fill and paint/stain all exterior windows £800.00? Lead restorer and elbow grease £10 ......and put the 8K saving into something profitable. It will be a hell of a long time getting that 8K back from your heating bills.

Edited by Wozy68 on Thursday 10th January 09:57

[AlVal]

Wozy68 said:

Ok buddy, only interested.

Personally I would repair the rotton cill, say £100.00. Put keyhole covers over door locks £30.00, replace the door if needed £350.00, replace all hardware £250.00? Fill and paint/stain all exterior windows £800.00? Lead restorer and elbow grease £10 ......and put the 8K saving into something profitable. It will be a hell of a long time getting that 8K back from your heating bills.

Edited by Wozy68 on Thursday 10th January 09:57

It's definitely difficult to argue with your logic..

as regards the hardware, I don't think decent hardware could be retrofitted to my wooden windows, as most of the good modern hardware has things like multipoint locking which runs through the internals of the frames. I'll have a look though, and see what modern hardware can be retro-fitted

one thing you didnt mention is the swelling causing doors to stick. My assumption is that this is the wood starting to rot and absorb water causing the swelling, and I'm not sure if this can be fixed? I guess perhaps it involves removing the doors, sanding off the swollen bits, and some sort of treatment and/or repainting.

I paid for them to be repainted / refilled before, and it was rubbish work.

I find it impossible to get decent tradesmen to do quality work at a fair price, which is one of my arguments for switching away from wooden windows which require maintenance.

I guess maybe its time for me to get off my ass and rent some scaffolding, and learn how to correctly restore my wooden windows myself.

Much as I'd love to save on heating bills, as you fairly point out, the return on investment time _is_ long on replacement double glazing (about 20 years).

[Wozy68]

AlVal said:

as regards the hardware, I don't think decent hardware could be retrofitted to my wooden windows, as most of the good modern hardware has things like multipoint locking which runs through the internals of the frames. I'll have a look though, and see what modern hardware can be retro-fitted

one thing you didnt mention is the swelling causing doors to stick. My assumption is that this is the wood starting to rot and absorb water causing the swelling, and I'm not sure if this can be fixed? I guess perhaps it involves removing the doors, sanding off the swollen bits, and some sort of treatment and/or repainting.

I paid for them to be repainted / refilled before, and it was rubbish work.

I find it impossible to get decent tradesmen to do quality work at a fair price, which is one of my arguments for switching away from wooden windows which require maintenance.

I guess maybe its time for me to get off my ass and rent some scaffolding, and learn how to correctly restore my wooden windows myself.

Much as I'd love to save on heating bills, as you fairly point out, the return on investment time _is_ long on replacement double glazing (about 20 years).

Ok,

Try this place for your window hardware. Ring them and have a good chat if you can't find what you see online. Nice bunch of people. Old fashioned service, forget, buy em cheap, stack em high, sell em with no customer service. Explain what you want and they'll deal with it.

http://www.quicksharp-uk.com/

There is no problem getting hardware for traditional windows. It doesnt look so high tech and is not quite as secure as the trendy stuff supplied with plastic windows, but remember that so much plastic joinery is so flexible that it needs to be bolted top and btm, and that is the reason behind it alot of the time.

A wood door swelling can be a multitude of reasons. To be honest the very wet weather of the last few years means that timber just gets saturated. You can seal a door with the finest product on the planet and it can still swell. The problem is, if you plane to much off it and the door then shrinks in very dry weather, then the door will leave a big gap, allowing drafts etc.
Unless you can actually see rot, or the timber feels very soft to the touch, then it may not be rotton at all.
My advice would be to take the door off, plane (dont sand) enough off until it leaves around a 2mm gap when shut. Normally 2MM wouldn't be enough, but as your door is swollen and may contract at some time I wouldn't leave a bigger gap.

The problem with renovation of this kind is to do with the time spent on it.
A trade has to give you a price, day work is the way forward but then there are unscrupulous trades out there that will then stretch the job out. The only real way of making the job right is to do it yourself. If you can afford the time to spend the weekend on sanding and filling and doing the job correctly on say 3 windows. It will be as good as any tradesman who has to cost that many windows done in a day.
As long as the windows arn't beyond economic repair, they should last a good 10 more years IMO.

[elanfan]

Neighbours and I live in same style house I used a family firm and he used someone who utilised Rehau. His front windows look ste compared to mine as the profile ratio to glass is much higher in his. The side return I reckon has more plastic than glass in it.

Always go and have a look at an installed job before you buy would be my advice.

P.S get them to do all your fascai boards at the same time = maintenance free exterior

[nikaiyo2]

1st thing is choose a solvent company that has traded in your area for ages, you might have seen their vans or heard them on the radio. Avoid the big national chains.

Rehau
Duraflex
John Fredricks
Komerling
Linear
Eurocell
Synseal
and others.


All make plastic window extrusions that are then made into windows by fabricators, the quality of the fabricator is more important than the profile choice IMHO.


Ali will be about 30% more than PVCu.

Do not get hung up on A rated windows, I would not pay a single £ more for A rated over C rated the actual performance difference is tiny. Its like choosing a car that does 35mpg over a one that does 36mpg.

Be aware that you can get A rating windows using glass that lets 20% more heat out than some C rated...

Mostly find a company that you are confident with, that you can trust, the glass, the frames etc are pretty much of a muchness.

Price wise my guess would be £10.5K for those, but I have not done domestic stuff for years...

HTH

[5potTurbo]

A rated is triple glazed, isn't it?

(Currently building a passive A rated house)