UPVC vs old wooden windows

twinkle_star_2

Hello all,

I would like some advice about windows. My husband and I have just bought our first house (:j) and it needs lots of renovation.

My father in law has said that it needs double glazing fitting. The house currently has painted wooden windows. These need a good sand and repaint but I think that they look in fairly good condition. The exception is some french windows at the back which definitely need replacing.

The problem is that I really dislike the look of UPVC. Especially as the house is from 1870, very pretty to look at and retains a huge number of original features.

So the debate goes like this

For UPVC - it will reduce heating bills, people will expect it when you sell and not having double glazing will affect your resale value, doing it at a later date would be messy and awkward (do it now along with other big renovations). Wood is time consuming to maintain.

Against UPVC - wooden windows is far more fitting to the period of the house, it's ugly, we can do it at a later date if necessary (and if we suddenly become loaded in the future we could put in wooden double glazing).



Am I being daft? Does nobody else mind about UPVC? Is wood really that hard to care for?

ormus

you can get new wooden frames with DG units, in almost any replica style/period.
the downside is that they can cost approx twice as much as standard upvc.

twinkle_star_2

We definitely can't afford the wooden double glazing at the moment. We can either do nothing or UPVC. Thus the quandry.

phill99

I'm a great advocate of the phrase 'Homes are for nesting, not investing'.

Therefore, do what is right for you and your family, not for what other (unknown) people may or may not want at some unknown time in the future.

Remember Double glazing on its own down't save that much heat. The biggest area of your home is the roof and walls and this is where most of the heat will go.

Double glazing will certainly minimise maintenance and that fact that the windows have good draught proofing will limit the heat loss this way. Remember though that good draught proofing on a wooden window is just as effective as the draught proofing on a DG unit.

If you are looking to have a house that has traditional period features, then uPVC will look out of place. In your situation, I would be tempted to 1) retain the timber windows with the knowledge that they will need maintaining every 3 years or so. Timber windows can last a long time if well mainitained and 2) replace the French Doors with a good quality timber set but with Double Glazing Panels.

muskoka

I've recently had UPVC wood effect windows installed - not cheapy ones either and I already regret it. Wish I had gone with my own gut instinct & had wooden ones fitted.

do what is right for you, and not what other people think

Auntie-Dolly

This is an argument me & hubby have. I'd rather stick with my noisy draughty original wooden windows than put in plastic double glazing. He thinks they need updating and double glazing would make sense, but I just can't bring myself to have UPVC replacements. Quite glad we haven't got the money for either at the moment. Ours is a typical 1930's house and most of the others in the road have replaced the windows and I think they look awful. Our original ones have lovely detailed insides - how would that be replicated in plastic?

mollymunchkin

Personally I say that UPVC windows never look right in period houses and timber windows are very much part of its character. There are companies that can refurbish windows which seem beyond repair and can install draught proofing measures for a fraction of installing new windows. Traditional style windows in a period house are an asset.

We removed ugly aluminum windows from our Edwardian terrace and priced up putting in timber sash but ended up installing UPVC mock-sash. We really regret not reinstalling the original style as the UPVC just don't look right.

twinkle_star_2

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to talk to my F.I.L. about it in more detail and we'll get a joiner to come and double check if the windows are ok (not rotted etc). I think I'd regret getting UPVC so I'll fight for keeping the wood as much as possible. Here's a picture of the house for those interested. I think it would be mean to put plastic windows in such an odd little house!

Yorkie1

That sounds like a good plan. I had exactly the same dilemma as you in my 1930s semi. I had a joiner come round and although he said he would always prefer wood over DG, he said that my window frames were too rotten to be even worth repairing. I couldn't really afford to buy wooden DG, and also didn't want the hassle of getting someone in to maintain them every 3-5 years (there are a lot of fiddly windows plus bays), so have bitten the bullet and gone for UPVC.

But I haven't replaced the original front door, nor the back door / window combination. That is a decision for another day, while I learn to live with the DG.

Edit: have now seen your piccie and I can understand your dilemma. I think DG glazing 'bars' look awful and plasticky, you'd struggle to get it looking the same. An alternative, non-maintenance, option, is to get DG in alumiumium (doesn't look metally at all as it's spray painted), but that costs the same as wooden DG.

NB. You could always consider doing one window at a time, as budget and priorities permit.

Idonex

We've just been through this. 4 choices in order of price, cheapest first

1) Sort them yourselves by draft proofing with brush strip from somewhere like B&Q who sell 3-5mm brushstrip with an adhesive backing, and sanding and painting the windows.
2) Get a specialist company to renovate your current windows (refit, draft proof etc)
3) UPVC style double glazed windows to match the period of the house (sash for example)
4) New double glazed wooden windows to match the period of the house

We chose option 4 as bar a bit of decorating, that's the only expense we had with our new house. They look great and are a bit warmer (although i'd say thats more to do with the draft proofing and refitting than the double glazed units). With new wooden windows its the price of making the windows themselves thats the cost, adding DG over single panes didn't add that much to the cost.

I would definitely choose keeping the original style windows again, but not sure if i'd get entirely new units unless completely necessary (was on two of our windows as they were rotten to the point you couldn't open them as the bottoms sash would all off). For our downstairs bay i'm going to get them renovated instead as the windows themselves are sound, just drafty and loose.

budgetdiyer

The original windows look so much nicer imo. If you go PVC you'd lose the colour contrast in an instant.

On the point that UPVC will postively affect your resale value. Thats not always the case, particularly with character properties, its quite often a negative, particularly if they are in modern style (ala the property to the right of yours!).

Period properties - Original windows are a plus.