Sash or upvc??

silverlady_2

Hubby and I can't agree, so hope you guys can help.
Just bought a small terraced house, nothing special.
It's about the only house in the road still to have the original sash windows, but they are draughty.
I want to keep the old windows and have them restored, hubby says too expensive so must go with upvc.

My questions
is it much more expensive to have them restored than replaced?
if we want to sell the house in the future, which is better, sash or upvc?

Thanks in advance for you help

tanith

I think it depends on what you can live with... some people throw their hands up with horror at the thought of UPVC windows... but personally unless your house is listed or architecturally special I would be quite happy to put in UPVC in keeping with the house... IMHO they are fine and certainly would imagine it would cost more for renovation than putting in new UPVC .
Why don't you get quotes for both and then decide... If your neighbours have happily been selling and buying the other houses in the street with UPVC they can't look that bad:rotfl:

h0ney

I would definately retain the original features for resale and property value. I think that upvc even in as similar style to sash never looks as good.

Canucklehead

Hi

Have you considered wood double glazed such as ; http://www.howarth-timber.co.uk/
Personally I prefer the traditional look and am appalled at some attempts to double glaze Victorian houses.It would put me off buying such a house.
We retained the sash windows in our previous house and had some custom made due to the size, it looked the best in the street as all the others were upvc. On selling , our buyer commented on the look.

It will come down to cost in the end .It usually does! And the maintenance too.

aderbyshirelad

I love our sash windows and I'm saying that having just started painting them (they're a real pain). Fortunately ours aren't draughty at all. As already suggested, get quotes for both and take it from there. You may find they don't need huge amounts of work to stop the draughts. Personally we would not have bought a victorian place with upvc, but its all a matter of taste and if the rest of your street is upvc then I'm sure it won't matter.

lush_walrus

Definately keep the sash I say. In my experience there are more people that turn their nose up at UPVC than those who prefer it!

If the sashes themselves are working fine (Ie there isnt a problem with opening and closing) then refurbishment should be pretty reasonable. Try to get a recommendation for a local joiner, rather than get a bigger company involved. They will be able to keep the glass and re-build where necessary (rotten timber) and re-fit if required.

McAzrael

How about new sashes (or mock sashes) at the front and UPVC at the back.

benood

Throws hands up in horror, definitely keep the wooden sashes. You can find people out there who will fix and draughtproof them for about 100-150 each sash, firms like ventrolla will charge masses more.

OK you will paint the wood every five years but when UPVC reaches the end of its life you have to replace while if you have been maintaining the wood it will last more or less indefinitely.

thehairybuilder

Have you thought about replacing them with PVC sliding sash windows ?

I`ve seen them installed in a few houses and have been quite impressed with them .

this sorta thing http://www.windowstoday.co.uk/sash_windows.htm

williamrobb88

Can't believe the different range of opinions here!

I run a window manufacturing company based in Manchester (Jackson Joinery Manufacturing Ltd)

Below are facts:

The material used is PERSONAL CHOICE.

We manufacture Softwood, Hardwood and PVC windows to the trade.
NO THIS IS NOT AN ADVERT. WE ARE SUPPLY ONLY AND DO NOT FIT.

That way you get the best price, because the manufacturer can't make loads of mark up on the frames and hide it in the fitting cost.

If you are on a budget here are your options in order of cost:

1 White PVC
2 Woodgrain on White PVC 15% more expensive
3 Wodgrain PVC 25% more expensive
4 Softwood 20% more expensive than White PVC
5 Hardwood 40% more expensive than White PVC

In our experience more people are happy with mock sash Softwood. They are priced very competitive, well made, double glazed.

DKLS

SASH, SASH windows all the way, UPVC is the work of the devil