House repair dilemma

Johnnybegood

Hi, need some advice on a house repair dilemma. I've got some wooden windows that are in serious need of repair, wood rotting etc, however I'm desperately trying to become debt free and i'm making really good headway in achieving this. I can't decide wether or not to get the windows repaired or just wait till I'm debt free in about 2 years time. On the one hand it might make long term economical sense to repair them now and prevent further deterioration, but part of me says to just ignore them, its not as it they are about to fall out and then save up the money once debt free. What would you do?

worriedwilf

I guess it really does depend on the state of the windows. If they are literally falling out then I agree that repairing them might be a good option. However if they could hold out with a coat of paint then perhaps you could wait a year and save some money towards it????

If you do decide to go ahead and repair them then perhaps you could try to get a 0% deal??? A friend of mine had all of her windows replaced recently and managed to get interest free.

happydays89

Don't know if you can still buy it......but I think it was ronseal who used to sell a product you applied to the rotting wood that hardened it,then you can fill it,sand it and then paint it.We used it when our windows were rotten and we couldn't afford to fix them.They should last a few years longer then.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, we are in the same boat - have had a few things that really needed doing to the house but debts that we need to clear.

I would really recommend getting someone around and getting some quotes. With our patio doors we were told by a trusted joiner that one hard shove and the whole lot would go! No choice there, it made more sense to completely replace them.

On the other hand we have had a couple of other jobs done which cost less than we thought so I suppose its a case of you dont know until you ask!

princessdon

Always check Gumtree - we sold our old windows and doors on there when we changed our layout of dining room. They sold for £40 for a door costing £900 under 4 years old and the window went for £35.

You may hit it lucky with your sizes, so worth looking every day or so

[Deleted User]

this might help

http://www.ronseal.co.uk/products/high-performance-wood-filler

it does exactly what its says on the tin

Nagme

We're in the same boat as you, OP.

We have a rotten garage window that we have removed all the soft wood, applied wood hardener, and now have the filler ready to apply. We have also succcessfully repaired a very rotten patio door cill that formed part of the entire door frame, our only alternative there was to spend £2k ish replacing it. DH did a great job and now it's painted it looks good as new and I think it will last us many years whilst we whittle away at our debt.

I would say that if you can do a repair job for the time being on your windows, and then if something else does need repair/replacement and can't wait, you haven't overstretched yourself.

Johnnybegood

Thankyou all for the kind replies,
The windows in question are sash rattly drafty sash windows. I'm going to get some quotes in as I've no idea of the costs involved so its difficult to make a decision without all the facts. I'm keen to resolve this in a moneysaving way and will weigh up the options between permanent and temporary and DIY repairs etc.
Thanks again all

Poppy9

Are you intending on keeping your sash windows or are you eventually aiming for replacing with brand new windows?

The house we live in still had it's original windows when we bought it (1950s leaded) and we had no money to replace them all as at the tim e we were quoted over £15k.

However I live by the seaside so we had to preserve what we could for a couple of winters so OH painted them. The very large window in the hallway though wasn't going to survive with just some filler and paint because it was so exposed to the weather and the fact it was single glazed and made hall/stairs and landing freezing we replaced it by having the original stained glass encased in a new UPVC window. It cost us £850 17 years ago. We were quoted upto £2500 for same job but OH had recently had a specialist shop glazier replace a glass counter for him and he was just moving into the replacement window business so did it cheap for us providing he could take pictures and if necessary let people come and see it as an example of his work with stained glass windows.

Our other windows survived but we next replaced DD bedroom window as we had a serious problem with mould on it and sort of worked our way around the house doing them as needed and as we could afford. We did notice a different in warmth in house as we replaced the windows, especially with the two room with large bay windows.

Bessie123

How rotten are they?

If it's not too much, you may get away with chiselling out all the rotten timber, then apply wood hardener, then apply filler. This won't last more than a few years though, it always shrinks. If you do this, try and go for an epoxy based filler rather than the powder or pre-mixed rubbish.

I recently did mine - ended up cutting out the damaged sill and replacing with fresh timber. Only took a few hours and was totally worth it - looks like a new window now! (insert smug grin here).