Double glazed windows and doors

jenny-wren

I had a few quotes to replace all of my windows and doors and there's quite a variation in price.

13 windows (including 3 over 6ft wide)
2 uPVC doors
1 Apeer composite door
1 set of french doors (to replace current window)
All in white.

Quotes vary from £7K to almost £9.5K.

Can anyone suggest what I should be paying?

Thanks.

Furts

You will get a variation depending on what you are specifying in terms of quality, fitting, guarantee and customer service.

Some fitters may be pricing scaffolding or alu towers, others may be working off ladders.

Some may be self certifying, some may be calling in the Building Inspector. Some may have a checking system to sign off the work.

Some may be large companies with large overheads, others smaller.

I suggest there are far too many unknowns to comment on your quotes. Indeed the quotes may not even be like for like - have you scrutinised exactly what is being quoted and read all the small print plus terms and conditions?

greenface

as furt say . more info needed to even guess a price . house style / make up needed all add to price . That's a lot of house though for a job under 10k .

jenny-wren

The details are:
1 of 2.3m x 1.6m, 1 top opener
2 of 2.3m x 1.25m, 1 with 1 top opener, 1 with 1 top opener and 1 side opener with fire hinge
1 of 1.25m x 1.05m, 1 top opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.95m, 1 side opener with fire hinge
1 of 1.55m x 1.3m, no opener
1 of 0.7m x 0.5m, 1 top opener
1 of 2.1m x 1.2m, 1 side opener and 1 top opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.95m, 1 top opener
1 of 1.2m x 0.4m, no opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.9m, no opener
1 uPVC half glazed door, 0.8m x 0.4m window above
1 uPVC solid door (no glass)
1 set French doors with 2 single top opener side windows (to include brick removal and finishing) (opening 2.3m wide)
1 Apeer 77mm composite door with glazed side panels (1.9m x 2.4m total)
All white casement windows, A rated, energy efficient glass, warm edge spacers, some with safety glass, white uPVC doors, coloured composite door.

Quotes were all from small local firms using their own fitters, no scaffolding expected to be required. Exactly the same product from each company. Two story house. 2-3 day job.

Furts

jenny-wren wrote: »

The details are:
1 of 2.3m x 1.6m, 1 top opener
2 of 2.3m x 1.25m, 1 with 1 top opener, 1 with 1 top opener and 1 side opener with fire hinge
1 of 1.25m x 1.05m, 1 top opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.95m, 1 side opener with fire hinge
1 of 1.55m x 1.3m, no opener
1 of 0.7m x 0.5m, 1 top opener
1 of 2.1m x 1.2m, 1 side opener and 1 top opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.95m, 1 top opener
1 of 1.2m x 0.4m, no opener
1 of 1.0m x 0.9m, no opener
1 uPVC half glazed door, 0.8m x 0.4m window above
1 uPVC solid door (no glass)
1 set French doors with 2 single top opener side windows (to include brick removal and finishing) (opening 2.3m wide)
1 Apeer 77mm composite door with glazed side panels (1.9m x 2.4m total)
All white casement windows, A rated, energy efficient glass, warm edge spacers, some with safety glass, white uPVC doors, coloured composite door.

Quotes were all from small local firms using their own fitters, no scaffolding expected to be required. Exactly the same product from each company. Two story house. 2-3 day job.

Are they "exactly the same"? Same profile, same fabricator, same sealed unit manufacturer, same ironmongery manufacturer and identical guarantees on every item - profile, fabrication, sealed unit, ironmongery? Then same supplier/wholesaler?

Then we have to consider accreditation, quality, Kitemarks and so on. Are all the items comparable here?

I would be surprised if this were the case.

Regardless one then looks at the fitting. Will it be good, bad or mediocre? What are you specifying, what has been priced and what reviews and feedback exist?

greenface

Furts wrote: »

Are they "exactly the same"? Same profile, same fabricator, same sealed unit manufacturer, same ironmongery manufacturer and identical guarantees on every item - profile, fabrication, sealed unit, ironmongery? Then same supplier/wholesaler?

Then we have to consider accreditation, quality, Kitemarks and so on. Are all the items comparable here?

I would be surprised if this were the case.

Regardless one then looks at the fitting. Will it be good, bad or mediocre? What are you specifying, what has been priced and what reviews and feedback exist?

Furt- you love to waffle on .
The answer I suspect will be no . Pricewise is decent I would struggle to do it for 7k as a simple fit . Is the French doors going wider needing new lintels or a same width window/door combo coming out . all in a good price and I repeat from first post a lot of house for under 10k. If the local company have a decent reputation and experience then I would go for it.

tanith

We had 11 different size windows including 2 bays with lots of openers , composite coloured front door and French doors with a side panel done 3 yrs ago for £4.500 with Fensa 10yr guarantee. He was a friend of a friend but a small local company so he did do us a deal, he said it was a 6K job without his 'mates rates', They did an excellent job no scaffolding used we are very happy with the windows .

jenny-wren

All the uPVC and associated fittings are from the same manufacturer/supplier and are the same specification (Inliten from Camden Group, 15 year guarantee, Secured by Design, A rated, virgin uPVC). The door is supplied by Apeer. One firm was personally recommended, the others weren't. One of the salesman didn't fill me with confidence, another ticked every box.

Furts

jenny-wren wrote: »

All the uPVC and associated fittings are from the same manufacturer/supplier and are the same specification (Inliten from Camden Group, 15 year guarantee, Secured by Design, A rated, virgin uPVC). The door is supplied by Apeer. One firm was personally recommended, the others weren't. One of the salesman didn't fill me with confidence, another ticked every box.

I assume the quotes are for the same profile size? Camden make 60mm and 70mm. The rule of thumb is a smaller profile is budget conscious, less strong and fewer chambers.

Ultimately it is the installer who gives you the peace of mind. Paying on credit card and an insurance backed guarantee would be prudent. The latter in an ideal world would be transferrable to future owners.

Then what self certification is there or are you getting in Buildings Regulations.

I am only giving you common sense pointers, The double glazing industry hate this approach. I respect your question - you are spending a lot of money and want re assurance. Others in the industry will pooh pooh my approach - just look at a previous post here.

jenny-wren

Furts wrote: »

I assume the quotes are for the same profile size? Camden make 60mm and 70mm. The rule of thumb is a smaller profile is budget conscious, less strong and fewer chambers.

It's the 70mm profile.

What I'm really wanting to know is what should be the rough price for the job. I appreciate that there will be variation from company to company and area to area and it's all down to the finer details. A £2.5k difference is a lot though and we want to make sure it's reasonable before we sign on the dotted line. If it's a £10k job and we're getting it for less from a company we trust then the decision is simple, if it's a £8k job then we need to decide if the extra money is worth spending for peace of mind.

JP1978

Most uPVC windows are made in the same factories to the same/similar spec. What you need to consider is the quality of the fitting and aftermarket issues.

In 2006 we had a well known company fit 3 uPVC doors and 8 windows. Decent enough windows but the fitting was awful. There was draughts from every window. By the time we had got round to complaining, the company had gone bust (although are still about with the same name - re-invented).

Two years ago, we had them all replaced and chose a local company who were part of the local council trust a trader scheme. They were about the same in price as the national company and that included fitting composite doors and an electronic door lock. When we watched the old ones come out we could see the huge gaps between the window and the opening, not sealed and just covered with uPVC trim.

When the new ones went in, any gaps were sealed and to date, are as good as they went in. We have had the company out a couple of times to re-adjust the windows at no charge.