Best place for affordable timber windows?

dllive

Hi,

We live in a cottage that needs complete renovation. This will involve refurbing/buying 5 new sash windows and replacing 6 casements windows. We're also moving a staircase so we need a new staircase.

We had a joiner out who said - rather than refurbing the existing sash windows, they would leave the box and make new sashes. They would also replace all the casement windows. Their quote was £15k(!)

What would you say is the best company to get value for money for new (timber) windows and staircase?

Ive been looking at http://www.jeld-wen.co.uk/.

Thanks

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Yes get further quotes but that price does not sound too extortionate for custom made timber windows.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Are you having them double glazed? If so remember the sash windows will then be very heavy. I had to buy lead weights rather than the standard iron weights because of the small size of the weight boxes.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I also used chains rather than rope which was not that much more expensive.[/FONT]

dllive

Im not sure whats going to be the most cost effective:
1) Refurb windows and add secondary glazing
2) Buy off-the-shelf windows (is this an option!? Or does every window need to be custom made for the size of the window hole?)
3) Get custom made-windows (this is obviously going to be prohibitively expensive, so not an option really)

I want secondary glazing throughout.
Thanks

Tom99

Can you secondary glaze sash windows?

LandyAndy

Whereabouts are you in the UK?

dllive

LandyAndy wrote: »

Whereabouts are you in the UK?

Im in Devon.

LandyAndy

dllive wrote: »

Im in Devon.

Ah, ok. I had a custom made front door about four years ago from a specialist timber window and door company near Salisbury. I know they have done many windows for old buildings, which I presume yours is, but I'm guessing you are a bit far for them possibly depending on the scale of the project.


http://www.wessextimberwindows.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqODtvPqB2QIVSbXtCh0O9Qx3EAAYBCAAEgJ03_D_BwE


Might be worth a call though.

pineneedles

We were also looking into replacing wooden sash windows a couple of years ago and were quoted about £3k per window. In the end we found a company who refurbished the existing windows and installed slim double glazing, and this cost about £1k per window. They look great. There's quite a lot of debate about how good the slim glazing is (compared to normal) but we've been very pleased with it, windows are much warmer now with hardly any condensation.

One of the reasons we decided to keep the old windows was that whereas the original Victorian frames were made of good quality hardwood, the new ones would be made of softwood and will not be as durable.

So depending on the condition of the existing windows, you could try to find someone who will repair rather than replace? Most companies are only doing replacements as it takes them less time than a repair, but it's worth asking around.

LandyAndy

pineneedles wrote: »

.

One of the reasons we decided to keep the old windows was that whereas the original Victorian frames were made of good quality hardwood, the new ones would be made of softwood and will not be as durable.

.

That's a bit misleading. It is perfectly possible to have them made new from hardwood.

pineneedles

LandyAndy wrote: »

That's a bit misleading. It is perfectly possible to have them made new from hardwood.

Oh yes, sorry, what I should have said was that that price quoted was for new windows made from softwood, and hardwood would have been even more expensive, so wasn't a realistic option. But the standard quote from every company was certainly for softwood.

martinsurrey

pineneedles wrote: »

Oh yes, sorry, what I should have said was that that price quoted was for new windows made from softwood, and hardwood would have been even more expensive, so wasn't a realistic option. But the standard quote from every company was certainly for softwood.

not all softwoods are created equally, same for hardwood.

softwood does not mean soft wood and hardwood does not mean hard wood, they just mean the type of tree the wood comes from.

you can get very hard softwood and very soft hardwood, the species of tree is important, not necessarily the wood type.