Are single-glazed windows that won't open a thing?

SouthLondonUser

I have come across not one but two terraced houses, which have been recently refurbished to a(n otherwise) good standard, both with unopenable single-glazed windows in the living room. Yes, they couldn't be opened at all.

Both properties are freehold; they are not listed and are not in a conservation area - indeed, the houses next door have ordinary, double-glazed windows.

Is this a thing?

It is already beyond me why someone would possibly want single-glazed windows (with so much talk about climate change, they should probably be outlawed). But windows that won't open? Just curious if that was the oddity of two owners of if it is actually a thing...

smdabs

Having bought a property with single glazed windows that didn't open, I can assure you its not usually by choice that people have these.


With Terraced properties (likely to be Victorian), its commonplace that the original windows will have been painted over and left alone for so long that they are in essence sealed shut.


I loved my single glazing because of the character it gave the house however I ended up replacing all of them with double glazed sash windows. On a 2 bedroom house with circa 6 windows, it amounted to a £9000 bill to have these replaced.


Given that this work doesn't add that amount on to the value of the house, it's likely that the investor/whoever refurbed didn't think the cost was worth it - and I don't blame them.

davidmcn

Do you mean they're designed not to open, or just that they're stuck (by paint or whatever)? The latter is certainly quite commonplace.

SouthLondonUser

smdabs wrote: »

With Terraced properties (likely to be Victorian), its commonplace that the original windows will have been painted over and left alone for so long that they are in essence sealed shut.

But you are talking about windows that did open at some point in time, then became effectively shut because of poor maintenance etc, right? I mean, you still had some kind of opening mechanism - maybe it wasn't working but it was there?

What I saw were basically just sheets of glass without any kind of handle or opening mechanism (functioning or not), which suggests that probably the windows have never opened.

As for the value to the house, well, I guess it depends on the buyers.. I would always pay less for a house with single glazing because I'd have to replace it - no way I'd ever live in a property without double glazing.

smdabs wrote: »

I loved my single glazing because of the character it gave the house

Just out of curiosity, could I ask you what you mean by 'character' and how you value that, especially against convenience?

I can understand different opinions on sash vs UPC - that's subjective taste, after all. But I think you can have double-glazed sash windows, right?

I may be a heartless insensitive, but, to me, 'character' sounds like a poor excuse for some lame ****-up that causes massive inconvenience and often additional costs, like a colder house which it costs more to keep warm.

I ask because I seem to be in a minority, so I have to find a balance between a property I like (because it will be me living there) and a property with a modicum of this unspecified 'character', otherwise it will become very hard to sell when I need to move on!

SouthLondonUser

davidmcn wrote: »

Do you mean they're designed not to open, or just that they're stuck (by paint or whatever)? The latter is certainly quite commonplace.

The former. They are designed not to open. I am not shocked by windows which are stuck.
I am, however, shocked by windows which are just a sheet of glass with no opening mechanism whatsoever: no handle, no buttons, no sash-like mechanism, nothing: just a sheet of glass put there with no way to open them. I had never seen that.

I'd guess that either they have always been like this, and the sellers didn't bother changing them when they refurbished, or the current sellers intentionally put windows designed not to open when they did their refurbishment.

Smodlet

I think I have only ever seen one window like the ones you describe, on someone's landing where, I guess, it could be argued it mattered less. I am of the opposite view; surely the landing window would be an obvious escape route should a fire break out? I agree with you; I hate them and single glazing in general.

I will make an exception for original leaded lights, though, the wonkier the panes, the better as they all reflect light differently. They are the last word in impracticality but no other window looks so beautiful in the sunset, I think. I cannot seem to find any decent images; they are all too perfect, not irregular enough.

phoebe1989seb

Last year we purchased a repossessed detached rural cottage. Prior to being repossessed it was for sale described as "fully refurbished" (a joke in itself but that's another story, lol!), yet the main living room had a large (1.8m x 1.4m) single glazed window with no option for opening!

It's actually divided into six panes - three larger at the bottom with three smaller above, none of which were ever intended to open. Upstairs a very similar single glazed window has three opening sections. Both windows appear to date from the 1960s.

They are both utterly incongruous with the character of the building.

In fact when you look closely at the ground floor window, it appears to have been put together in situ and is not a 'proper' window at all - there are all sorts of gaps between the odd bits of timber that let the light through

The rest of the fully opening casement windows in the cottage - except in a 1990s extension - date from when the (non-listed) 400 year old stone building was converted to a residence in Victorian times.

We're planning to replace the 1960s windows with timber double glazed fully opening casements.

OTOH, our last (1850s, characterful) house had a lot (15 windows and 6 doors) of single glazed lead light Crittal windows and doors from the 1920s which were absolutely beautiful. The remaining 6 windows were Victorian single glazed sashes. Every window had at least one opening section. We'd never have dreamt of replacing any of them!

smdabs

In the case that they were designed not to open, I have never come across that so can't advise. It seems very unlikely that the sellers who refurbed these houses CHOSE to put unopening single glazed windows in, especially considering it impacts safety regs (escape routes) and thus a building inspector (or a fire risk assessor) would likely have something to say about that should that be the case. Any window installations should have the FENSA certificates available to ensure they comply with current legislation - you may want to check that paperwork.


And with regards to my comment re 'character', I meant that my single glazed windows were hand-blown glass that re-directed light and they were beautiful. That along with real wooden frames all hand made for the house when it was built gave it a lovely feel. The term 'Character' usually relates to original features of a period house. For example, I also love my original tiles and the fireplaces.
Some may love, some may not - it is subjective. If you don't like it, don't put 'character' into your Zoopla search and you should be just fine.


And as a buyer, that is completely your prerogative to not offer an asking price for a house with single glazing. It doesn't affect (well, minimally anyway) what the seller can market the house at - they're likely to be aware that single glazing would potentially lead to lower offers - doesn't mean they'll accept it as there are lots of people who would still proceed if it fits with their personal taste. And it isn't how 'I value character', it's how my estate agents and investors have valued it, with specific feedback re how the new windows have minimally impacted the asking price for my property (they have certainly not made back the money I spent).


And please note in my post that when I say I loved my single glazed windows, LOVED is past tense. I am also fully aware they are impractical and lead to higher costs...ergo I chose to part with £9k and replace them with lovely double glazed sash windows. IMO, they're nowhere near as nice however my house is certainly warmer and my heating costs have gone down. Had I been thinking of selling my house at that point in time, I wouldn't have bothered - it absolutely hasn't added 9k on to the value of my house.

PasturesNew

I've seen it a lot in the past, not in the best of houses/areas. Typically Victorian terraced 2-up-2-down type of houses without any frontage/straight onto the pavement.

If it were me I'd be eyeing those up and thinking "how much will it cost to make you disappear?" as I'd not want them.

[Deleted User]

I believe it is how the houses were built, and no one has thought it worthwhile to update to double glazed windows that will open since.

Many years ago I lived in similar (single glazed bay windowed terrace). The glass was so thin, my mother fell through it when cleaning the windows. At the time the house was built (100 years ago) this was all legal.

They were replaced eventually. At the time, my parents bought the house because it was all they could afford. Not in a bad area but obviously needed a lot of refurbing. It was the coldest house I have ever lived in, I remember it well. As no one who lived in the street was exactly flush, the refurb of the windows just didn't happen. I remember the house sold for £7k, unbelievable now but you can understand why double glazing wasn't installed, just wasn't worth it for the people who could afford the house.

This was in the late 70's, but houses like that just didn't get refurbed. I think it was eventually given central heating and double glazing in the 90's.., a lot of houses didn't have either (in the Midlands) then. Its not so long ago but times are very different now.