Fitting double glazing ourselves...

bar_1

Hi,

We are planning to have new windows and doors fitted on our property soon and need to stick to a tight budget. Does anyone know if we are able to fit the windows and doors ourselves or would this be to much hassle/risk?

Thanks

Riq

Waaaaaaay too much hassle if you have never done it before.

My dad refuses to pay anyone to do anything at our house, he does everything (very well i might add) but even he conceeded fitting double glazed windows was too much for him!!

TroysMum

Also the person who installs them should be FENSA registered for when you come to sell the property or you need to put in a building regs application yourself.

flang

Or you could fit them yourself and say they were installed before April 2002, which was before FENSA got introduced.
pretty unbelievable though with shiny new windows!

bar_1

OK, it looks like I am best putting the extra money into having them fitted professionally. I was not aware they needed to meet building regulations.

Many thanks for the advice.

hulkiebear

You don't need to be Fensa registered to fit windows if you have building regs, I am in the process of replacing our windows in a 4 bed house, the building regs consent cost me £65. You do have to follow the regs,(obviously) but there aren't that many and if you get confused, a half descent window merchant will help you with them(mine does).

The main thing stipulated for our building regs consent was to replace like for like(well, wood for UPVC and our property is about 90 years old), a funny thing, they didn't come to see what was initially in place and have no intention to come and look after.

I also have a freind who fits windows for people without being Fensa registered, which is fine as long as he tells his customers that he isn't and that they may need building regs!

I haven't found fitting windows too tricky, a little time consuming the first time though! The equation I normally use to see if I will save money is:

Cost of getting work done = Wages that could be earnt in my job in the time it would take ME to do the work.

However, if like me, you have plenty of time with out to much opertunity for overtime, then I generally do the work myself.

I have found a couple of nasty suprises when replacing a couple of windows in our house(badly rotten wood lintels and easy access for damp), to sort it properly took me several extra days.
Would the window fitter have just fitted the window and not worried about those issues?

spooky25

hi bar 1

if you are considering fitting the windows yourself, good on you just make sure you have the manufactures instructions to hand as these can be of great help, also you may want to do a website search as there are guides to help you online.
Also you may want to approach some window manufactures and ask what they have frome previous jobs as sometimes they send out the wrong size to a job and you may find that you could possibly get all of the sizes in the style you want at a far cheaper price. as no window company likes extra windows lying around

EliteHeat

Riq wrote: »

My dad refuses to pay anyone to do anything at our house, he does everything (very well i might add) but even he conceeded fitting double glazed windows was too much for him!!

Well, if your dad thinks it's too difficult then case closed. I'm stunned that anyone else thought this thread was worth commenting on

FWIW, it's quite easy to fit new windows. Just make sure you measure up properly and you have more than a hammer and a backup hammer in your DIY toolkit.

Inactive

TroysMum wrote: »

Also the person who installs them should be FENSA registered for when you come to sell the property or you need to put in a building regs application yourself.

Another piece of expensive Red Tape from Nanny State UK.:rolleyes:

McAzrael

Inactive wrote: »

Another piece of expensive Red Tape from Nanny State UK.:rolleyes:

If it was true then you might have a point.

HugoSP

EliteHeat wrote: »

Well, if your dad thinks it's too difficult then case closed. I'm stunned that anyone else thought this thread was worth commenting on

FWIW, it's quite easy to fit new windows. Just make sure you measure up properly and you have more than a hammer and a backup hammer in your DIY toolkit.

To be fair to riq his dad could have a permanent back injury or something and not be up to lifting windows.

Also, as I commented on the other thread - it is easy if you know what you're doing. For example, what type of fixings do you need or is foam fixing suitable (not always), how do you pack up the openers/doors, what do you run under doors and cills to prevent damp coming up, do you have the windows vertical or allow them to follow the line of the building etc etc etc??????

If you are fitting a 3ft x2ft with an opener on the ground floor in a modern house then it is relitively easy. However if you want to fit a non opener 2 floors up after taking out the existing single glazed non opener, as I have to soon, then this is not necessarily DIY territory, partly because you can't do the whole job from inside.

Also there are other issues that can crop up when fitting these windows. As one poster mentions, there are issues like decaying lintels to consider, or the complete lack of lintels often found when going from crittal (1930s steel) windows to upvc, as the windows often formed part of the lintel.