NEW SASH WINDOWS: THE WHAT, WHO, WHY AND HOW MUCH!
I’ve had SO many messages asking questions about our new bedroom windows, so I thought I’d put a blog post together to tell you who I used, why, and indeed how much they cost.
All the questions tell me that not only are lots of my followers also in need of replacement windows (BOO!), but that it’s a nervy topic - it’s a BIG investment and you don’t want to go with the wrong company, or end up having to pay out more for reasons you didn’t anticipate.
It pained me too much to not include any pretty pictures in this post, so I’m cheating with this image because it’s the old windows. Will add some nice after ones eventually!
I was pretty anxious about this outlay. I had known literally for years that our bedroom windows desperately needed to be completely replaced, and that they were beyond saving. The sills were so rotten that when it rained heavily water would leak down the inside walls, and had done quite a lot of damage to the plaster under and between the windows. My anxiety about this worsened when we had new carpet installed last year - cream carpet no less, that I really didn’t want destroyed by water damage. There were signs our old carpet was a bit water damaged, so I would stuff towels behind the bed when it rained to protect the new carpet. The glamour. Another reason not to believe everything you see on Instagram hey? And yes, I do like to do thing in the wrong order apparently.
Oh, and did I mention the glass was cracked right across one pane, with a corner crack on another - probably being held together by the etched window film, and that they didn’t open without a fight? And if you did manage to get one open, it had to be held open with a book or it would slam shut? They were also single glazed, draughty as hell, rattled, and you could basically hear people whisper outside the house? Yeah. All that and more, so they really did need to go.
I got maybe four or five quotes and they varied by almost two grand, from around £3800 to £5700 including VAT.
The quotes were for full replica replacements with the same arched top as the originals. I didn’t get this far with most companies, but I also wanted them two tone - one colour on the outside and another inside.
I think the most important thing to know before proceeding with a quote, is that not all window quotes are created equal, and not all companies quote in the same way, so make sure you really delve in to what is and isn’t included. Yes, that’s right, make yourself read the small print.
The external view - not yet complete as there are frame paint touchups to be done, and we’ll be changing the white to a more complimentary tone eventually.
Some of the quotes would have left me having to get a plasterer in after, and possibly even paying for scaffolding, and doing a lot of finishing work myself or paying for a decorator. Therefore the quotes that didn’t include the complete making good around the new windows, though much lower, were actually false economy.
Some companies wouldn’t quote on a fully comprehensive fitting service because they said they ‘didn’t know’ how much making good work would be required. Some didn’t bother to answer my questions. It does make you wonder doesn’t it?!
Some quoted from photos, and would only come and measure up once you’d paid a 50% deposit to go ahead. I imagine at that point, there would be a high chance they’d end up wanting to add on unforeseen extras. None of this seemed great to me, I wanted to know they would be completely finished to a very high standard. When you’re paying that much money, you should absolutely expect that, so in the end, I disregarded all but one quote, whilst simultaneously feeling kind of sick that it was going to cost almost three grand a window.
I opted for the Full Box Replacement from Core Windows, at a cost of £5666.40 all in for two, including two-tone painting and VAT.
This is what’s included with that service (copied direct from their website):
Remove & dispose of existing sash window box frames & sashes.
Supply & fit new box frame with double glazed top & bottom sashes. New box &
sashes will be manufactured from engineered, finger jointed laminated timber and be
preservative & fungicide treated.Box frames & ashes will be spray primed with 2 coats of Teknos micro-porous base primer and spray finished with 2 coats of Teknos micro-porous aqua top coat. Paint will be RAL colour 9016 ‘Traffic White’. Wide range of alternative colours are available on request.
Standard double glazed units will comprise of 4mm float glass, a 16mm cavity filled with 90% Argon gas / 10% air, white warm edged thermal super spacers and 4mm Guardian ClimaGuard low emissivity glass. Other glazing options are available on request.
New lead weights or spiral balance springs (where applicable) to be supplied & fitted.
Sashes to be hung on white waxed cotton sash cords.
Aquatex A10 weatherseal (white) will be fitted to sides of top & bottom sashes, top of top sash and bottom of bottom sash.
Aquatex D slot weatherseal (white) will be fitted to meeting rails.
New architrave will be supplied & fitted
New bull-nose sills or window boards will be supplied & fitted.
All surrounding interior plasterwork will be made good where necessary. Paintwork on surrounding interior walls will be touched up where plasterwork has been made good. *Wall paint must be supplied by client.
New windows will be pointed on the exterior using the traditional sand & cement method. *Silicone sealant will only be used if requested by client.
New box frames and sashes will be decorated with 1 extra coat of Teknos micro-porous top coat in-situ.
New polished chrome or polished brass hardware will be supplied & fitted comprising of: 1 x locking sash fastener, 2 x sash lifts, 2 x D handles & 2 x security sash restrictors
All work areas will be fully protected and vacuumed each evening.
All glass and work areas will be cleaned on completion.
All rubbish will be removed from site on completion.
After I got over the shock of the cost I confirmed them with a 45% deposit, then a remeasure was booked in. Yes they’re a big company, so they have overheads that a smaller workshop aren’t passing on, but I just felt more comfortable in this instance knowing they would coordinate everything to a high finished standard. And although as I type, the job isn’t finished, I am super impressed so far.
They estimated the job would take 3 to 5 days, and they are on track…
Day One:
The old windows out (and taken away, which I hadn’t even thought about and am so glad they’re not sitting in the front garden and our problem to dispose of), and the new windows were fitted, and the filling around began.
Day Two:
The architraves and hardware were fitted, and the filling continued.
Day Three:
The decorator did a full day of filling / sanding / prep and touched up the paint on the exterior masonry (paint supplied by me as it’s not white, and I still had a massive pot of it although this colour is temporary!)
Day Four:
The paint on the surrounding walls (supplied by me) done, and if they had the paint for the window I think that would have been done then too, but they don’t have it and have to order (which is fine) so…
Day Five:
Painting architraves and window frame touch ups inside and out is yet to happen as the paint hasn’t turned up, so that will be finished next week. The photos are of the almost finished job, minus the final colour on the architraves and final touchups.
I decided to go dark on the outside, so the house will be a patchwork for the foreseeable - the new dark window frames, with the old white, til we paint the other windows to match and I want to paint the masonry to compliment the new very dark grey-brown frames.
The colours I’ve gone for on the actual window frames are as follows:
INTERIOR - RAL DESIGN 090 90 05 (MARZIPAN WHITE)
EXTERIOR - RAL 7022 (UMBRA GREY)
They could have colour matched the paint, but I wanted to be able to easily get and use the colours elsewhere, so I decided it was safer to stick to RAL colours. I’m really happy with them both - especially the Marzipan White which is a really great warm off-white. Not that I’m obsessed with warm off-whites. Ahem…
For the external painted masonry, the plan is to go for something much darker than the current off-white, but lighter than the new frame colour. Current contenders are Hardwick White, Light Gray, and Bone by Farrow & Ball, but I’m yet to sample them, so we shall see!
Oh, the other thing I decided was to have clear glass and I will put window film on the lower panes as I’d done previously for privacy. I liked the idea of having the option to not have it too. Though I have to say, it feels super exposed not having it and I can’t wait to get in there with it next week, so maybe etched glass would have been better on the bottom panes after all. Oh well, the film is great so it’s not an issue at all. I’ve added it digitally in the image, because it’s much nicer not being distracted by the house across the road. Ha!
Clearly not quite finished, but very close. They’re very smart indeed.
So there you go. That’s my window tale. Core have been really great, sadly this is not an ad, and I really do recommend them.
This is not a negative, but just to make you aware that their lead times are LONG - up to 12 weeks, and I paid the deposit at the beginning of November last year, but I’d waited a decade, so figured another few months wouldn’t make any difference.
I can already tell what a huge difference having double glazed windows makes. The room is so much quieter - the acoustics are totally different and it feels MUCH cosier.
And yes I will have FENSA certificates and a 10 year guarantee.
Any questions please feel free to ask below, and I really do hope this is helpful if you’re on the window journey too.