Secondary/Double glazing on sash windows?

[RamblingRosa]

I'm about to buy the house that I'm currently renting. Love the house but it's cold and draughty.

the worst room is the bathroom which I swear is colder than it is outdoors. I have to warm it up with a fan heater before I take DD in there!

It's got slate tile floors and a very draughty sash window. I'm wondering about secondary/double glazing on the window. Not sure what the difference is tbh.

Does anyone know if you can do this on sash windows and has anyone got any idea how much it would cost (the window must be approx 1.5 x 1.5m)?

Any tips on best curtains/blinds for stopping the artic wind blowing in would be appreciated too!

Can't help but am watching with interest. We have original diamond paned windows. They are beautiful but drafty!

I do have both blinds and curtains to help with drafts at night, and we put that cling film stuff up over winter to help with condensation and drafts which is surprisingly effective.

Had Secondary glazing on sash windows in my first flat. Really worked at cutting down drafts and noise (flat was on busy road).

Must say, not that attractive looking from inside tho.

No idea of costs.

Thanks. Does that clingfilm stuff work then? I might get some as a temporary measure since the blind's down for most of the winter it doesn't really matter if it looks rubbish.

I was surprised at how effective the cling film is. I got it from b&q, it is made by a company called stormguard, and while it is a bit fiddly its not hard to do. It was amazing how much draft came out of the last little bit to be stuck down!

Also, the beauty of it is that you can take it off in the summer and enjoy the lovely windows again. I am a hesitant to get proper secondary glazing due to how it looks.

I have seen this secondary glazing recommended but haventg used it myself
www.magneglaze.co.uk/index.htm

We paid a joiner to come and fix the windows which included adding draft excluder, which has really helped.

If the sash is really draughty get it serviced and draft strips added. Secondary glazing works but is really ugly and I've found a roman blind with thermal and insulated layers works pretty well. Can you tell I live in a drafty old house?

Ahhh,I have investigated this exact problem! There are loads of sash window companies who will remake the window and frames and replace them with a double glazed replica - they look brilliant, but expensive (of course) we were quoted about £750 for our similar sized bathroom window. A cheaper option is to get them renovated and draft-proofed which was about £130. (sorry cant quite remember). We used sliding sash solutions. Also a good joiner might do it.

We had sash windows refurbished and it made a big difference to the drafts. Cheap, quick and not disruptive.

We've had some of our sash windows refurbed, draughtproofed and double glazing put into them. It's made a big difference to draughts and also noise. The temp in ds's room is much more constant now, a big improvement. Curtains/blinds etc don't have the same effect imo because the draughts can still get around them iyswim!

For about that size window the refurb/draughtproofing was £200 and the double glazing was about £400 iirc. We're in London btw

We moved into a new flat in April. Old 1880's building converted to two flats. single glazing every window plus high ceilings. Freezing cold. We had the sash windows replaced in two bedrooms (the kids ones) at massive cost as we ate in a conservation area so had to do special ones. We couldn't afford to do it on our bedroom windows which are a massive bay with 3 huge sets of windows. We got the magnaglaze instead (which by the way was not cheap) and I so regret it. Looks ugly, is a pain to take off when you want to open the window, offers very little sound proofing, and our room is absolutely freezing right now.

It would cost us around 9000 pounds to replace those windows so we will not fo it but if we ever have enough money I will get internal sash upvc windows. We had them priced at about 1500 pounds for that room.

It definitely makes a huge difference IME.

I'm lucky enough to live in a HA property. As we are in a conservation area, our rotting Victorian sashes had to be replaced with wooden sashes rather than UPVC. They are fully double glazed and the improvement in heat retention and noise reduction was immediate.

The 3 burly guys that it took to lift the bay windows in reckoned they 'cost a bloody fortune'.

Ilana why dont your get your windows refurbsihed?
Its much cheaper than secondary glazing, and as lots of us have testified, it's very good at reducing draughts.

I am not sure it would pass the conservation area planning as we would want to put double glazing in.

But even renovating what you have makes a massive difference.

We still have single glazing in all our sashes, but on the windows which have been done you cant feel cold air coming in, unlike the remaining windows which are letting in freezing draughts today.

Adding wooden venetians or, even better, slatted shutters on top will also help and is cheaper than new windows and they look good too.

I agree. I would have loved the whole of of our windows to be replaced with double glazed (they are ok for our consevation area in Brighton) but marrieds burley men are right they do cost a bloody fortune and renovating them is pretty good. Shutters look great too ....next on the list...

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I might have to do the clingfilm thing this year as I can't afford the double glazing. I'll look into just getting the sashes refurbed though. They've already got draught excluders on but they're clearly not working!

Lindell can you remember which company you used? I'm in London too. £400 might just about be affordable next year.

My hubby and I bought an old property and did it up, We decided to install upvc Vertical sliding sash windows, I must say they look beautiful but the down side is that we live on a very busy road and as there is 3 of these windows in the front living room and they let a lot of noise in, infact we have to turn to Tv on to take the noise od the cars out of the room. They also let the draft in. I was really not happy that the company does not tell you that these windows are not suitable for properties on a busy road. Now we have bought them (16 windows) and paid a lot of money for them we cannot afford to replace them.
Anyone thinking of purchasing these type of sliding sash windows please think again because you will regret it.

However if anyone has any solutions to help to get the noise down it would be a grate help.

sash windows are fundamentally draughty, though the modern furry pile draughtstrips do seal a sliding joint, so can do a good job (rubbery strips are not suitable)

secondary glazing wil cut the noise a lot more than DG panes, and will also keep the heat in better when you have draughty frames and sashes (which you will have)

the shrink-on plastic film is very effective for a temporary fix, and cheap. It will not stick well to dirty or rough old paint. It sticks extremely well to new paint.

As it is a bathroom, good ventilation is vital or you will get condensation, damp and mould. An effective extractor fan is best.

check that there is loft insulation above the bathroom. If it is a back extension it might have three external walls which will lose a lot of heat. You would probably benefit from a larger radiator. Portable electric appliances can be very dangerous in a bathroom.

I’m looking to get secondary glazing installed in a property in north wales had this company supply a quotation the price seemed ok had anyone had any dealings with there secondary glazing
www.kensington-secondary-glazing.co.uk
Any feedback would be helpful