New windows quote £42,000

[User19886]

Hello, I have got quotes for new windows (5 windows, 2 rear doors), sash accoya (conservation area). The quote is £42,000. Is this similar to other people's experiences? I was hoping for less than half of that being a 2 bed midterrace.

Get a quote from a local window supply shop, and find someone independent to fit them. Big companies charge several times the actual cost....

Wooden double hung box sash, double glazed, we paid £12,000 for 9 windows in 2020. London. Made and installed by local joiners.

Google Latvian or Lithuanian sash windows. You will need to find a local installer and handle the application to planning dept by yourself though

Can you haggle?
I got my windows down to half the original quote.

We had wooden sash windows installed last year and paid £60,000. We used George Barnsdale in Lincolnshire. I initially thought they were ridiculously expensive but I got four other quotes and they all came in around that figure or higher. That was for front and back door, two sets of bi-folds, three doors on the garage and 27 windows (21 sash and 6 casement). I spoke to them recently and they estimated it would cost at least £5,000 more if we were ordering now as the price of glass and wood has gone up dramatically. I know it's not cheap but I'd recommend them for quality. Good luck OP - it's a massive amount of money and a difficult choice.

Would secondary glazing be suitable?

It's a fraction of the price of replacements.

That's a phenomenal bargain! We have had three small sets of storm proof double glazed French doors in accoya made by local joinery company in their own facility to our design , they do supply all over the country and they were £3500 or thereabouts and we fitted them ourselves in old stone cottage (hard work!). Each pair of doors is about 1110mm wide and around 1950 high with some cross bars in. West Wales. All the other quotes were in the same ball park and with similar waits of 8-12 weeks (2022)

the price of double glazing our house is really high and so I have been looking into getting shutters instead. They aren’t quite as effective as double glazing, but they help significantly. You could have them with curtains or without. Half the cost of double glazing.

I should have said 3x £3500 so around 11k

@snowspider do you think? I'm pleased! got 3 quotes, and they were all much the same, one I think at 14k. North London, zone 2/3 but not a posh area. None of these were companies with any kind of online presence, just proper old fashioned joiners of the sort you find under railway arches with a pile of finished boxes out the front ready to go.

Yes, good bit of shopping around. I suspect there is not much competition in West Wales, wood windows only go into the properties of those who can afford it and the work falls to a few local joinery companies. Local builders either use them or plastic (much more likely). We have made up windows ourselves from kits supplied by a company that are called Kit Windows also known as Wooden Windows if you don't want to make them from a kit. I don't think they supply sashes but not certain. Their kits are made to custom sizes but limited designs. We are pleased with them so far.

That's a lot!
I'm getting 2 doors and 4 wooden heritage sash windows fitted next month, in a listed building. The doors are solid oak. It's going to be £13k. I'm in the southeast so that's a really reasonable rate and I was so happy with it. 42k is mad!

I am also in the South East! Would you mind sharing who you have used? Feel free to PM!

If your quote is from Everest or Anglian, we found them ridiculous.
We used a local joiner and it was much less. I think about £8k but 12 years ago and not conservation area.

Completely agree. We had a local joiner make bespoke sash windows and front door for an 3 bed old cottage we used to own, and, albeit 12 years ago now, and the windows were only £800 each back then, with the door and frame £1,200. Double that price for material and labour inflation over the intervening years and it’d still be a reasonable price. Don’t overlook refurbishment as a viable solution though; the house we bought after that (Edwardian 5 bed detached with many, many large sash windows). It cost £10k to refurbish, replace sashes and cills where needed, and draughtproof all round. That was for 30 windows, but only 6 or 7 needed full replacement sashes, and maybe 2 or 3 needed cills. Localised repairs sorted out the rest. Made a huge difference…they weren’t double glazed, but it’s the draughts that were the drain from a heat / energy perpective

Unfortunately this quote was from a local joinery company that specialises in windows and conservatories.

I've sent you a PM!

That's high. We just had quote to replace french windows with small windows either side. Made to measure, wood, multiple panes. That was £6k. I wouldn't have thought yours should be 7 times that? We decided to do some restoration instead!

You will lynch me but I replaced mine with UPVC sash and did not contact the council. I did not have the original windows they had been replaced prior to the area becoming conservation and were very ugly metal ones. I read Heritage England guidance that a suitable alternative is acceptable ie UPVC sash, I did not run it by the council and took the risk and installed them. The house looks a thousand times better than it did. I had 12 sash windows and set of crittal style french doors done for 9.5k. I am still waiting for the council to knock my door and fine me. I have pictures of mould and condensation the others were causing so frankly they can fine me, I would have to pay in very small chunks but at least I have a warm aesthetically pleasing house.

I have just sent these through the illustrations the other company shared with me of the windows with measurements, but removed all identifying details and all cost-related info.

They have come back to me and said that it looks from my attachment that the company I have already got an estimate from do use the same software pricing package for costing as they do.

They then ask if I am able to send through the estimate I have, then they can take a look and see what discount they could offer.

Really not sure how to proceed with this?!