What is wrong with UPVC windows?

[FlashingRudolphNose]

Just out of interest - have seen a few posts saying how much they dislike UPVC windows and I'm interested to know why?

I think it looks nicer when windows "fit" a house, personally. Sometimes uPVC can look out of place, especially on an older house. Too plasticky and clean, I guess.

Totally agree scummy - my UPVC windows look fine on my smart modern house and are very practical. The vast majority of new houses round here have these type of windows installed by the builders.

Agree that they can look out of place on older houses, but can be a great improvement on the originals in terms of warmth and practicality as they don't need regular painting.

Agree they look dreadful on a period property and do devalue it significantly in spite of their insulation advantages etc.Having said that we are in a v modern house now which has these windows and the silence at night is heaven after years of rattly sash windows and traffic noise!You can get double glazed wooden windows but they are v expensive

On older houses they look wrong.

Can someone please define older houses?

The Sunday Telegraph has a really useful section by someone called Jeff someone or other. The section is called 'On the level'. If you can find it, read what he says about them. Think he would advise you to give them a wide berth.

FRN- older houses=houses which don't look right with uPVC wondows.:)

On what basis Carla?

My mother lives in an undistinguished pre-war bungalow about 70 yrs old. The original windows were large, multi-paned wooden ones with very insecure locks. Condensation was a major problem, which rotted the wood if not mopped up every morning.

A few years ago my mother had the windows replaced and is now warmer, secure and without the headache of finding someone to do the major repainting work required every few years. Bearing in mind the fact that my mother is in her seventies, I think she made the right decision.

It may offend the style police, but she's warm and safe, so who cares?

Good point, lima.

Scum . BTW I don't work for a UPVC window company! I've just never had a problem with them but know that some people (the style police??) really hate them.

Lima, I watched my Dad pulling his hair out trying to maintain our windows when I was growing up. House was built in the 50's. Now he lives in a house with UPVC windows and is as happy as can be .

Personally, plastic windows would seriously put me off buying a house if it wasn't designed to have them. I think they do detract from the character of a house - like ripping out cornicing etc. I prefer original features and I prefer old houses. Mine's early Victorian and I wouldn't really like newer than that. I think plastic windows have a strange, flat quality.

aloha - central heating or open fires?

I do agree with you, aloha, despite seeing that they might be beneficial for lima's mam. They really do look awful on period properties, IME, all sparkly and new and mememeingly drawing attention to themselves. There would need to be some kind of overwhelming need for them before I'd willingly install one if I was a home owner.

I think it depends where you live. Most terraced Victorian houses in Lancs now have pvc windows and nobody gives a stuff, frankly! (Style police haven't got here yet.)

We bought ours in 1983 and the sash windows were long gone then - it had rotten 60s thin wooden frames with curved transoms. We replaced with pvc which at least had central glazing bars so the proportions were right. I would personally have preferred to have sash windows, because the top and bottom opening is so good for ventilation, but putting them back in when all the boxes have gone would cost a fortune and the value of the house doesn't justify it. Also it is a very crooked house and all the windows are slightly skewed. Nightmare! (Maybe it was removing the sash boxes that skewed them...)

My father's house was a 1930s semi and was finally double glazed a few years ago and looked miles better.

Would agree with those of you that said "Not on older houses".
IMO you can get away with UPVC windows in 50'a and 60's houses but not earlier.

I live in a 350 yr old house so they would not look right at all ( although I have seen some 350 yr old houses with UPVC windows)

If I bought a brand new house I would *expect" UPVC windows....

and to who ever asked I prefer open fires to central heating - but I am odd!!

my house is in a conservation area and i HAVE to have woodframe windows.

we're doing renovations to the property and were surprised that the modern ready made wood frame windows (which are double glazed) are not that much more expensive than upvc.

what makes wood windows expensive is when you have to have them specially made.

i'm not a great fan of upvc windows but that is just my personal preference.

I lOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE them

lovely and clean dn not all condensed

Got them in my Victorian terraced house too. Wouldn't have chosen them, but they are very practical & look OK. In fact having kitchen conversion done in cellar atm, so new doors for front & cellar - getting uPVC simply because it seems daft to be all fashion police-y when the windows are already uPVC.

Think the main objection is when you get fake leaded lights done in uPVC on an older house - now that can look ridiculous!

moschops - my 9 yr old house originally had wooden double glazed windows. We had to repaint the south-facing ones annually, despite using high quality paint. However the biggest problem by far was that the wood must have moved and broken the seal in the doulbe glazing, so that panes became filled with condensation inside. We had numerous panes replaced in the first 5 yrs (Free of charge) and finally decided to get UPVC 3 yrs ago. Most of our neighbours have done the same as they have had teh same problem with the panes.

A friend of mine used to say to DG salesman who promised him a 10 year guarantee with uPVC 'But my windows are 100 years old and still in good nick. Can you promise me uPVC will last as long?

Ours are about 12yo and the seals around the windows are going - they aren't as quiet as they were when we moved in here 6.5 years ago. The dg glass panes are still good though - no condensation in between the panes like you get with some units when they blow/leak/whatever.

I think the problem for lots of houses is that the wood hasn't been well-maintained or was not properly seasoned or whatever they have to do to it to make it durable when the houses were built. Getting a joiner to make new window frames is considerably more dififcult than finding a uPVC DG comapny who will quote you and start work within a few days.

This makes uPVC DG a very attractive option for anyone who wants to get a job done - and for most people, they won't be in the house by the time it needs re-doing.

We have white fascias on our house and needed it partially replacing and all the guttering re-doing. DH and I have spent hours trying to get tradesmen to quote for it but have never manged to receive a single quote in spite of chasing. In the end, in spite of my ending up in tears about my 'plastic house', we got someone in to do it in uPVC. They were round to quote within the week and started about 10 days later. Very courteous workmen who spent six days here sorting it out. A huge relief after 5 years of trying to get others to do it. The most ironic thing was the two senior members of the team are experienced joiners who have moved into doing this instead :(

I used to think upvc windows looked a bit naff but dp now works for a windows company and he has a sample window that he brought to show me and now i understand why people want them!!!!

In the summer we replaced our original sash windows with UPVC. House was built in 1896 and windows were original ones.

Before you hold up your hands in horror at the mere thought of replacing original with plastic - the windows were falling apart. They were beyond repair - warped wood, cracked glass (though lovely to look through as it refracted so made everything outside look mildly wobbly). I spent 2 winters putting towels along the gaps in my dses bedrooms to stop the draughts, only to find them blown on the floor 2 or 3 times a night. Dses were always waking up cold - ds2 had to have a full quilt in his cot last year as it was literally below freezing in his room. Bathroom blind was at a 90 degree angle on windy nights as the gaps were that wide. Our bedroom was like Siberia, and the front windows rattled so much that we could hear them when sitting in the car 5 doors up the street. God only knows how the neighbours slept. Draught-seal tape proved to be useless so we bit the bullet and spent £4k on (simple yet rather tasteful, though I say so myself) replacement windows and doors.

And this winter - we're as warm as toast and we can all get to sleep. B*gger style, go for the warmth.

Our last house was built in 1910 and we put UPVC windows in pretty much as soon as we moved in. We needed new windows (old ones were going rotten) and we could not afford new wooden ones. Our windows did look very nice tbh and I am glad we got them.

The house we live in now was built in 1916 and it was double glazed a few years ago before we moved in. Its not the nicest and we plan to change it to something a bit better eventually, but it will be UPVC. It keeps our house quieter, and warmer and more importantly I feel so much safer. Our area is not very nice and I am sure our double glazing helps prevent our house from being broken into.

Maybe if the house was a tudor barn, but in a terraced house in an industrial Northern town its not really an issue