Replacing windows in an Edwardian house

[BudaisintheZONE]

Anyone done it?

We have bought an Edwardian house that has the original windows. Leaded in the front of the house.

Some are painted shut. Some have broken handles etc. Obv not double glazed.

Wondering what to do and if anyone has a good company they can recommend for repairing what is there.

Also - we are building an extension on the side of the house and redoing bathroom upstairs and DH is wondering about using uPVC in the bathrooms. Any thoughts?

also worth saying that with the state of the construction industry the price of skilled tradesmen has dropped considerably from where it was a few short years ago. Established Contractor/client relationships can obviously have the effect of undermining natural price fluctuation in unstable times!

All replacement windows come under building regs, which means they have to meet certain thermal performance standards. Google "replacement windows building regs" if you want confirmation. That means the person installing them has to be registered under the FENSA scheme or you have to get them checked by your local building control.

I think the confusion over windows above is coming in around whether the house is listed or not.

MassiveMammaries and I have listed houses, and listing trumps building regs (whether you as a homeowner like it or not) - so if we put in new windows, they have to be single glazed, unless negotiations are held with the Conservation Officers to agree otherwise. If the house isn't listed, then they have to meet buiding regs.

I had our windows repaired for around £2000 (a lot of other work was done at the time, so not sure of exact price for windows alone)

There is no confusion. Part L of the building regs effectively means that for a new property you need to achieve a max u value of 2. Where you are replacing entire window frames in an existing property you must achieve a WER Band C ( which you can do with single glazing )

This thread has gotten interesting! And confusing.

You're right - it was the word 'new' that was getting me, as I suddenly realised on the way home. I was thinking 'new window' as in literally a new hole in the wall for which planning permission is needed, not 'new' as in 'taking out an old window frame and putting in a new window frame'.

We got our windows (Edwardian house, over 30 years of neglect and crap paint...) refurbished for about £2k including 2 large bays and 4 other rooms and lots of new panes.
The company was some imaginative name like the Sash Window Company (but not the Original Sash Window Company who quoted about 10k for the same job!), but have since vanished.

We got secondary glazing put in which is virtually invisible even from inside and works way better than double glazing. And was about £1500 rather than the 10k or so for double glazed sashes.

Our house isn't listed.

also worth saying that in 90% of cases refurbing the existing windows is the best option by far and as such not subject to building regs anyway.

You can improve the thermal performance by replacing the old glass with a high performance single glazed pane such as pilkington LOW E

Massive, my victorian house has horrible aluminium windows which I hate, obviously the previous owner was told they were an improvement on the old sashs - what do you think I should pay to have them replaced by wooden sashes? I am talking at the front, two bays and a single window - standard Victorian semi. Thank you!!

I guess it's down to what you like and how much money you have to spend. Contemporary Timber casement windows D/G can be quite nice and would be a fraction of the price of Sash windows. Timber outperforms Aluminium and UPVC thermally and looks way nicer.

Thanks! Any recommendations for companies that do this and styles I should look at? Budget is tight!

Thanks! Any recommendations for companies that do this and styles I should look at? Budget is tight!

depends where you are in the country to be honest.... You could save some money by sourcing your own windows and fitting them yourself/finding a handyman to fit them.

Premdor do a good range including a London Bar casement window that looks just like a sash window from the outside but has a hinged opener at the top. Order through a builders merchant and screw them on price. Ask for a direct to site delivery. Decide what you want and then go to a couple of the stockists and play them off against each other.

www.premdor.co.uk/premdor-p-products.asp?categoryID=3

There's a good forum here where you can get some advice as to the best way to proceed.

Hi does anyone know about the current cost of replacing Edwardian bay windows, considering this thread is now quite old? Massive Mammaries I just googled the sash window company you recommended they look good. My bays are pretty large and the previous owner put in horrible PVC windows at least 25 years ago. They are so bad that now they are no longer fully supporting the front of the house and there is some cracking in the plaster round the sides. My builder says new woollen windows installed properly will sort that out. The ones at the back they kept the original wooden frames so much better no cracking but I would still like to replace the pvc insets long term. They are not as noticeable or ugly with the old frames. For now we need to get two new bays at the front. I think they are casement windows they are not Victorian sashes. They open out at the sid windows and some the row top smaller ones open out. They have several panes and and have to made to spec to fit in with the area (House is 1905. I would be really grateful to know what is a good price for a good job.