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Original poster

13 grand for sash windows!?

28 replies

Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 18:52

Then add on VAT!

We need some new sash window (the old ones were completely ripped out by the previous owners) and the quotes we've received range from 9-13k!

Granted, we'd like hardwood (not softwood), but it's only for a front room bay, plus two bedrooms windows. I guess it's because we're in London. Sad The 13 grand quote came from a local carpenter as well.

Am I just out of touch? I thought we'd be looking at about 7k.

OP posts:
LadySybilLikesSloeGin · 10/04/2015 18:54

Blimey! Sad Have you looked in reclamation yards incase some twazock has ripped theirs out?

traviata · 10/04/2015 18:55

I called a local specialist sash window company. The guy looked at my house there & then on Google Streetview and told me it would be over £30k Shock.

OliviaBenson · 10/04/2015 18:58

Get some more quotes op- that is a lot for the amount of windows! It will be worth it in the end though- we did ours last year and the house looks fantastic.

LadySybilLikesSloeGin · 10/04/2015 19:07
Shock

I have sash windows. Bloody freezing in the winter and you can hear them shake when it's windy. Maybe fate's telling you... "NOOO!"

Original poster
Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 19:09

I love sash windows and I know it'll be soo worth it. We had three quotes at 9, 12 and 13k. Two other companies visited and then declined to quote as they were so busy!

We've got one more person coming to quote this weekend then I might have to bite the bullet for 9k. Pah! Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 19:10

Bloody hell Traviata - I hope you were sitting down when you got that quote! Smile

OP posts:
AliceAnneB · 10/04/2015 19:18

We paid 4k for sash bay windows three years ago in London.

MrsFlorrick · 10/04/2015 19:32

Are they particularly big windows? I assume you're installing doubled glazed new sashes?

I would expect to pay £2k plus vat per window roughly. But that's if you're just replacing the sashes.

Are you also getting a new box with the sashes? If so then it's not a bad price. Sorry.

You'd be surprised at the price of double glazing tbh. I'm doing up our soon to be new home.
It has 35 sashes which need repairing and repainting and restringing etc.

as part of that we are installing retrofit Slimlite double glazing (which fits into old sashes).

The cost of the glass is double the cost of the labour for the repairs and repainting.

I checked out a number of glazing suppliers and they are all the same. It's expensive stuff.

Original poster
Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 19:42

MrsFlorrick, they are pretty big to be fair and we do want double-glazing and completely new boxes. Thanks for the advice!

Urg, why did the previous people rip them out?! They pebbledashed the whole damn house as well, covering the lovely Victorian brickwork (I don't want to talk about how much that cost to be removed!) Smile

OP posts:
anotherdayanothersquabble · 10/04/2015 20:43

Perhaps try these guys:
Eksalta
They were recommended to me but I haven't had a chance to get a quote yet. My friend was very pleased with a door and some replacement sashes they made for her.

OhHowILoveMyPuppies · 10/04/2015 20:49

£45k was the opening quote for us from Everest. Laughed them out of the door.

yeahokthen · 10/04/2015 20:58

We were quoted £50K for wooden Heritage with very slim glazing, for 12 windows. Grade II listed and if we had DG it's the glass they recommend.

Sadly we still have the old, draughty single glazed.

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 10/04/2015 20:58

We paid 10k for seven hardwood sashes (no bays, this was a flat fronted, non-listed Georgian house) for the front elevation of our old house last year.

Fortunately the rear windows (and those in the attic bedrooms) were in reasonably good condition so we didn't replace those, otherwise we'd have been looking at 20+ windows.....not as bad as Mrs F lol!

Ours were made by a local joinery co (based in Dorset, although our house was in Wilts) and they came fully painted inside/out and that price included fitting.

Only issue was they were not FENSA and we mistakenly thought the work was covered by our building regs.....it wasn't so we had to take out indemnity insurance when we sold a few months later.

They looked fab though and were well work the £££

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 10/04/2015 20:59

worth not work.....bloody ipad!

Original poster
Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 21:02

Thanks another! I'll take a look.

Those quotes are getting worse! Sad I'm sure you can buy whole houses for those prices in some parts of the country.

OP posts:
Original poster
Crumbelina · 10/04/2015 21:04

That seems really reasonable Raph.

All my windows at the back of the house are going to be eBay bargains. Any old crap will do. Wink

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MrsFlorrick · 11/04/2015 00:22

Yours are so expensive because you're needing new boxes. It's quite a lot of work and joinery parts to be fair.

Luckily we don't need to replace any of ours. They only need minor repairs, some restringing, repainting and obviously the expensive heritage slimlite double glazing is our choice.

Actually it's DH. He is obsessed with getting them double glazed.
He has a point. It will take the U value from 5.8 to 1.9. Essentially from draughty and cold to warm and toasty.

And it's much less then having all the windows replaced. About £30k all in so circa £1k per window.
Still having fewer windows would be a bit better....

And pebbledashing nice victorian brickwork Shock why or why!

BackforGood · 11/04/2015 00:29

To answer your question, I suspect the previous people replaced them with a different sort of window because they too got some quotes and realised quite how ridiculously expensive it was going to be to put new, wooden sash windows in.
It does not make them "twazocks" LadySybil, just ordinary people who had to stick to a budget that would not run to the £££ that new, wooden, sash windows would cost. Hmm

dontcallmelen · 11/04/2015 00:59

We had douglas fir double glazed sashes fiited about 2years ago eight large windows was 11 grand, company was selhurst windows were based in selhurst(se london) have since moved, will post when I find the details.

EagleRay · 11/04/2015 02:40

Watching with interest - my victorian terrace has a mixture of original sash and replacement aluminium windows which are knackered. Only 2 sashes left and one of them is the central window in a bay which makes it look really odd!

Have no idea how much of original fittings remain and am questioning currently how much I really want sash windows reinstated.

The figures depress me as the damp proofing in the basement has failed and so also looking at getting all that redone next year, plus replacing kitchen in damp basement! Still love my house though, most of the time Smile

NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange · 11/04/2015 07:46

Would restoration be an option? We had some repairs to ours recently as we couldn't afford to replace them, now they shut and don't rattle so much but mostly the cills don't let water in to the walls, which they were doing as they were rotten.

I love our sashes and wouldn't be without them for the world. However a handy tip is to look out for neighbours with similar houses chucking out perfectly serviceable ones, we took some from up the road, asking permission, and our joiner used one of them to cut down and make a new sash as it was almost exactly the same height and so on. I still have about 7 in the back garden for spare glass and frames!

Original poster
Crumbelina · 11/04/2015 13:14

Unfortunately restoration isn't an option. Every part of the sash windows was taken out and they replaced them with aluminium ones.

I think it could have been a fashion thing (they bought the house in 1954). The windows went, the house pebbledashed all over and they boarded up the original Victorian doors and bannisters with plywood (it was a good day when we uncovered those!). Sadly they also ripped out the original fireplaces.

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shabbycaddy · 11/04/2015 15:29

Simple reason why they are expensive, not popular anymore due to people not having time and money to keep painting them. Lived in houses with timber and PVC windows, and sadly PVC windows win hands down for cleaning and minimal maintenance, unless your loaded and don't mind maintaining them I wouldn't bother.

wonkylegs · 11/04/2015 15:54

We had ours replaced last year
17 huge sashes (each part of bay = 1window), all new mouldings to match originals exactly (including idiosyncrasies that gave them character) , all in hardwood, with new lead weights (old ones were steel but due to the weight of double glazing need to up to lead) new chrome fittings including locks & sash stops, cost us £27k .
Yes it was expensive but it was so worth it. Quiet warm house, absolutely beautiful workmanship.

Tobiasfunke · 11/04/2015 16:01

They are expensive- sorry. We're getting 2 large windows with astragals and 2 angled dormers with 3 separate windows in each and it's costing the guts of 12 grand. Plus extra probably with new lead. We had our old house done 9 years ago and it was £17,000 - that was 11 windows plus french doors. The price has gone up a lot since then. We are using the same company as before but we had 3 quotes- all the same price.