Sash windows; composite or not?

[SayrraT]

We are doing up our house just now and have decided that we need to put in new windows. Once we'd done the rest of the work it made it clear how bad the windows are.

The house is a Victorian sandstone house and we are trying to keep a lot of the features or replace/restore them i.e. one room had damaged cornicing so I have got some made to match. At the same time we do not have an endless supply of money.

Anyway, we have had a few quotes for new sash windows (uPVC, definitely cannot afford wood) but can't decide if we want composite wood effect or not. The windows we've decided to go for look very good and come with decorative horns and traditionally styled handles. We have seen them in plain uPVC but not with wood effect, I wondered if anyone else had them and what finish would you recommend?

The house next door has uPVC sash and they look good, I am just worried that we regret whatever we pick!

They look a lot nicer than many I have seen. I can see why you like them.

Is the inside frame and surround (sill etc) also plastic? I'm not sure I could get on with that, but then I just like wood, and I like working with it and painting it and so on

A new hand made wooden sash fully fitted is £850 for a smallish window about 1 m x 1.5 m.

Reconditioning an old wooden sash £250.

I just had 15 windows done. They work perfectly now with draught strips, all the sash cords and weights refitted, undercoated and paint cleaned off the glass as well as locks and handles.

pippa all the inside (sill/architrave/trim) is wood - custom made by the fitters to match the previous wood window architrave (you can see how deep it is). There was the option of upvc internal sill but we didn't like how that looked

Oh that's great. I couldn't tell from the photos.

I think it makes such a huge difference having wood on the inside, at any rate. Easier to attach curtain rails too as well!

Forgot to say - we have the wood grain effect on the upvc. It's a more 'painted wood' colour than flat white upvc and because the finish is less uniform, I think it makes it look more like wood

I'm at work but thanks for posting pictures merkin I'll try and get some later.

We visited lots of different companies and saw windows they'd installed before we got quotes. We also knocked on doors where we saw good windows to find out where they'd got them from.

I also think I prefer the wood effect but wasn't sure, good to know you like it.

We are also planning on having wood inside the house rather than pvc.

betadad it's unlikely that you are near me (Scotland) but can you tell me where you got your windows? All the quotes we've had for wood sashes have been over £1000 per window.

We hadn't budgeted for windows and really don't have much money left, money is a big factor.

pippa not sure how long we will be here as my job (research science) means short term contacts so might have to move sooner than we'd like.

I don't think that pvc windows will devalue the house as most houses on the street seem to have pvc, most are not sash either.

Thank you all for your comments so far, good to have a range of opinions and I do agree that wood is nicer.

Sayrra - it was a local joiner who has now retired and just does odd jobs.

I think £850 was pretty cheap. I got quoted £1100 elsewhere so your quotes seem pretty close to the mark. I am not in the South East of England and in a pretty cheap area.

We had Masterframe Melody UPVC sash Windows put in 2 years ago. They have continuous horns rather than stick on horns like the mismatched picture posted by a Pp.

No problems so far with opening mechanism (unlike our wooden sashes that we haven't been able to open since early October).

Ours are wood look finish and it isn't obvious that they are upvc. We live in a SW facing house 1 mile from the coast in Cornwall so the Windows take a battering. The reduction in drafts is noticeable.

18 months on SayrraT what did you go for in the end?

NotWithoutMyMerkin are you still happy with the Ultimate Rose windows you had put in? Was looking at these myself.

Wow, just by chance I clicked on this thread and saw it was mine and there was a question!

We went for PVC wood effect sash windows. I'm very pleased with them. I'll see if I can find the pictures or take some tomorrow.

Great, which type/brand of upvc sash ?

They were fitted by Clyde windows and they are SynSeal.

I've not cleaned them since we got them so that's why they are a bit manky! I'm really happy with them, the sills and surrounds are all wood.