Pretty much what the title said: I want to change the windows in our bay windows. They have double glazing in them (from around 15 years ago) and i've been looking at replacing them, however I have no experience replacing windows in this sort of circumstance.
The load of the two storeys above, as I understand, is born by the bayjack poles, but how are they installed? Is it a highly complex operation? I was quoted around £4k for the actual windows (2 x 6-section bays and 1 x 3-section bay) which though a little high was around what I was expecting.
I then asked what they would charge for fitting and I had imagined (2 guys working for 2 days, + scaffolding) a top price of around £1.5k. They quoted me £5k!!! I clarified - is that £5k including materials and they said, no the whole job would be £9k. I was a little incredulous as I asked if this was some kind of crack team of SAS coming to replace my windows and they confirmed, no, two guys, two days and scaffolding. In what universe does someone get paid £1,000/day to fit windows?? Presuming of course they use gold plated scaffolding that costs £1,000 for 2 days! They did clarify that £400 of the cost was a surveyor coming out to inspect the site before the works. This didn't make me feel any better.
SO - I presume that the double glazing already in place (as it is load bearing of the second story and loft above) already has bayjack poles. How difficult would it be to take the windows out and replace them with prefabricated windows that are made to fit? Can i leave the poles that are there in place?
Or does anyone know a good glazer/window fitter around East London? Has anyone else done what I'm proposing and what did it cost? I searched around for other quotes on the materials and found what was closer to my expectations at £3.6k for the windows we wanted. Has anyone gotten this kind of work done on this scale for around £1-1.5k?
TIA.