Aluminium versus uPVC windows: how much more do aluminium cost?

[Fibrous]

Has anyone had quotes for aluminium windows and upvc windows? How did they differ in costs?

We are buying a 1930s bungalow and it has the original wood windows in and are all blown. I want to replace the windows but I hate upvc so I’m looking at options. However, it also needs a whole new roof (and possibly new slate as they’ve foamed them together) so budget is tight.

I don’t want to start getting quotes until I know how much money is left from the roof budget as if we blow all that we can’t afford the windows and I don’t want to be mithered by sales people if I have no money. But equally I need to start thinking about how hard we need to save.

If you bought aluminium, do you like them? Did you get extra thin frames?

Our house will have lovely views so I want to maximise them not carve them up with upvc.

We got a new front door, back door & side windows to the front door, all in all it was 5k for aluminium, I have the extra thin frames around the windows by the door, and I can’t wait to eventually get the windows replaced with aluminium they look so much better and sleek.

1930s timber windows will almost certainly be repairable by a joiner that knows what they are doing. Take time to find that person. It will be well worth it.

then use magnetic secondary glazing, easy glaze, geko, DIY… lots of options that are proven more effective and cheaper than conservation double glazing.

We bought a derelict 1930's house a few years ago. Windows were smashed in and boarded up! It also needed a new roof, plumbing, re-wiring and essentially everything so I completely understand the cost element.

The existing windows/doors were an odd mix of wooden sash but also crittall. We didn't bother with quotes for PVC because I hate the fat, plastic look. We have aluminium with thin frames and I love them. More view out the window and far more in keeping with the look of the house. No regrets at all.

I guess we could get them fixed - but the windows aren't particularly nice? I don't think they add much to the building. I've attached a screenshot from the survey.
Also half of them are already UPVC and even some of those are blown.

Yes we will need to do the plumbing and electrics at some point too as the water is from the aga, but that can all wait a few years. Yours sounds like a massive job! This house was cared for and isn't too bad, just hasn't been updated since the 70s. We just wish everything wasn't so expensive!

Great, thanks, this is really useful info.

So I looked at this for our last Reno. I ended up getting upvc for the back of our property (few windows, no view) and aluminium for the front and sides (beautiful views, large windows) to save us a bit. Aluminium was twice the price of upvc but also has double the lifespan. I wouldn’t go for alu again. Condensation collects on the inside of the frames every morning through autumn and winter, running onto the wooden sils/ carpet.

we have just bought another house and I think I’ll investigate upvc as I believe it’s significantly improved in the last 10 years, with some good low profile options so you don’t have to have the chunky storm proof frames

How about flush upvc so that it looks more like the original windows, but possibly less expensive than aluminum?

We have aluminium bi folds and yep the condensation overnight is insane in a room no one sleeps in and I don’t heat in the evening to reduce the condensation.

Are you near the coast OP? We thought about aluminium when we replaced the windows in our 1980s property, but the cost (nearly double) and our location (approx 5 miles to the coast) made us reconsider as they would be prone to corrosion due to the salt in the air. Looking back I now wish we’d thought about flush UPVC, although I suspect it would have pushed our budget to unaffordable.

thanks for the photos, they look easily repairable, if you find somebody that know what they are doing, then paint them.
If you don’t like them then obviously spend more and replace with aluminium.

what is it you don’t like? The style or colour or something else?

That’s interesting about the condensation. Yeah I don’t want that! We will have several wood burners in the house though, so that will likely dry the air. And there’s an Aga.

Maybe a repair is a better option. I will have a think about what I don’t like about the windows but it’s kind of instinctive.

The house is in a deciduous wood - it comes with four acres of woods. So the views are of the woods! But it’s going to be dark so I wanted windows with minimal framing to frame the trees and let as much light in as possible. It’s built on a very, very steep hill so one side looks onto the retaining stone walls. The rooms facing the walls are mostly utility rooms though, not ones we would be sitting in.

there are also two bay windows, one of which is upvc falling to bits.

I’m a garden designer so framing the views out of the house are really important to me, so this feels like one of the biggest house decisions to make and we won’t have the cash to change our minds.

We have very low pro aluminium windows, sliders and french doors throughout our house, all with 3G. We've never experienced any issues with condensation. Like you, one of our main considerations was framing the views, the others were energy efficiency and sustainability. They were expensive but we've been very happy with them. I also detest uPVC.

We're basically buying our dream house (a small house with lots of land) in our perfect location, but it comes with a lot of work to do inside and out to even make it saleable to anyone but us - it's been on the market empty for two years already.

@Dragonscaledaisy thanks for sharing. Yes sustainability is also a consideration, I want to do things once and well. My understanding is aluminium is very long lasting. My DP will need to be convinced to deviate from upvc as he just doesn't really care about these things (and I want him to pay half) so I need to be well researched if windows are the hill I'm going to die on!

We had partial aluminium double glazing in our 1930's house when we moved in. It would have been very expensive at the time as the brand was probably the best back when they were fitted. In winter the frames always had condensation on. The rest of the house had the original single glazed sash windows, beautiful to look at, but draughty and rattled like mad in the wind.

When we gutted and renovated our 1920s Arts and Crafts style house we went for what were then called “aluminium thermally broken” frames. So the thin white frames you (and we) wanted but without the condensation problems of cheaper aluminium types. Over 30 years later I’d make exactly the same choice - they were totally worth the extra. The odd double glazed unit has blown over that time but its easy to just replace the glass unit, no need to replace the frame. The windows themselves still look perfect, none of the surface wear that I’ve seen on similar age UPVC.

As this is your “forever” home have you had advice on sequencing of the work from a good builder? We were doing a full renovation and the best sequence is not necessarily the most intuitive. Things like damp proofing and rewiring (full rewire with moving sockets around etc) are messy an disruptive and worth doing early even if you live with the “scars” until you finish redecoration. Similarly central heating and the matching replumbing. Good electricians and plumbers will advise on how to do it in anticipation of future kitchen/bathroom refurbs.

Does the roof need doing now or does it have a couple of years in it? That gives you time to live in it and decide what you want to do with the attics before reroofing.

If you can focus on “live in it and see” coupled with ensuring the bones of the house for a year or so you may find you change a lot of your ideas for the more visible changes.

I already posted up thread about our 1930's renovation and getting aluminium windows/door. We have 2 sets of bifolds which are about 4m across each. Funnily, we also have an aga, some bay windows along with other windows and doors. We've had no condensation issues at all! All are double glazed and we put in as much retro-insulation as we could when renovating. The aga is gas and only on during the winter months. I don't know if others have poor ventilation, a different climate/part of the country etc but we've never had condensation on the inside at all.

In my last house we got a manufacturing joiner to redo the wooden windows. He stripped them back to the internal frames and said the original wood was still better than anything he could offer. He produced new double glazed units - taking about six weeks. They weren’t draughty and were so smooth. We did our wooden windows in three tranches across a 16 year period as we couldn’t afford all at once.
There would be some merit doing the back and front in different finishes if your budget dictates.