Metal window refurbishment/replacement - resources?

We have a flat in North London with metal framed windows. The block was built in the 1960s sometime and the windows are beginning (?!) to show their age.

We would like to refurbish (or maybe replace) the windows while retaining their character, modern UPVC framed windows would look horrible (some adjacent flats have them and they *do* look horrible).

Can anyone recommend a supplier/builder/specialist or whatever who could either actually do the work or alternatively supply hardware so that we could do it ourselves?

It's a duplex flat with french doors onto a balcony downstairs plus a separate floor to ceiling window downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs with large windows. The existing opening windows are the swivel type.

The existing frames are not badly corroded but have got distorted in a couple of places so they don't close perfectly.

Reply to
tinnews
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Reply to
Owain

Your windows are almost certainly from Crittall Windows. The company still operates and has a thriving business in supplying replacements.

There is plenty of information online (Google "Crittall Windows") and the company has a very informative web site:

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Reply to
Bruce

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They look good, even come in 'Imperial' sizes and the right styles. I can't find prices anywhere though so I guess: 1 - they're expensive, 2

- I'll have to call a salesman to find out.

Reply to
tinnews

This week's Grand Designs featured restoration of metal windows. Link to details:

Probably completely inappropriate - have a watch of the program.

Reply to
Rod

On the other hand, I knew someone who lived in a large block of flats which used to have metal windows and the majority had been replaced with identical PVC in matching style. They looked fine; the few remaining metal ones looked odd.

In some buildings retaining the harmony of the whole can be more important than individual details.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

I so agree, if they are Critall single glazed which result in cold drafts, heat loss nad further corrosion problems then similar (look alike) replacements are to be considerred.

Reply to
Clot

I watched that and was encouraged by their desire to refurbish the windows to original but could not discern whether the had managed to install d/g units in them. Unlkely, I guess.

Reply to
Clot

Steel windows can be repaired like car bodywork, using car body filler for repairs, and car spray paints, which last far longer than household gloss.

Thermally they're a nightmare, and secondary glazing is very much the way to go if you retain them.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Recently replaced a Crittall window with a UPVC one.

Mine was held in by screws through the frame into nuts behind, there is a small steel angle embedded in the mortar. Sometimes the nuts rotate so the screw won't release. If so, drill out the screw head or cut through the frame using an ange grinder.

If you open the window (Assuming it's a side opener) and look down the edge of the frame you'll probably find the heads of the screws. Measure where they are from the top or bottom and you'll find that the opposite side of the frame will have them in the same positions sometimes buried under the putty. Check the top/bottom edges also.

Removal of a small section of grout/render around the frame will reveal the exact size unless it's obvious.

Measure this and contact a local UPVC company who make them up. Suggest that you want to replae the Crittal ones of "X" size and design and get a quote.

After screw removal the frame can be gently levered out of the brickwork leaving a nice neat hole. Watch out for the bricks above being loose or a lintel.If anything moves, support it, remove window as best as poss, and make good the problem.

A 1.6 x 1.2m fully glazed unit, halfway split vertically, 2 openers was £127 plus VAT.

Took me 3 hours to install. A day to "Make good" outside and in with expanding foam, silicon sealer and some cladding (Sourced from the window maker).

Immense increase in warmth and noise reduction was very acceptable.

Strangely there's a roundabout near me thats called "Crittals Corner". Where the old factory used to be and is now a B & Q.

Reply to
R

Pretty sure they didn't - there was a moment where I think we saw a single piece of glass being handled (i.e. just glass - no DG).

At the end we saw the shutters they had installed - in some places a very appropriate way of helping improve thermal qualities of an SG window. But bloomin' useless during the day when you want daylight let in.

Reply to
Rod

Funny how, even with near-zero maintenance, they seem to last about 40 or 50 years before any of these problems arise.

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Reply to
Bruce

A bit like "Staples Corner" on the North Circular Road at the southern end of the M1. It was named after a furniture factory that was located there - Staples made the "Ladderax" shelving system that was popular in the 1960s.

The company has long gone, but on the site now there is a prominently located branch of Staples, the office equipment suppliers, so it is still correct to call it "Staples Corner".

Reply to
Bruce

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