Cost of having bay window replaced - completely

[freepo]

Thinking of buying a house, it has a bay window going all the way to the roof (i.e. ground floor and first floor) and it has a pitched roof joiined with the main roof, i.e. not flat roof.

The bay window is currently made of plastic and looks to be about 20 or more years old and looks decrepid. If I buy the house, I'm thinking of having a new bay front built from bricks or blocks (house is construced with coursed stone - or possibly rubbled stone but I think it is coursed).

So I'd need a foundation built and then have to decide on the method of construction.

Does anyone know how much this would cost in South Wales?

What are my options for method of construction, would there be an inner and outer skin with insulation in between, or would the nature of a bay window (narrow pillars) mean that double skin/insulation would not be possible?

I suppose building it in the traditional way with stone and sand stone would be the most expensive method. (the house would not be worth this sort of expense on appearance.)

Looking forward to your replies...

[sm_jamieson]

A photo would be invaluable. Are you saying the entire bay is plastic. If the windows don't go all the way to the floor, what is the area under the downstairs window made of ? Beware that if rebuilding a bay in a thicker wall than before, you can find there is not much bay left after the job is done ? If you are going to such expense to totally rebuild, could you extend at the same time ? If you are changing external appearance, planning permission may be required. Sorry to be vague, more info is required really. Simon.

[freepo]

No photo available at the mo, and I have forgotton what the foundation part looks like, but everything above the foundation part is plastic. I'm probably viewing the house on Thursday, I'll take a photo then (no photo on the estate agents site).

Good point about the walls being thicker resulting in less 'bay'. but I think it will still be worth it and might be able to increase the foot print of the bay outwards anyway. Is that what you meant by "extend"? If so, then yes, it might be possible. There is a small amount of "front garden" to the property.

I was hoping planning permission would not be necessary to replace the bay with another bay.

Will update on Thursday with photo.

[sm_jamieson]

It must be quite an unusual property. Stone walls with a plastic bay (I'm imagining like one of those wobbly PVCu shop fronts). Was it a conversion of some sort ? If you are replacing this with something better, I'm sure there would be no problem with planning, but best to check (a phone call). Simon.

[Cicero]

================================== Since the existing bay is plastic it's not very old. You might find that there was a normal wooden bay with brick base there before the plastic arrived. If this is the case you may find that the bottom of the bay already has a foundation and wall ready for you to install a replacement.

It's not uncommon for bays to be built with a stud wall (no bricks etc.) between lower and upper bays and these are often rendered or clad with timber.

Cic.