Not a chance. I hate painting and replaced all the old single glazed wooden windows 15 years ago. Then I had all the soffits, etc. painted and clad with PVC. I think i might replace all the skirting with plastic too.
I have uPVC, and I don't think they look too bad, despite being cheap ones. You can get pretty good uPVC windows, as well as crap ones. Whatever, I have neither the time or patience to paint windows, so uPVC it is.
Only if a crap job is done. We had three bays done with DG last year as part of a larger job. In each case they removed all the old wood, and put in steel posts to take the load, and then installed the DG panels in between.
In any case, these days DG frames are load bearing.
sweetheart - if you want uPVC DG, then get several quotes from *local* DG companies. You'll have to learn up about ratings, profiles, etc, but when we did that last year we just spent some time googling to become proficient and find something we liked.
That is what I want to do over the next couple of years if I can manage it. Thanks for being honest about having plastic windows. ;-)
Sounds as if they are likely to suit me then. Its not as if I have a fancy house anyway Its a bog standard box ( bungalow).
I am trying to do that but I rang one company I thought was local and they said they would call back. Half an hour later a much larger company called and asked if they could quote for windows and I said "NO". I havent heard from the small one who was supposed to ring and OH swears that they passed me on to the big company and my saying no to them was really refusing them after I asked them to call.
It does seem odd I got a call immediately after I gave my X directory number to a company to call me back. But any way I didnt want a big company ( already had Everest and Anglian quoting stupid prices at me)
If you want durability and don't enjoy painting I'd go for aluminium or hardwood. Either will still look decent a few years down the line, whereas plastic will not.
I prefer the look of painted windows, so have always gone for softwood, but you do need to keep on top of them. Plenty of 100 year old softwood windows attest to their durability if you do.
Cheers Richard
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Whatever type of window you choose, getting a "window company" to supply and install might not be the cheapest route. Plenty of timber merchants and DIY stores supply windows, and if you know a good local builder it might be cheaper to ask him to install. He might be able to source as well. That way you're paying a standard builder's rate for the time, rather than a joke figure dreamt up by a salesman.
Cheers Richard
There must be a lot of people with wooden gutters as they think wood looks so much better than plastic. 8-)
Softwood windows need painting frequently and don't last.
Hardwood is expensive, needs treating and lasts for ages. Hardwood is not sustainable despite what they tell you. It takes many decades to grow so it won't be sustainable for many decades as they weren't planting much hardwood 100 years ago. Cutting down a tree and replacing it with a couple of twigs doesn't make a sustainable future.
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Wooden gutters were sometimes used in the 19th century. Some of them are only now coming to the end of their useful lives. Plastic guttering is cheap, but it needs to be because it's a disposable item, needing frequent replacement over the life of a building. For durability you'd use aluminium or cast iron.
Good quality softwood windows, properly maintained,will last over a hundred years.
Chucking warped, cracked and discoloured uPVC into landfill isn't very green either.
Cheers Richard
Hum, "softwood" froma 100 years ago wouldn't be todays fast grown, kiln dried, plank sawn stuff though. It would most likely have been slow grown, properly quartered, seasoned and sawn. A very different quality of timber...
Yes they do that. Then they call back with the used-car salesman tactic of trying to get you to sign up today so they can give you an extra x% discount they've managed to swing with their manager. This is one reason we didn't go with them, but equally important is that their windows are ugly.
That's a fair point.
Cheers Richard
The really local ones don't do that. We found several that specifically said they'd come, measure up, quote, and that would be that. And that
*was* that. From those folks we had no follow-up special-offer calls.
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Those made 100 years ago might have a chance. I'm not convinced about current ones made from fast grown farmed timber.
MBQ
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It's a fair point, but, properly maintained, it still stands a better chance than uPVC.
Cheers Richard
Our neighbours built their house with bog-standard softwood windows from Jewsons ten years ago. They've been painted once and now need painting again. No sign of rot or deterioration in the windows at all, and no reason why they won't still be sound and looking good long after the plastic windows in the neighbouring property have continued to crack and discolour and need replacing. Timber may not be seasoned as long as it once was but windows are better constructed (e.g. vented beads rather than putty, so water is not trapped against the timber). Hardwood will last even better.
There's no argument for plastic windows other than short term cost saving, and laziness.
Cheers Richard
Works for me. 27 windows and 5 external doors to look after...
You'd rather replace them all every 15 years or so?
27 windows? That's a lot of windows. Do you live in a castle?Cheers Richard
cost
Well all the 15 or so year old timber ones needed replacement when we moved in... The 5 year old (I think) plastic ones that replaced some of those are fine, no signs of deteriation. They are mucky and have algae growth in hidden areas but nothing that a hot soapy wash down won't clear.
A wooden door and window frame that I stripped back, used treatment, primer, undercoat, top coat etc (Dulux Weathershield system) has paint that paint flaking off and end grain starting to rot...
No, just a decent sized rural house. B-)
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