Part 0800.0005

[miffy]

double glazing that is..

 

we have had a quote for the house and annex for £13,600

 

thats 17 windows including 3 large bay windows. It includes "georgian" bars between the glass (cheaper) and a bio coating to help keep the glass clean, as I cannot reach some windows outside and have to wait for YS to assist (flying pigs again!!)

 

we have never had double glazing, when we have heavy driving rain it comes through the windows would we be better just having the frames re glazed...although to be honest some of the frames are rotten already had to have some patched up, some windows dont close properly

 

but £13,600 seems a lot to replace them (we have "georgian" style now and I think it would look odd without)

 

the company has been used by everyone of our neighbours (all 4 of them) and recommended.

[PurpleTree]

That seems ok to me. I think we paid about £5000 for two bay windows, 2 bedroom windows and a front and back door.

 

I think my brother's just had a quote of £800 just for his front bay window

[C&T]

Was worth it for us.

 

The heating bill came down, and the cold drafts stopped.

 

It also meant (again for us) the house was a lot more secure - the old front door I was sure would fall out with one good shove, and the back sliding door had the one most tiny little lock on that had anyone known about, they could have been picked in a flash.

 

Also as we had no locks on the old windows, we gained that advantage as well (although don't tell your insurance company as although brings the price down, should one window be unlocked somewhere in the house and you are broken into, chances are they won't pay out).

 

The lack of painting etc was also a massive plus timewise and in the wallet.

 

£13.6k doesn't sound bad to be honest for all that you are listing. I'd say pretty good compared to prices locally to us.

[Chucky Mama]

Our house had double glazing when we bought in new but the wooden window frames rotten despite our efforts at painting and some rooms were really cold and drafty - I assume because of poorly fitting frames. We have just paid to have new double glazing - replacement windows (plastic jobs) and the difference is noticeable and no more painting

[Daphne]

My mother has just had double glazing after years of having secondary glazing. She has 8 windows and a door and it cost just under £5k. She spent a while getting quotes and the largest, a huge firm, quoted something daft like £20k. She's used a very small, very local outfit who live very near her (on the basis if it goes wrong she can go round and sort it out). She's commented on how much warmer the house is (it was always a T-shirt sort of house anyway) and even I (the taste police) like it. They did it quickly, and professionally with a few odd jobs thrown in as well! Firms were queuing up to do her a deal so I'd do a bit more shopping around.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Mmmmmmm yes shop around. We replaced the conservatory doors ( Didn't like the sliding affair so opted for floor to ceiling french doors). BIL (builder and glazer) did them and they still cost 1K. The rest of the house .... masses of windows .... is double glazed but the frames are oak so heaven knows what they would cost

I wouldn't be without the extra warmth DG affords. I can remember ice inside my bedroom window as a child. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Redwing]

If you can bear it get a couple more quotes then approach the original company and ask for a bit of a reduction

 

Whatever way I would expect it to cost 10k + so they are not a million miles out

 

Having worked for a double glazing company in the past I know there is quite a bit of wriggle room in the pricing normally

 

Be polite and say you want them to do the job, they have come recommended etc... big them up then ask if they can do something better with the price as they arent as low as x company and although price isnt everything you still need to consider it etc.......

[miffy]

thanks for your thoughts..perhaps the price is about the right rate.

 

I know we should get more quotes , they are the company everyone recommends and uses here and their local. I am wary of getting a national company in as I have heard horror stories about not being able to get rid of the salesman or being bombarded with calls and mail.

 

Can anyone recommend a national company?

[Redwing]

 

Can anyone recommend a national company?

 

Having worked in the DG business for a few years I can honestly say...NO.

 

Try one or two other local companies if only to benchmark your original chosen company

 

Phone a few up and simply ask a few basic questions, do they do georgian bars etc.., you will suspect quite quickly which will give you the hard sell and ring off politely

[Cinnamon]

It sounds like a fair price to me, & we (Hubby & I - he is the brawn,I the brain) have a double glazing company)

 

Go for a small,local,well recommended company....................truly avoid the nationals if you can.About a third of our work is re doing what the large companies have fitted badly

[Charlottechicken]

For the amount of windows you have including the three bays, I would say that is fair. I had nine windows which included one bay, done in 1994, and the one bay window cost as much as the other eight (large Victorian) windows put together!

 

Try getting a quote for just one bay and you will have an idea of how much they cost, they can be several thousand apiece.

[miffy]

just looked in yellow pages and there are a number of local companies. No one has mentioned nor recommended them though, so I think I may get one round just for a quote for comparison.

Thanks for the info about the national companies, it was as I expected.....it really is a minefield

[Chucky Mama]

We went with a local firm that does a lot of the windows in the immediate area. I have never heard any bad reports about them. We did barter to get some money off and it was much cheaper for us than our neighbours

[ubereglu]

I'd say go for it. It's always worth getting the frames replaced if they're rotten as they will only get worse.

 

Ask around your friends and ask if they've had them done recently and who they got them done by. That's what we did when we had ours done years ago!

[Reikiranf]

You could try playing it cool, we had a quote to replace a broken double glazed unit in our front door which is fully glazed, they told us it would be about £200 over the phone and when they put the written quote through it was £287

 

We did nothing as I was going to get quotes from another local firm, the following week the first company phoned to see if we'd got the quote and wanted to proceed, I said no as it was £87 dearer than we'd been told, he said oh dear that is a lot more and agreed to do the job for the original price of £200

[miffy]

mm very interesting

 

OH not keen on having more people "marching" through the house so will take some time to ponder and see if they call.

 

Spoke to another friend today, they suggested the same company...advice does seem consistant, not one other company recommended.

[Olly]

I think the personal recommendations are a very good sign, but it is worth shopping around just to get a comparison.

 

There is always some leeway on a quote - it's definitely worth going back to ask if they can do anything with the figures, but for the number of windows you're talking about, that doesn't sound astronomical. Do you know your neighbours well enough to ask how much theirs cost?

 

The advantages are huge - no painting, no draughts, and security as stated above. I know traditional windows may look nicer, depending on the house, but double glazing is a real boon. I've got two remaining metal windows and I'm planning to get them done this year.

[Tutti Frutti]

We had DG installed years ago (along with cavity wall and loft insulation). Before that, we had a cold, drafty house and now we're completely snug . But the other big thing we notice is how much quieter it is now

 

We had brown wood-effect PVC on the outside and just white on the inside - the price was in between the two.

 

And definitely have a quick, polite haggle. We walked into a shop of a local supplier with the measurements and they quoted more than double that of the chap who had come round to see us the night before.

 

Lastly - they knocked off £100 for putting a board up for 4 weeks - and they forgot to put the board up

[miffy]

Just got an updated quote to include painting the inside of one window, brown (£200) and 2 trickle vents (£20 each). as well as all bits mentioned before......best price...£13,143.. about 10% reduction I think.

TBH we haven't bothered with any other quotes everyone says these are the guys to use

[Treekeeper]

I was quoted about 15K first time round got 6 companies in and told what I was expecting to pay got them done for 10K best money I ever spent. Just be forceful and tell each salesman you have 15 mins and then the next one is coming don't let them take the P have an idea what openers etc you need then they have no excuse to waffle.

[TAJ]

For just under £3,500 we have just had fitted 4 very large A rated windows (10m2 of glass), a composite door (with stained glass feature panel) & side panel, changed patio door lock & back door adjusted - this was a local company - I had a quote in Everest's 40% off January sale of £6,000 for only part of this work - just 3 windows and a basic PVC door.

 

Search online there is a site about window ratings - you put in what you currently have window wise, house type & size, then you put in what you want to replace them with and it will tell you what you can expect to save per year http://www.ggfmembers.com//public/calculator.aspx Mine would pay back in about 15 years and that was replacing older style double glazing that isn't A rated.

 

Tracy