First of all appologies for slagging Premdor off exclusively: Their “dors” are not that different to others in their price bracket; Howdens are worse, though they are somewhat cheaper.
I wonder what the lifetime of UPVC is? I was told told the UV treatment lasted so long and then the plastic degrades pretty quickly. I guess given their comparitively cheap price this isn’t a great problem.
What I do have an issue with is with old stone built houses paticularly on bay windows where on the side windows you get 5″ of platic on each side and only 12″ of glass in the middle; looks mince IMO.
What knackers old sash windows is modern oil or acrylic based paints which don’t let the wood breath moisture in and out (with changing weather condition). The Scandinavians have worked this one out years ago: They use cheap pine to make their windows but use paint systems like Butinox and they last for ever.
Just overhaulling somebodies 150 year old sash windows: Not been painted in 30 years and that’s why they’re still in good nick (old lead based paints were micro-porous and the lead killed any bacteria trying to rot the timber).
There is one company that will fit Argon-filled units to traditionsl sashes (units are very thin so they can just be puttied in) but it costs something like £400/msq just for the units.
20mm glazed units will fit into 55mm thick sashes as long as they are rebated to the same size as existing sashes. Did some in Utile hardwood for someone last year for £3000 for 3 windows inc draught seals and painting, so not comparable in price with UPVC.

Sounds good, if money were no object think I would have gone down the bespoke double glazed windows route. Mind you if money were no object, I wouldn’t be living in a mid terrace 😀

mrmo – Member
composite doors are better than wood or upvc panels, but, stick with white if you have a south facing door

Why so? I assume there is some colour bleaching due to sun exposure? Over what timescale?

It is not about colour bleaching but reliability. It is the same point above about warping frames, the same can happen to a door. White does not heat up in the same way as dark colours and as a result the slab is not exposed to the same stresses.

tony24 ygm

My dad is a window fitter and we have sash windows. We ended up getting secondary glazing recently so that we could keep the original sash windows.

The secondary units are much better than they used to be and it has made a massive difference to the warmth and condensation in the house. I think it was about 6 times cheaper than new double glazed sash windows. Even at cost that was a bit steep for me.

Yeah, we cant afford double glazed sash so it will be standard casement for us. Did think about secondary but as the the windows need a total refurb decided on replacement.