Evening folks,

we are looking into getting our bay window sorted – its a wooden, single glazed sash window that has seen better days and is very draughty.

the missus wants to keep it timber, but just get it reconditioned (i.e. it remains single glazed)

I would prefer to rip the whole thing out and replace it with a new, timber framed, double glazed sash window of same shape and design.

We are aware that this is likely to cost ££££'s…

has anyone any experience of similar?

I think its important that we get double glazed glass, from an insulation point of view, the missus seems to think that getting it reconditioned and sorting the seals out would be effective – I disagree…

over to you STW…

IMO you'd be mad not to get double glazing in a new window.

There is no way reconditioning the original and keeping single panes in could ever be as insulatory as a new frame with double glazing – it is simply not possible – the vast majority of thermal loss is through the glass. But either way will be expensive.

you say that, but I had a local joiner make me up new sashes with double glazing to fit in the existing casements.

£900 fitted for 4 windows.

I have a suspicion that the firm that the missus originally asked to look at it were only interested in reconditioning the exisiting window, and, hence told her that it wouldn't be possible to get it double glazed – the missus is now blinkered to getting it double glazed…

I am of the opinion that if it was a new window it would be designed as such to accept double glazed glass and still have functioning 'sash' windows.

@ jam bo – that sounds interesting – what part of the country are you in?

you lose a bit of window area getting double glazed. But we have opted for that on the lovely new handmade windows that are in my backgarden right now, being painted ready to fit next week 🙂

Yeah – dead easy to have new sash frames with DG. Where are you? I can recommend one place in North Yorks/Teesside area.

devon. took him **** ages to do but worth the wait.

@ M_F – worksop, north notts – probably too far.

@ jam bo – deffo a bit too far!!!

Just had 2 almost identical sash bays restored for £300 for both, the extra cost of double glazing + installation would never have paid off in my lifetime.

@ Penrod – so you kept it single glazed???

For renovations:

If you want to pay someone else to do it, try Ventrolla

If you're willing to do it yourself, or have a local joiner do it, all the bits to make it as new from Reddiseals

These guys will bring the draughtproofing up to a modern spec, there is usually enough meat in an old frame to expand the rebate to take a 12 or 15mm gap sealed unit. In my own house the frames were already trashed by someone jamming in 70s aluminium units so I ended up taking the whole lot out and putting in Upvc sliding sashes from Quickslide.

@midlifecrashes – I think it was Ventrolla that the missus got to look at it initially

Ventrolla are pricey, that's why I searched out Reddiseals to get the bits they use, but in the end swapped the whole lot out to go PVC since mine were too far gone. As mastiles says, new sashes into the existing boxes could be the way to go, but no local joiners have the skills. No demand round here (Doncaster), but if you look around Nottingham, York, Harrogate etc there are plenty. I've looked at a lot of windows, the best I've seen for timber replacements are Carey & Fox, but they'll cost you more than a new bike. I had 36 to buy, and never wanted to be up a ladder painting them, so went for cheaper PVC instead. I'm happy with the look of them too.

I would have thought that getting a sash of that profile made will be quite pricey. Are you in a conservation area?
Take a look at the refurb with draught strips etc and get some good heavy curtains for winter. It'd be a shame to spoil your house.
If you do want good quality new sashes look at Mumford & Wood.

We're getting double glazing throughout our new house, with the noise reduction being the real factor that swung it. While the extra insulation is nice it will take a very long time to pay off, but you get the benefit of a nice quiet house straight away.

@ Penrod – so you kept it single glazed???

I kept single glazed, the guys replaced a fair bit of timber and stripped and filled everything else, they look mint from the outside. I painted the inside. There was no work done on draughtproofing them.

I don't know why they quoted me that, it took 2 guys about 3 days, but thats the Polish for you!

@ap – not a conservation area – but we just wanted to try and retain the original look/character of the building.

@Tenuous – i'd just like a the front room to be warmer during the winter!

I had a large double sash and case replaced with sealed double glazing sash and case in wood.

One of the issues is there is not enough room to put a standard sealed unit in – there is a firm in Edinburgh ( the only one in the world IIRC) that make sealed units with a much smaller gap. There is still a weight issue as well – needs heavier sash weights. This was ten years ago and a double sash and case installed ( so 4 sashes all with a centre mullion and properly draft proofed was £2000

So look into a double glazed sash and case but it is not easy nor cheap to do – and please dont spoil it with UPVC

Edit – just noticed its got a curved top – I think that makes sealed units virtually impossible

seconday glazing?

@TJ – I had wondered if the curve at the top may cause an issue with getting some modern glass fitted.

I have just found a few firms on Yell that aren't too far away, so i shall get in touch with them and see what they say

the glass shouldn't be an issue, it's the frame & sash that might be – but any decent joiner worth his/her salt should be able to do something on that score. No reason not to replace it with d/g either

If you wanted to retain the arched top but have double glazing, the joiner would just make a standard frame/glazed unit then match pieces to sit either side to give the impression of a curved pane.

Morning chaps. Custom bent tops and shapes for frames and sealed units are pretty common. Takes a bit of fancy routering in timber, but easy enough, you make a cardboard template and work from that. Here are four of mine above my front door. Must fix that loose tile.

The other option would be to restore the existing set up (single glazed), then fit secondary glazing inside. Its what we've done with a few of the windows in our flat.

I made up wooden frames, routed a nice profile in them, rebated a draught seal into the side, and at a casual glance you don't notice they're there. Can't comment on the insulation side, but they make a hell of a difference to the noise levels. The downside is that if you want to open the window, you have to pop the secondary glazing out first and put it somewhere. We don't open those windows much, so it works out fine.

>The downside is that if you want to open the window, you have to pop the secondary glazing out first and put it somewhere. We don't open those windows much, so it works out fine.

Interesting! Presumably on the ground floor so other fire exits are available 🙂

Or use something to break the glass…

(How many downstairs windows have big enough openings to allow an adult to climb out anyway???????)

Double glazing will make your house warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer and cut down on the noise from the outside. Plus, resale value of your house will increase. You'll also increase the security as it's more difficult to break two pieces of glass over one, so might even get a reduction on the insurance.

However, the cost might be quite a lot as you could be looking around £100 for each shaped double glazed pane. You'd have to wait a good long time to realise any savings on heating, so the initial costs might seem high!