I recently bought a 10 year old, individually designed, stone built house on a quiet rural road. I have applied for planning permission for a summer room extension with a large window area. The house currently has oak-effect woodgrain windows, which I hate, and I would like to fit grey uPVC windows on the extension and then throughout the entire house.

So my question is this: when I come to sell will my choice of grey windows mitigate against the sale? I know women make the final decision, so what would your partner think? (with apologies to any female STW members, BTW)

Don’t. It will just look like they’re dirty.

Don’t do it. White is the way to go. Least offensive.

Photo of house would help I have seen gray look good but I’m fairly sure it was paint of metal not plastic.

Need a picture of the house to know what it would look like.

To add a bit of balance, ‘some’ houses can look good with grey windows. But they can also look like they’ve been primed and haven’t had a top coat.
If you were painting wooden windows then go for it (you can always pait again), but UPVC is there for the long term and in 15 years those grey windows ‘may’ look naff.

It’ll devalue it a bit. Depends how long you plan to stay.

I quite fancied grey initially but baulked at the price.
Also worried about fade and matching replacements etc.

She wants white.

We’re having white.

We looked into having the grey windows after seeing a number of houses with them fitted. Taste is a personal thing, but I thought they looked far better, more understated, more in keeping with older houses than the white that we had to buy because of cost.

In short; I like them.

Would you buy a house with grey uPVC windows?

Read the above as,

Would you buy a house with gay uPVC windows?

Be something for the neighbours to talk about

I would certainly buy a house with grey upvc over woodgrain taste free windows.

I just put a grey one in a garden building and quite like it, cost fair bit more than white though, about 50% I think.

To be fair they are foil wrapped so may weather better than white upvc which tends to be well past its best in 15 years but only time will tell.

Sounds like the property might suit a coloured window but post a photo if you want misguided opinions galore.

You can either get foil wrapped or painted upvc, with the painted you can have any RAL colour so the hard part is choosing. Painted was twice the price of wrapped though.

Nobody can tell you if it will devalue it or not without seeing what colour the stone is, and what style the house is.

With some colours/styles grey will look horrific.

With some colours/styles white will look horrific.

Thanks for all the comments so far; much appreciated, thanks. I am loath to post a picture of my house for obvious security reasons, but appreciate the request.

I am loath to post a picture of my house for obvious security reasons

It’s alright, people can actually see your house from the street anyway.

I can’t think of any woman I know who wouldn’t veto a house with grey plastic Windows

I can’t think of any woman I know who wouldn’t veto a house with grey plastic Windows

Thanks, richc, that’s what I was worried about, it’s always the women who have the final say 🙂

There’s a few new builds round our way with a nice deep olive green on the windows looks great lots of character and pretty subtle

The architect I’m using for the extension was all in favour of grey window frames – well he would, wouldn’t he?

However, I have to tell you all that he was preaching to the choir here, as both my partner and me both have design/art backgrounds and love the idea of grey windows, but know we’ll have to sell the place one day, hence my OP.

I am loath to post a picture of my house for obvious security reasons

😐
Huh?? Is someone going to steal it?

Huh?? Is someone going to steal it

No, but it’s a recognisable property locally, and I wish to preserve my forum anonymity.

the grey metal bifold doors look great. Do they look like that?

Another option is green which I have seen done recently and the house looks fantastic. Lots of real oak as well but the windows really do work with it.

Have you looked at the cost of grey raluminium frames? They may not be just as expensive as you think…
By far a better product.

I think they look great on the right house, and I should know I’m proper cool.

Seriously though just Google grey windows and have a look, they look fantastic on the right house.

Wouldn’t clear windows let more light in ?

If the house was something like this,

Then yes go for it,

But this on the other hand doesnt look quite right

I like them on the cottage, but I know my wife wouldn’t.

What 10′ said ^. But then they look more green than grey to me – there’s many shades of grey my wife informs me 🙂

I think the ones in that lower picture look quite good. There’s a chance that they’re a bit ‘on-trend’ though, so would look dreadful in 10 years when they are so no longer (see also stone cladding, crazy paving etc etc)

+1 for aluminum, it enables slimmer profiles and is an infinitely better quality product all round.

Aluminium = kerching normally

I do some work for a big uPVC manufacturer. The coloured foil uPVC is very much the thing at the moment. So much so that they can’t make the stuff fast enough. I’m actually doing some advertising for it this very morning. Its being specced for a lot of new builds. They’re shifting millions of quids worth of it a month, and its running at 30% of their total sales.

I don’t know how that information effects your decision, but if you’ve got it on your house, you won’t be on your own. Personally, I really like it. Looks miles better than white or woodgrain IMHO

Oh… and decent aluminium windows cost an absolute fortune!

White frames look dirty within months and make the windows appear to far forwards in the façade. I’ve never specified any brilliant white frames on anything I’ve ever done. Good colours IMHO include Invisible Green, Broken White, Battleship Grey, and Duck Egg Blue.
Anything, but anything than brilliant white.

Grey has got to be better than that awful $h1t-brown plastic wood effect!! Am I the only female to fancy grey windows?

unovolo – Member
But this on the other hand doesnt look quite right

Then again, imagine it with white!! Ghastly!

I think they look fine there and it certainly wouldn’t put me off buying the house.

…..and I wish to preserve my forum anonymity.

Bit off topic ….

….. But, why ?

If someone had fitted white UPVC windows to that stone cottage they would be the first things in the skip if I bought it. The grey/green looks much better.

Also think they would look better on the modern house above.

unovolo – Sorry, but I prefer the second. First image looks like they’ve been pinched from an office development.

But I admit that I have no class….

I’ve seen Cream uvpc windows recently which looked good, just to throw an other option in the pot.

Grey has got to be better than that awful $h1t-brown plastic wood effect!! Am I the only female to fancy grey windows?

Thanks, Lady G, your description of my current wood grain effect windows is spot on, and my GF is ahead of me in advocating grey ones. Having said that, I’m the one who lies awake worrying about selling the house in the future if we go for grey, hence my OP.

Don’t grey windows make it a bit dull inside?