Just had new UPVC windows fitted to our new ‘old’ house (1950’s ex council house) Fitted by a local well established firm that we went with on recommendation and after getting several quotes etc

Anyway, happy with the workmanship fit and finish etc however the windows just don’t look right. What I mean is they don’t look balanced. Hard to explain this but bare with me. The opening side of the window looks bigger than the non opening side, which having looked at every othe window anywhere including the other 40 or so houses on our road, seems to be against the norm. Usually the non opening window is bigger to compensate for the extra frame around he opening side, still with me? Spoke to the window company and they said that due to the small size of the window opening the opening window was a small as it is legally aloud to be for fire escape purposes, and that they’ve made the glass of ‘equal’ size.(Obviously don’t want to die in a fire due to being trapped by not being able to get out of a small window but if thats he case my neighbours are foooked!)

window opening is 1000mm x 1000m

Here’s a picture of one of the doubles. Does it look wrong or am I just going barmy?

Looks good, just needs some shutters. If they made the right one smaller to match you’d lose glass area so light and solar heating. I asked Madame to look and asked if anything looked odd – she drew a blank.

hi lambchop window company is right to meet new fensa, certas and local authority regs. You must have a 625mm opening to escape from. I mention this when surveying jobs to clear any confusion. Hope this is of help.

That really does look fine.

Looks fine to me and the same as ones fitted in my 1950s housing association property by a big company to a pretty stringent spec.last year.

The width of the Glass looks pretty equal but it does look like the opening sash is bigger,which it probably is due to new regulations as described by “Peli”.

So the short answer is it looks wrong but it is right.

It will be for the fire escape as said above.

Trickle ventilation?

Usually only one window in a property has to be a fire escape window, the rest should have restrictors fitted to stop people falling out or getng in as far as i remember.

Windows look ok, but perhaps they forgot to tell you about openiong sizes, or you forgot they told you.

1 All habitable rooms first floor and above have to have fire escape now. 2 trickle vents only essential on new builds or extensions. 3 restrictors recommended and again choices usually made clear when surveying takes place.

Think your gutter area could do with a paint at some point, window looks ok, for a plastic one…

Thanks all. Mrs thinks I’m mad, she can’t see anything wrong with the windows (which is the most important thing really!)

No trickle vents fitted as we’ve got air bricks with internal hit and miss covers fitted so there is plenty of air moving around.

Roof line is being replaced next week. New soffits, fascias and guttering. Having all the moss removed off the roof first.

UPVC not my first choice but wooden windows cost £££££!

DOUBLE GLAZING (FIXED OR SECONDARY)
When fitting double-glazing the following advice from Approved Document B (Section 2) of the Building Regulations 2000 should be followed
“Except for kitchens, all habitable rooms in the upper storey(s) of a house served by only one stair should be provided with an openable window (or external door). A window should have an unobstructed openable area that is at least 0.33m2 and at least 450mm high and 450mm wide (the route through the window may be at an angle rather than straight through). The bottom of the openable area should be not more than 1100mm above the floor. The window(s) concerned should be opened from the inside without the need to search for a key.

Building regs. HTH.