We’ve just remortgaged the house and as part of the process took out extra cash to get the 30 year old knackered double glazing replaced and a hopefully new front door.

Problem is all the online “quotes” ask for details and then the usual we’ll call you to arrange a visit etc… You never get near to any kind of rough price.

Ive got one company coming tomorrow night who are local (ish) but before they arrive I’d like to at least have a rough idea of how much extra they are trying to charge me with them hoping that on the off chance I say yes immediately.

Are the prices directy correlated to size or is that only really when huge or tiny windows are compared to each other, we have about 8 “normal sized” windows and 2 small sort of feature ones (house is a 250 year old stone cottage).

I thought 500 per window fitted seemed like a reasonable figure but that is entirely guesswork, is there an online database with rough costs (it cant vary that much surely, a window is a window anywhere in the UK, labour will vary but not that much unless London, I’m North Fife).

To be honest I could get told 20k tomorrow when it should be 5k and I’d have no idea if I’m being ripped off or not as finding prices seems to be impossible without a visit from every single company. They say they will have a quote “immediately” so they must have a price list somewhere based on size etc.. that they use when they visit.

‘house is a 250 year old stone cottage’

So that might mean standard DG won’t fit easily. Is it listed? Are you happy with standard uPVC or would you be wanting something a bit more in keeping with a 250 yr old cottage? Are any windows low (below a certain height from the ground they have to have toughened glass IIRC).

I think your guesstimate of £500 a window is very low (even for basic uPVC) but of course it all depends on how big/small the apertures are.

Just get several quotes and ignore the ‘I’ll phone my manager/extra capacity in factory right now’ type nonsense.  You will soon get an idea what the correct price is.  In the end my cheapest quote was from a local carpenter who just made them for me.  This was a while back now though so the prices won’t really help you but just get a few quotes an it will sort itself in no time.

Just sit back in amusement as they go through the rigmarole of “oooh, that’ll be £54,000 please, but let me call my boss up and see if we can arrange a special deal just for you”

*2 minutes later after a serious discussion pleading with the office*

“ok, we can give you a 97% discount, but only if you agree to it NOW.”

…Sorry, we did windows a good few years ago now so even if I could remember prices they’d be out of date. We did speak to 3 companies IIRC and they all did this to varying degrees of transparent sleaze.

Sorry not got prices, but a couple of thoughts, make sure the firm will certify (FENSA) the windows on completion, useful when you sell/re-value the house.

Also the window quality could be the best but if they are not fitted well, i.e. the seal between the window frame and the opening, i.e. house wall reveals, you still get draughts, so check how they will do this.

As mentioned they very unlikely to be standard sizes, so made to measure, upvc thicker so less light but cheaper, aluminium thinner but more money, timber more about details and material, hardwood, drip lines, etc.

Other thoughts, cills inside and outside, any impact do these need replacing, who makes good on inside or just cover strips, again watch out for air gaps.

Finally how many openings, do they have locks, air vents on frame or as part of the locks. Best get a few folk in and see what the current market says?

Get at least two quotes from local companies with a decent reputation.

Prices have changed so much in recent years I don’t think that I could make a guess but also my dad is a retired window fitter so he put ours in at cost of parts. Sliding sash double glazed units were about £250 each and some very narrow 10 inch wide non opening windows were about £50 each maybe three years ago for us. No markup and no fitting costs. Similar style of property took him about 5-6 hours a piece doing a very tidy job

Three triples with 2 full size openers, two doubles with 1 full size opener, 4 singles with one small top opener (two frosted) and a composite high security front door was £7800 last year from a local firm.

Edit; somehow forget the  patio door; went from a set of twin small doors to a single door as wide as possible and a fixed thin pane to fill the gap.

I had to threaten the Safestyle rep with violence to get him out of my house a couple of years ago.

Don’t buy anything from the likes of Anglican/Safestyle/Everest etc.

Absolute charlatans.

Find a good local builder or joiner and get some prices from them. The standard of fitting will probably be higher.

Be aware, it’s very hard to get the barstewards out of your house once they are in.

A few years ago, a mate got some salesman trying to tell him that the windows in his 2 bedroom terraced house would cost roughly half the value of the house!

I’ve been swapping mine as I go through the house renovation using an online company called modern upvc windows.com
You could whip round with a tape measure and use their site to get a rough unit price and then just labour on top

Thanks for all the replies folks. The house is very old and luckily isnt listed or in a conservation area. I’d just be going UPVC for ease of maintenance, lower (yeah right) cost.

Just so turns out the brother in law has said the same company did their windows last year , 3 large windows (think living room size) and a front door was 6k which to me seems steep.

Company is a “family run” business based in Fife, with only the one locatiuon so not your everest type company who I was going to avoid like the plague anyway.

Edit, I’ve just had a call, they can come tonight as they have a guy in the area with a cancelled apointment.

Edit, edit, I asked the BIL who was the cheapest, he says the ones coming tonight, the others were all 8 to 10k….I’m gonna have to marvel at the size of their windows next time I’m round.

I hate upvc and consider that they devalue an old property buy the amount it would cost to replace.

However my flat is in a listed building in a conservation area so wooden sash and case only.  Over £ 2000 for one window with slimline dg

13k

House is two storey plus third floor into roof with end gable wjndow and two dormer windows

Front and rear composite door.

13 windows of which

11 of these windows relatively small 8 open hinged both sides and 3 open on one side

Then two larger windows with two openings

French doors with side windows

18 months ago

Two local firms quoted similar price although one quoted higher for scaffolding

3.5 years ago we were quoted £480 per window fitted. Middle sizes, 1st floor bedrooms, one opener per window, kids restrictors on them. Also one middle size frosted with vent, no restrictor was £580.

No idea if that’s helpful 😁

On, and composite door was about £1500 a few years back.

NW England fwiw

14 windows, 2 doors. Quite large windows – approx 2m x 1m ish each. South Fife. light oak colour uPVC.

£14k

Markspark, thanks for that, Ive just mesured all the windows and will get a few options listed with prices.

TJ, I can get the sash windows as UPVC and there is no way I could afford 1-2k a window, i’d cry and never be able to buy another bike, priorities!!

As others have said, unless you’re getting high spec windows and a specialist joiner* to fit them then the windows will be smaller than the space they fit into by some way. Make sure they can explain exactly how they’re going to seal the resultant gap or tell them to bugger off.

We currently have cardboard and gaffa tape as a temporary seal while we wait for our new windows to arrive.

*expensive.

I had mine done Friday

2 *2m x 1m 2 section tilt and turns in dormers

1 * 2mx1. 8m with small openers at the top

1* 1.6 x 1.8m half opener top swing and a 1mx0. 4m top swing.

6400 fitted. A days work for 3 lads.

I was ok with that. Vika profiles.

I had 4 quotes varying from 4000-12000

The 4000quid couldn’t tell me anything about their window profile. The 12 grand lot did my extension windows on a supply only -their supply prices were fair. Their labour prices less so.

Neverownenoughbikes

Fortunately for you mine is a minority view.  Upvc sash are horrible

Upvc sash are horrible

Deteriorating wood is equally as bad.

I had a chap cold-call me, from a Bristol company called Window Hub. The house was built late 30’s as a council house, and it had the original single-glazed windows replaced in 1994. There were 11 windows needed replacing, one a tiny little window in the kitchen that was originally in a larder that was removed ages ago. He brought in a sample window, and the frame was made by Deceuninck, who I knew well as a company I worked for did their printing, so that sold them for me. I had a quote for just under £10k for the whole lot, to be fitted this month, and they fitted them just over a month ago! All fitted in two days.

Countzero and everyone else, thanks for the recent prices.

Its 13 windows in total (well, the bay window I’m counting as 3 individual windows). The wood was knackered when we bought the place 4 years ago so we put our effort into extending into the loft space and a small extension. I can see where you are coming from TJ but these will look much better as the current windows are scabby flaking wood with a horrible sort of thick blu tack style black sealant which makes me think they are much older than i think. A couple of the panes are blown and there is a massive crack in the living room window after a childs friend launched a stone by accident when kicking a football, he was only wee, couldnt be too annoyed at him.

There are 6 widows measuring 820 by 1420, 2 measuring 650 by 1420 and then the bay window and 2 smaller ones . That website for costing windows shows sash as about 6k in total for widows alone, if you go for flat tilt and turn its anything between 2k and 4k for the windows. So add on their cut, labour, finishing materials etc and I can see it being similar to CountZero’s price.

I could get a nice Ti bike for that.

Previous owner was a very old pensioner and had done very little to the house so its been rewired, kitchen done etc and this was the last big job unless we have money left for solar panels (south facing roof with zero obstructions)

Company coming tonight has 5 out of 5 from 905 reviews on trustpilot which is something I suppose. No they ripped me off reviews and left my house like a construction site comments

A friend was recently quoted over £25000 for the windows and 1 door in their 3 bed semi (7 windows), not sure who that was from but they didn’t get the job

pothead, yeah, i think my laughing at a quote like that should get the point across

Composite front door, all “wood”, fitted £1300

Residence R9-type profile might be more in keeping for windows, but less within budget. Comes in various finishes including colour outside and white inside.

It’ll pay you to prep more before you commit to lots of quotes. Pick the brains of the first through the door and then have a think about glass types, coatings, etc etc before you get more quotes

If you want a pain in the wallet scenario my sister owns a townhouse in a conservation area in Amsterdam.   Over £ 100000 to replace all the windows

Having extensively researched this (hours watching grand designs) I’d say you’d be lucky to come in under £300k

You have family and mates to have a whip round, yes?

And you’ll need to get pregnant…

Our neighbours recommended the Window Advice Centre. The WAC come out to the house and survey to get sizes and establish what’s needed, then put it out to quote. You then pick the installer from a list of quotes, get windows fitted and the WAC then come back and check they are fitted correctly. We used them and were glad we did. The installers managed to fit two windows inside out. (Installers were a big company in Perth).

tomhoward, yes, I’ll try and do everything the complete opposite of a grand designs episode.

The installers managed to fit two windows inside out

How.

Ive fitted 3 windows in my life. I can’t guarantee it but I’m fairly certain I have got them the right way round.

They fitted the frames ok but fitted the glass panels for two of the windows with the UV coating on the inside.

I’ve seen white pvc and white painted hardwood windows and couldn’t tell them apart from the look, TJagain on an earlier thread you were saying the frugal lifestyle no new furniture, car or 800tpi Egyptian cotton bed sheet but would pay that much for a wooden window that will need painted every 5 years with you hanging from a rope looking over to Fife

Pvc in any RAL colour if your trendy

Most annoying thing I find with DG is if you get condensation between the glass

Redmex.  Wood is sustainable plastic isnot and properly maintained wood lasts longer 😜

Just doing this not far from you (Perth).

12 windows, 2 doors plus one big (3. 8m) window being cut out to turn it to a patio door. £20k

We got 3 quotes and 2 were very close, another was plus £5k. We went with our favoured supplier who was also just the cheapest. All very good so far. (Balhousie in Perth, great reviews and employee owned)

So, guys just left.  More than I expected but then I didn’t have a clue when I started.

13 windows, half are casement ones and half are tilt and turn (they cost more) for egress and ventilation in summer.

70mm deep composite front door with quite a large glass area for lighting up the hallway during the day.

All finishings done,hardwood internal ledge things, 10 year guarantee etc..

£14,500. Initially seemed steep but then I thought to myself it is 13 windows and a door. The door was also a bit more expensive as we have a larger than normal front door (handy for when I start eating more and cycling less as I get older).

Looking at the front doors that’s the bit I’m most excited about (what has happened to me) because the one we have is horrible.