Home improvement expert Harold Hill of Harold Hill
Of do-it-yourself dexterity and double-glazing skill
Came home to find another gentleman's kippers in the grill
So he sanded off his winkle with his Black and Decker drill. :P

Ill give you 100 brownie points if you can tell me where these lyrics come from ??? (There is a clue in the lyrics)

Originally Posted by johnboyzzz

When they phone ask if they can do you a conservatory at the same time. For some reason they never returned any more calls when they asked for my address,




Flat 14.................

Aahhhh JBX3, my favourite 'sport' with the conservatory sales callers, try to keep them on the phone as long as possible, sounding very interested in their latest 'all bells and whistles' product, until you ask whether they build them on stilts, for a 1st floor flat They don't have a sense of humour!

If you have sash windows and want to replace them with uPVC double glazed windows then youll need to remortgage your house, the windows themselves are bought in by companies such as Anglian & Everest from America (and they are heavy as fcuk!), so they cost more, you are charged extra to have the existing box removed, then another charge to have the new box put in.

New sash windows (lower window) open outwards as well as the usual up and down, this makes cleaning possible.

If your local business has a good reputation and has been going for years then do it, but if they go out of business you are buggered, if one of the biggies goes t1ts up they are all part of an organisation that means your warranty will be taken over by another of the biggies.

At the end of the day its usually down to a couple of things, whether or not you like the sales man and the price. If you take finance, then try to pay off additional installments whenever you can, this brings down the amount of interest you pay and if you take one piece of advice take this one, if you have the money to pay cash for your windows, dont, take the finance with its 10% off the starting price, and follow my advice in my first post in this thread. Itll save you alot of money.

Vertical Sliding Sash

Windows similar to these can be bought in the UK 1000 x 1600 supply only
about £320 each - they only cost a fortune if you buy them from a rip off merchant !!

Originally Posted by bcsack

Vertical Sliding Sash

Windows similar to these can be bought in the UK 1000 x 1600 supply only
about £320 each - they only cost a fortune if you buy them from a rip off merchant !!

Are the windows gas filled with argon? that cuts down on heat loss by convextion and radiation. How much would it cost on top of this to remove the old windows and box and then install the new box and how much is the new box? before the actual window can be installed?

Note, in some areas you may require permission from your local authority to replace your windows, especially with traditional box sash (vertical slider) casements.

You may be required to replace like with like or repair the originals, and that isn't cheap! Just because your next door neighbour has replacement windows, doesn't always mean you can do yours, some councils are getting a bit 'funny' about maintaining the original look of an area.

Originally Posted by Filbert Fox

Originally Posted by bcsack

Vertical Sliding Sash

Windows similar to these can be bought in the UK 1000 x 1600 supply only
about £320 each - they only cost a fortune if you buy them from a rip off merchant !!

Are the windows gas filled with argon? that cuts down on heat loss by convextion and radiation. How much would it cost on top of this to remove the old windows and box and then install the new box and how much is the new box? before the actual window can be installed?

If you have original box sash, in a nice house look at repairing, they are very fashionable with buyers.

If you are going to replace look for specialists, it's not an easy job to make it look neat, and easily cocked up by the inexperienced.




Argon gas fuccks off after about 18 months, but it's the 'in' thing at the moment, moving to krypton soon.

Oh my, gas How about some lateral thinking class.......what do the Scandics do? Commonly they go for triple glaze, a sealed unit with three panes of glass and two internal spacer frames. More expensive, yes, and heavier yes, but measurably more efficient and quieter than double glaze. Do you need it? Your decision :D

And, the frame? In many cases, wood Yes good old fashioned decent timber frames. You have to get into a lot of cost and technology to come up with a profile as good as NOT transmitting heat as wood ;)

No.9

ps. If you think your windows are good but the units are naff, you can just replace the units. Thing here is to determine the overall thickness of your old units, so you get a 'click-in click-out job, or, ask the manufacture of your system what the rebate tolerance is and what fittings are still available if you change the SU thickness.

You can get triple glazing here in the UK too, costs extra but doesnt it always when you want to upgrade! and also means you lose more of your window sill, its recommended if you live near a busy road or an airport runway.

Argon gas leaks out within 18 months? where did you get your info from? Link? The leakage is estimated at 1% per year and tests have shown that if an argon-filled window leaks five percent of its gas each year, it will lose only 12 percent of its R-value after 20 years.

What you should do if you are considering double glazing is check the web for a few quotes, then make an appointment with about 5 salesmen at the same time. Conduct an interview of them all sat down and ask what they can do for you. See what price you get then.