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I am in the process of buying a new house, built in the early 90s. Currently it has wooden windows with quite thin double glazing (id say 12 or 14mm). Many of the sealed units have failed and need replacing.
I assumed that I would have to replace with new UPVC windows however the surveyor did say that as the frames are in good condition an alternative option would be to just to have the sealed units replaced.
Due to the thickness of the rebate in the frame the I think at best the U value will be 2.0 but this does t really concern me. I like the aesthetics of the windows l; the only concern I have is the security as they do not have multipoint locks.
The house has 15 windows; some are quite large so I think UPVC replacement will be £8 to 10k although I haven’t had formal quotes yet.
Anyone else faced a similiar decision and what did you do?
Personally, I'd keep the wood. UPVC windows are very poor acoustically due to the low mass of both the material and the hollow design of the pieces, so you [u]will[/u] get more sound/noise from outdoors if you remove the (greater mass) wood.
We had a similar situation.
Have had about 12 panes (mostly about 100cmx50cm replaced. We kept the wooden frames, and replaced failed double glazed units with new double glazed. Installed by the manufacturer (hazel grove near Manchester). Did a good job for about £550. Noticeably wamer now. Surprisingly not much mess created. Thought about the companies that 'de-mist' but thought the price was good for replacement.
Hope that helps
I’ve had wooden stuff before and it is nice - I would very carefully check the upstairs windows for rot as one of mine was in poor condition with rotten wood even though the downstairs ones were fine - it must have gotten slightly worse weather and maybe the inaccessibility of the window as it was higher up meant they didn’t treat/varnish it as much or at all. It would be very easy for a surveyor to check the downstairs ones and assume the upstairs were the same.
Do locks on windows really achieve that much in the way of security? Surely if someone's going to smash a pane to get to the catch they'll break their way into the house one way or another?
That said, I have found a lot of rot on timber windows of only about 10-15 years old, so my twopenneth is that if your wood is in really good shape after 30 it would seem a shame to throw it out. Its aesthetically so much nicer than UPVC (IMHO). I'd inspect every inch very carefully though.
In insulation terms you could do better with thicker units but how much better than 2.0? Look into it but I suspect not all that much better (say 1.6?) until you get to triple.
(disclaimer: I'm not a professional!)