Double Glazing Installation - General Advice

[Doug99]

I am about to make a significant investment to replace all my windows with double glazing. I am very keen to use local firms rather than national companies and my local yellow pages are full of potential providers with lots of registration logos such as FENSA, VEKA, FSB. As well as seeking word of mouth recommendations from neighbours, family etc are there any particular issues I need to take into consideration? Some adverts are stating 'no deposit' which implies I only pay on satisfactory completion of the work; is that a safe assumption?

Any other tips welcomed.

Merry Xmas to all.

Doug

 

[advancemaintenance1]

dg firms are two a penny iv seen fensa reg installers do worse than my youngest son could do your best bet is to get 5 quotes from firms in the yellow pages ask if you can see some of their previous work after they have quoted and go from there as for the no deposit thing i myself have a cut off of a grand when doing a job so i front the first 1000 and customer puts the rest of the material cost down as a deposit iv never had a complaint and my customers always ask me to do more work so dont neccesarily be put off by a tradeseman who asks for a deposit just ensure you have a landline contact number and a receipt hope this helps mate

 

[Richard C]

Good advice above. Small local firms generally rely heavily on recommendation so have a reputation to protect, they will be cheaper in almost all cases than the large nationals & in many cases will use the same profiles; virtually no one makes their own units any more. Installation quality is all important & you need to look at previous work if you can. It’s also very important to ensure you compare like with like with quotes so try & gain an understanding of the different quality of various profiles, hinges & locking mechanisms on offer; I had “Rehau” units installed 4 years ago which are very good quality & I’ve had absolutely no problems with them apart from stupidly shattering a glazing unit in some French doors (never use a strimmer anywhere near toughened glass ) “Swift” is another product which compared very favourably; avoid the cheapo budget stuff, it won’t last. Always hang onto as much of your cash as possible until the job is finished to your satisfaction, it’s a great incentive. I wouldn’t pay any more than 20% up front, less if you can get away with it!

 

[advancemaintenance1]

rehau my personal favourite if you send measurements and spec ill give you a price on what materials should be just to give you an idea

 

[big-all]

a word off warning a local phone number means nothing you can be based anywhere in the country and buy a local number for any area
as in the company that put my windows in where based on the south coast 40 miles away but had 3 local numbers to make them look local to me
you need a local buisness address and ask if you can visit the factory to check how local it is

 

[Doug99]

Thank you everyone for the useful advise. Time is on my side so am in no rush to take the plunge. I've identified 3 local firms who seem to herald similar 'profiles', locking mechanisms, tilt/turns etc.

Will conduct some more research and visit their show rooms before asking for quotes.

Thanks again

Doug