New windows and doors

[Dylan123]

Sorry not really a DIY post but my house is freezing. I have old type aluminium double glazing which is blown, cold, sounds like people in the road can be heard so it needs replacing.

The DIY guy next door said you can just replace the windows DIY and use the old frames. I don’t have the confidence doing this so looking at trade.

I had one guy from safestyle turn up and I had to throw him out the house almost literally. I’m a sales exec and I basically told him for his best price or no deal. He did the whole speil (manager gives special discount BS) and I just said no deal. Might work for old ladies, but not with me.

he quoted me £5,000 best price for one bay window and a front door. This seems excessive. Pricing the job from the internet says I could get:

front door
2 bays
French door
Back door
2 casements

In basic, reasonable energy efficiency UPVC for about £5,500 including fitting.

does this seem too cheap? My dad had his house done for £7k 15 years ago with no bays, but it has a lot of glass. Town house.

So, any tips on getting decent prices. Some of the figures I see banded about are ridiculous. The units aren’t that expensive, it’s not that skilled labour wise and it doesn’t take weeks. I’m unsure as to why such silly prices are out there but it seems a fairly easy job.

what if I bought the frames and just paid a day rate to local guys?

can anyone help me get good value and not get fleeced. The industry seems to work on fleecing as a default.

is £5-6k for 2 bays, front door, back door, French door (2M) and 2 casements too optiomistic?

just FYI they are angled box bays. Not the curved type.

thanks

 

[ronniecabers]

Working in the industry I am not happy with the phrase ' the industry seems to work on fleecing as a default' ! I totally agree that the big companies ( Safestyle, Anglian , Everest 2020 ( the original Everest company went bust last year as a warning so don't let them tell you any different if you approach them) are very good at making things look like ' deals' when none of the offers truly exist, best I've ever heard is Safetsyle and a Black Friday discount of 25%! As a small independant company I would never be able to offer a 25% discount , as its not how we price, local small/medium( even large local ) companies usually give you the best price they can , they rely on their image/reputation.

Now to your enquiry.... I'm going to make some assumptions , and work on average size windows and doors , as you give very limited information( prices are very size dependant, as is access, style of property, style of window and colour ) . Assuming everything is White , and you have half glazed front and back doors, and just clear glass ( no internal bars or external bars ) , then I would say you are not that far short , I would guesttimate at about £6500-£7500 for what you require, fitted ( in an A rated Upvc Frame ). Yes, you could buy them cheaper online, or though a local builders merchant ( even your local Window company ) , then you have to get them fitted. One thing that is a very common theme is ANY window fitted badly is worse than even a cheap window fitted well. If you go down the line of buying them yourself , you will be expected to supply all sizes and styles and the supplying company usually will not be held responsible if you make a mistake , or ignore/miss major building regulation issues ( use of Tough Glass, Trickle vent requirements , Fire egress requirements). If you use a reputable fitting company to supply and fit, then they are responsible for all measurements and building reg requirements, and providing they are registered with either Fensa or Certass , will be required , as part of the relevant scheme to provide an Insurance Backed Guarantee along with their own guarantee.

One thing to bear in mind is since the first Lockdown last March , the industry has seen price increases, and I can guarantee more are on the way

 

[Dylan123]

Working in the industry I am not happy with the phrase ' the industry seems to work on fleecing as a default' ! I totally agree that the big companies ( Safestyle, Anglian , Everest 2020 ( the original Everest company went bust last year as a warning so don't let them tell you any different if you approach them) are very good at making things look like ' deals' when none of the offers truly exist, best I've ever heard is Safetsyle and a Black Friday discount of 25%! As a small independant company I would never be able to offer a 25% discount , as its not how we price, local small/medium( even large local ) companies usually give you the best price they can , they rely on their image/reputation.

Now to your enquiry.... I'm going to make some assumptions , and work on average size windows and doors , as you give very limited information( prices are very size dependant, as is access, style of property, style of window and colour ) . Assuming everything is White , and you have half glazed front and back doors, and just clear glass ( no internal bars or external bars ) , then I would say you are not that far short , I would guesttimate at about £6500-£7500 for what you require, fitted ( in an A rated Upvc Frame ). Yes, you could buy them cheaper online, or though a local builders merchant ( even your local Window company ) , then you have to get them fitted. One thing that is a very common theme is ANY window fitted badly is worse than even a cheap window fitted well. If you go down the line of buying them yourself , you will be expected to supply all sizes and styles and the supplying company usually will not be held responsible if you make a mistake , or ignore/miss major building regulation issues ( use of Tough Glass, Trickle vent requirements , Fire egress requirements). If you use a reputable fitting company to supply and fit, then they are responsible for all measurements and building reg requirements, and providing they are registered with either Fensa or Certass , will be required , as part of the relevant scheme to provide an Insurance Backed Guarantee along with their own guarantee.

One thing to bear in mind is since the first Lockdown last March , the industry has seen price increases, and I can guarantee more are on the way

thanks for your input, and my apologies, I should probably qualify that it’s most certainly the big chains who do this. My friend owns essentially a Mansion and he said the price started at 90k and ended up at £25k.

can I ask something in your experience....we have a green deal scheme where the gov pay 2/3rd of energy efficiency work on your home. There is no doubt that my house needs windows, it has a terrible efficiency rating.

I tried phoning for people to inspect the home to give the grant, virtually nobody was interested and the 2 companies I could actually get hold of just seemed interested in cavity wall installation. When I said windows they took my number and neither phoned back.

Any idea if this scheme can actually be used? It’s not like I just fancy new windows. My windows are deficient and the house never actually gets warm.

Any idea if this scheme can be used or how I get an assessment? A good 50% of the numbers the gov supply don’t work and those that actually pick up aren’t interested if I mention windows

 

[ronniecabers]

Yes the scheme does exist for Double glazing. It is the Green Homes grant scheme. Unfortunately though as you have found many window companies are not signing up to it ( we certainly haven' t ) . There are several reasons for this , some being the amount of extra paperwork ' hoops ' we are being asked to job through for jobs that are daily work for us , and also that these schemes ( Green Deal springs to mind some years back ) , tend to be very slow payers to the actual installers , and unfortunately cashflow is king in any business!
Upgrading for Single Glazing to Double Glazing is the criteria, BUT it has to be what is known as a ' secondary measure' , in that you would need something like Insulation or Heat source pump as a primary measure , and then you can only get a secondary measure voucher for the same value as the primary meausre. The grant was/is £5000 in total ( not for each measure ) , unless you can prove you are on a low income , then it is £10000. The scheme initially finished in march this year but has been extended to MArch 22, but a lot of double glazing firms are already very busy too

If you search Green Homje Grants , it should come up on a web search