We have budgeted to replace existing windows to match those that will go into the new extension. We’re going for triple glazing where we can, more for the heat retention than noise reduction.
Our front living room window is massive. It’s double glazed and the seals have gone in several places. There is damp coming into the side reveals, presumably where the existing expanding foam sealant has failed.
The damp on the inside has been causing a lot of condensation to form on the window every morning. I’ve been hoovering it off with our Karcher window vacuum, filling the container between 1/2 and 3/4 full each time. In terms of ventilation, the existing windows don’t have trickle vents and only have a single large openable window which “tilts and opens” inwards, the sort usually installed in blocks of flats. They’re not at all practical.
The front door looks a bit dated.
At a glance it looks a bit like two doors next to each other. The door latch and lock are pretty good, but the frame is a bit flimsy and the central pillar moves visibly when you shut the door.
The original house had red facias, guttering, downpipes and window sills. We quite liked the red but in replacing everything with black & white we have lost the colour contrast. With this in mind we decided to go for a red door and red surround for the door in order to return a bit of “redness” to the front of the property. I made a unilateral decision to remove the fake shutters from the outside of the front bedroom windows as well.
We received a couple of quotes, deciding to go with the quote provided by the company our builder uses for his extension work. Although more expensive, we could guarantee the window type & structure would be the same throughout.
The fitters came and installed the new windows and door over the course of two days. They were excellent, taking their time to do a proper job. They did their own quality assurance as they went, replacing a scuffed pane and re-fitting the internal beading where it had been cut inaccurately – before I needed to mention it. The place was left clean and tidy after they finished their work.
How does it look?
We’ve gone for flush casement windows, which I think are really nice. As you can see there are now four opening “panes” in each window, which now open outwards as they should. There is a lot more “symmetry” in the new system. The door is now centred between two full height vertical glazed panels. The door opens the other way to the old one. There is reason for this as will be explained at a later date. The seals around the door are so good that it sounds a bit like an air-lock of a spaceship door when opened (at least that’s what I like to think). The new windows have trickle vents allowing much needed ventilation into the bungalow. Lastly the new door is low threshold which will make life easier for going in and out with a wheelchair.
So far, so good, a couple of weeks since the installation, we have had no condensation and the damp in the vertical reveals in the living room has disappeared.
We are very happy with our new door and windows!