Owning your own home

These days unless you live in walking distance of my workshop it would be very unlikely I would ever get round to you. :)

If you have PVC my work wouldn't be any use. There are some good PVC companies and some good joiners for windows. Most areas have a larger size firm who can make sets and fit them.

We’re having all our sashes refurbed early next year (local guy has a 6 month waiting list!) and a rough rule of thumb is £350 per window.
And that’s unpainted…

complete the look with plantation shutters

You Imperialist racist you. I've stopped wearing boxer shorts as I'm opposed to violence.

That wouldn't even cover the material costs on most of the refurbs I do!

Just had ours done. Now I need to paint em.

Complaint letters addressed to the CEO always get resolved quickly

I've done this many times -. Professional letter to the CEO gets you a relatively high up director contacting you personally with their contact details and almost immediate resolution / explanation / compensation.

I'm under no illusion that the CEO actually read it or anything, but it's definitely worth the cost of a special delivery letter.

Price list from our window refurb below - costs stack (£4k for 5 sashes). We had another quote that was more all-in per sash and a bit less overall but they didn’t want to paint and I thought I could quite easily ruin the fitting and weather proofing by painting them myself, let alone the time required.
He’s been on it for the past month, not sure if he’s doing other work at the same time but I doubt it.

Draught Proofing the sash windows:
Draught proofing the window involves the removal of both top and bottom sash window and the removal of the exiting Staff & Part beading around the window and replacing it with Staff & Part beading that has a manmade fibre brush and flange that is routed into the rear of the beading. The fibre brush & flange draft proofing strip is not visible when in place and also has the benefit of stopping the sashes from rattling and allowing the sash to glide smoothly when opened or closed.
The estimated cost of draft proofing is £175 per window.

Refurbishment and decoration of sash windows:
(To be done in conjunction with Draft Proofing)
Refurbishing the sash widow will return the window to its former glory, we aim to have the window looking as best as we can to the way it looked when it was first installed.

• The sliding sashes are removed from the frames, any small sections of rot is removed and the area treated to prevent future decay.
• The timber is filled where necessary with wood filler, and the entire window is sanded to a smooth finish.
• The loose old glazing putty is removed and the windows are re-puttied with quality Linseed oil putty.
• The box frames and sills are filled where necessary with wood filler, and the entire frame and sill is sanded to a smooth finish.
• The pulley wheels are serviced and lubricated
• We remove any old frame sealant and re-seal the frame to the building using quality frame sealant to prevent any future water ingress. This is vital to get this right, particularly on an exposed elevation where the wind forces rain into any crack or hole.
• The sliding sashes are rehung and checked for correct balance.
• The sliding sashes and exterior boxframe is then Primed, Undercoated and painted with a minimum of 2 coats of Gloss. We use quality Dulux Trade Weathersheild Gloss.
Estimated cost per window: Upstairs windows £375 / Larger Ground floor windows £400

The following is the repair works required to the windows as follows:

Ground floor bay window:

Replace glass with air vent:
Estimated cost per pane: £110

Right window of bay:
Rotten lower sections of box frame:
• Both sides of lower box frames are rotten and require cutting out and replacing as follows:
• Cut out the lower section of the box frame.
• Treat the entire area to prevent future spread of rot.
• Construct new lower section of box frame to both sides and fit to existing frame.
• Paint the newly installed timber with undercoat and two coats of Dulux Gloss.
Estimated cost: £180

Replace rotten exterior sill:
• The sill is rotten and requires replacing as follows:
• Cut out entire sill and sub sill.
• Treat the entire area to prevent future rot.
• Supply wood materials and rebuild sub sill and install new sill.
• Paint the newly installed timber with undercoat and two coats of Dulux Gloss.
Estimated cost £200

First Floor.
Front bedroom
One of the lower sashes is very rotten and the other has several sections of rot that have been filled over and appear hard on the surface, however will continue to rot.
I would allow for replacing both.
New lower sash:
• Supply wood materials and construct new sash to an exact match to the existing sash.
• The window is painted with undercoat and two coats of Dulux Gloss.
Estimated cost per window: £275

Both these windows will require toughened safety glass to meet current building regulations.
Estimated cost per window: £130

Re-cording a sliding sash.
Estimated cost: £55 per sash.

I'm under no illusion that the CEO actually read it or anything, but it's definitely worth the cost of a special delivery letter.

Years ago Mrs Underuser booked a family do at a posh hotel in Devon for us, her parents, sister and her husband (Bovey Castle). The hotel was pretty disastrous with a lot of teething issues. Fortunately, through work, Mrs U had the email address of the hotel owner Peter deSavarey (sp?) that finely crafted email got results , basically another weekend there for us.

Have you spoken with conservation area and looked at the details of the conservation area? If it already has pvc then there’s a reasonable argument you should be able to replace with same material/sash style (if you wanted)

Paging user @cozey

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food £200
data £150
candles £50
first house £700,000
utility £150

someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying

That's like the joke about the food being terrible and the portions too small.

They’re actually looking at flats…

£700k and it won't even come with potable water

Bristol sash window company gave me an estimate around £1,400 per new hardwood double glazed sash window if that is any help.

I am having a very slow time purchasing a flat that needs 5x sash windows looking at and possibly replacing. Might get double glazed retro fitted if its cold this winter. At the back the two windows have been replaced with UPVC sash (probably without conservation area permission) but you can't see them so hopefully not that deep

Thank you

Spoke to the EA on Friday and despite my offer being accepted on the 20th July, the sellers haven't served notice on the people living there yet. I was hoping to be in this month :(

Have agreed a 5k discount on the back of my survey but maybe should have waited because they are being so slow, and was still waiting for enquires back (as I am now on most of them). I'm paying way than my mortgage will be in rent currently and it'll the depths of winter by the time I can exchange.

On the sash window chat, the flat has original single glazed sash windows which are in a sorry state. Weighing up light refurb vs more involved refurb vs replacement and what will be the best use of money/get the best return when I next move in 5+ years. Good to hear what people have done. I like the idea of keeping the original ones.

What’s the notice period at the moment?

I’d encourage them to get on with it and prove they’ve served it

2 months from 1st October, so might have played into my hands because it was longer before that.

Could be that the tenancy is naturally drawing to an end soon (still optimistic)

My solicitor asked to see it at the start of August when draft contracts were exchanged, and has been chasing it up ever since with the other enquiries

Yeah there’s the statutory period and whatever is actually in the agreement between tenant and landlord. The longest wins.

Keep an eye on that - it’s not good that they haven’t confirmed what it actually is. I’d keep nagging and nagging until they provide it and proof they’ve served it.

Might get double glazed retro fitted if its cold this winter.

Bear in mind that refurbished single glazed sash windows will still be much warmer than knackered sash windows.

Did you find anything on this in the end?

There are some rods available in 10mm diameter but I couldn't find anything as nice as those.

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The end of stamp duty relief doesn't seem to have cooled the market at all.

Presumably no-one bidding on anything for the last 2 months has been pricing that in anyway, though.

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