Double glazing

[marmaduke]

What do people think gives them the right to rip out their windows and replace them with ugly, incongruous, cheap-looking plastic ones?

[andy hughes]

That'll be the bit about 'An Englishman's home is his castle ...' oh, and the 'ownership' concept helps as well.

[Hgrove]

It is unfortunate, but I think some people cannot afford the best quality product, or perhaps they are simply careful with their money and sacrifice aesthetics when they see a bargain;  also, some people believe, rightly or wrongly I don't know, that original-looking timber windows let in draughts.  At least, once I mentioned to my neighbour (in her 70s) that if I ever have the money to replace my ancient double glazing I'd like to get The Original Sash Window Company (or some such name, they were working across the road), and she subjected me to a long lecture about all the loss of heat and the perils of draughts.

[smudge]

I have to agree with marmaduke.

We have always liked the authentic look, but last year, had a couple of quotes to fit UPVC double glazed window frames in our house.

Although we were happy with the price, we are still wondering whether to go ahead, or to get the decorator back again, as we still like our wooden painted frames.

Something else I've noticed - most of the people who have 'plastic' window frames fitted for convenience, etc., don't bother to wash them or the sills down & they look even worse that some freshly painted ones.

[smudge]

Anyway, we have two open chimneys, so the draught issue would be a bit pointless in our case!

[landie]

I think the point of the question was;

What gives people the right?

rather than the relative quality of differing alternative closures.

I tend to agree with andy hughes.

[smudge]

Yes, so do I landie - but like Hgrove, we've just added a litlle more!

[smudge]

*little

(Can't wait to pick up my new spec's)!

[helenarcher]

some people do it for cheapness, some in a mistaken belief that it will enhance their property and some that it is ecologically sound (energy saving). we have always bought houses with wooden windows and repaired them ourselves (nothing cheaper than that!). any estate agent will tell you that they knock thousands off house prices. as for the ecological argument - they take massive amounts of energy to produce and have a short lifespan - at the end of which they go into landfill along with all our other plastic rubbish.

[landie]

Yes but you're debating the wrong issue. I believe the initial thread was, 'What gives people the rght?'. Sorry to seem pedantic.

[marmaduke]

I think you're being a little pedantic; my 'What gives them the right' was really just a shrouded rant with an opportunity for people to post what they think of uPVC windows. They're foul, and it's always cheaper to repair windows. Why not concrete the front of your house and save energy, if the appearance of the house matters so little. And the glass just looks awful! - the reflections are horribly distorted so they look like sheets of wobbly plastic defacing the houses that hark back to a far prettier design.

[landie]

I humbly apologise, I misread the basis of your question.

[Hgrove]

I suppose you could rephrase my answer to read:  rightly or wrongly people feel they have the right to save money/avoid draughts (etc.etc.).

[Oneeyedvic]

Well I like the plastic look - I know it saves me money, and I would not have contemplated buying this house if it didn't have double glazing in it (having moved into my last house and forking out a few thousand pounds on gettting it done).

And helenarcher, I assume you cycle everywhere and alwasy go on holiday in this country - surely someone as ecologically sound as you wouldn't dream of having a car or going on foreign holidays using aircraft!

And marmaduke, I personally think that a lot of Art costing millions looks ugly and naff - each to their own I guess!

[marmaduke]

Yes but you can successfully avoid all modern art until you die - you just don't walk into a modern art gallery. Double glazing is inflicted on you the minute you walk out of your house.

[smudge]

marmaduke - as I mentioned before, the thought of replacing our wooden frames with plastic ones has never really appealed to us either, I think we just got swept up with all the hype.

It's back to the 'drawing board' for us.

[Oneeyedvic]

okay, what about if I didn't like the 'look' of cars - should all cars be banned. As far as I can work out, over 50% of the population have uPVC frames - so really, you would be in the minority.

Best suggestion I can ,make then is to either move into the country or conservation area or just stop looking at other peoples' houses!

Or learn to appreciate beauty - it is after all in the eye of the beholder

[Dom Tuk]

so there is definetly a market for UPvc double glazing in distressed antique paint-peeling look. Plastics can be made to look like anything these days

[woofgang]

if you start off with sash windows thats fine. we started off with cheap nasty unsecure windows and french doors and have replaced them with double glazing framed in white with a hardwood surround. We're now warm, quiet and secure and don't EVER have to paint window frames again. Our solution was quite expensive but we like it. Marmaduke are you saying that people who can't afford a high quality product should shiver??

[woofgang]

ps what do people think gives them the right to criticise what they do with their own property and their own money??

[smudge]

woofgang