Double glazing

TheHoggle

Hi,

Recently bought our first home and it is very cold (Ber rating F!). We're looking at getting double glazing installed as our next door neighbour said it made a huge difference.

Don't really know a whole lot about it but we have someone coming out to quote us next week. What questions should I ask them? What do I need to know about double glazing - i.e are there different types?

If anyone could recommend a company (we're in South Dublin ) that would be great you can PM me. We are in a 3 bed semi built in 70s. House is about 850 sq foot. Large window in sitting room and medium sized one in our bedroom. Other bedrooms standard size window. How much would it cost (or did cost if you did it recently? )

Thanks sorry for long post!!

kerryked

It will make a massive difference if it's currently only single pane windows that are in the house

-snip-

Not sure what your budget is, but triple glazed windows are now the norm in a lot of new builds. As far as cost is concerned I have no idea unfortunately, but my advice would be to try a few different companies, looks at the specifications of each type of window you are quoted for and make a decision based upon that.

Metric Tensor

As above it'll make a massive difference to your house:

1. Make sure you replace the frames and all - don't do something like putting new DG units in the old frames.
2. Make sure there are appropriate size "fire openings" in the new windows, particularly in the bedrooms. The supplier should know what that means but probably won't - question him heavily and make sure you get "egress hinges" on these openings.
3. Consider triple-glazed as the cost difference is not high these days - although in your case it would not be very important.
4. Ask the supplier for certification showing the windows u-value. They should be able to supply this in advance. For the age of your house anything is going to be a huge improvement but you should probably be able to get values of less than 1.0 for a reasonable price.
5. How the supplier removes the old windows and fits the new ones is important. They need to do as little damage as possible during removal and seal the new window to the ope very well to avoid drafts and heat loss around the frame.

If you do not have appropriate vents in your rooms now it might be worth considering trickle vents in the frames. They are not the correct solution but better than nothing.

No idea on cost - sorry.

kkelliher

you would need to look at changing the windows in a wider context. If you only have single glazed windows at present then its very likely that the walls, floors and roofs have little or no insulation. Changing the windows should help but its only a part solution. You might want to look at getting advice on how you can best attic the overall package over time.

TheHoggle

kkelliher wrote: »

you would need to look at changing the windows in a wider context. If you only have single glazed windows at present then its very likely that the walls, floors and roofs have little or no insulation. Changing the windows should help but its only a part solution. You might want to look at getting advice on how you can best attic the overall package over time.

We were thinking that but neighbour next door said he didn't get the place insulated just changed the windows and it improved. Plus our attic is insulated which helps.

BryanF

TheHoggle wrote: »

We were thinking that but neighbour next door said he didn't get the place insulated just changed the windows and it improved. Plus our attic is insulated which helps.

your neighbour is clearly the expert. Have you interrogated his lifestyle and heating bills?

Personally I would not bother changing the windows unless wall insulation was adequate and the overlap detail between the two elements considered

hardCopy

BryanF wrote: »

your neighbour is clearly the expert. Have you interrogated his lifestyle and heating bills?

Personally I would not bother changing the windows unless wall insulation was adequate and the overlap detail between the two elements considered

We're currently looking at both external insulation and triple glazing. I assume it's best to get the windows done first so the insulation detailing can be done properly around it?

Calahonda52

hardCopy wrote: »

We're currently looking at both external insulation and triple glazing. I assume it's best to get the windows done first so the insulation detailing can be done properly around it?

No, they should be done together.

If you are going TG and EWI, then consider mounting the TG on the outside of the wall and fit EWI around it. Its the best job, but maybe beyond the skill level of your normal slap and go EWI guy and the usual DG/TG sales man.
Will send you a PM to something I saw earlier

listermint

Calahonda52 wrote: »

No, they should be done together.

If you are going TG and EWI, then consider mounting the TG on the outside of the wall and fit EWI around it. Its the best job, but maybe beyond the skill level of your normal slap and go EWI guy and the usual DG/TG sales man.
Will send you a PM to something I saw earlier

send to me also cheers

Dudda

Agree with above that if you're looking at external wall insulation you should try and do triple glazed windows at the same time and push the windows out so they're inline with the new external insulation. By having them together you've a continuous blanket around your house. If you do the windows now and the external insulation later you'll have deep reveals and cold bridges around the windows where you'll lose heat. It's a larger upfront cost but you can get grants, particularly for the EWI.

I wouldn't bother looking at double glazed and comparing the u-values of different windows is important. Just be careful as some cheeky sales people show you the u-values for the glass but not the whole window. In a triple glazed window the glass has a better u-value than the frame so by showing you the u-value for the glass it will appear a lot better than if they showed you the u-value of the whole window which includes the frame and glass.

Calahonda52

Just to say look for posts here by ID SAS, from about 7, [maybe 10 years ago], he had a work in progress post, with pics. he did the externally hung windows with EWI

jmreire

I know that this thread is quite old, but I will chance posting a question on it anyway, just in case there might be an answer.
My problem is that after getting the floor re-tiled, now the gap between the bottom of the double glazed door is too low to allow a mat to fit under it. The door is made from one of those hard plastic materials, I don't know what it is called, but it's not wood. Would it be possible to cut 1/4" or 3/8" off the bottom section?

Shefwedfan

jmreire wrote: »

I know that this thread is quite old, but I will chance posting a question on it anyway, just in case there might be an answer.
My problem is that after getting the floor re-tiled, now the gap between the bottom of the double glazed door is too low to allow a mat to fit under it. The door is made from one of those hard plastic materials, I don't know what it is called, but it's not wood. Would it be possible to cut 1/4" or 3/8" off the bottom section?

Do not cut the bottom of door


We have similar issue, Ikea have really thin mats which we put at the door. They are about 7 quid, just buy a few of them and replace regular

jmreire

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Do not cut the bottom of door
We have similar issue, Ikea have really thin mats which we put at the door. They are about 7 quid, just buy a few of them and replace regular

Thanks Shefwedfan,
I'll get a few of those. A lot of the floor was dug up, and the tiles near the door should have been dug up too. And as he was a professional tiler he should have copped the difference in height that the new tile would make. Well it's done now, so I have to adapt and live with it..
Thanks again. :):)

Iodine1

Alternatively, cut out a few tiles to let the mat sit down in the floor. Brings the advantage of stopping the mat moving around the floor too.

Shefwedfan

Iodine1 wrote: »

Alternatively, cut out a few tiles to let the mat sit down in the floor. Brings the advantage of stopping the mat moving around the floor too.

YEs but then you are restricted to the exact size of the mat, that was my original plan but then I was concerned if the mat size changed I would just be left with hole in floor