Window shopping or rather shopping for windows!


 I now have 4 different quotes for windows. And they all give different information. It is extremely hard to know if you are comparing apples with apples or apples with pears. So I decided it was time for a spreadsheet! I listed the window companies: Kloeber, Eximia, Green Building Store and Vindor and their quotation prices. I compared them across various areas: airtightness, U-value, water tightness, acoustic rating, security rating. I had this information for some but not others so I could decide if I wanted to go back and ask this. Some quotes allowed for 2 different colours internally and externally. Initially we asked for alu-clad but this is about 20% more expensive than timber so we had to revise our expectations. It turned out one of the quotes didn't even include cills and was a similar price so we ruled that one out.

All quotes initially were for supply only. But after consideration, we realised that fitting a first floor window that weighed 650kg wasn't a simple task and required specialist lifting equipment. So we went back and asked for the quotes to include fitting for the large sliding door on the first floor.

Green Building Store is our favourite quote so far. They are extremely knowledgeable and give you lots of support so that you can fit the windows yourself in a way that will get the best performance out of them. They specialise in the energy efficiency of buildings. You can even hire them for a day's training session to make sure you are on the right track in terms of air tightness performance.

The next tough decision is colour! I have never looked at so many windows as I am cycling/driving past as I do at the moment. The favourite at the moment is slate grey (RAL 7015) on the outside and light grey (RAL 7035) on the inside. But it is very difficult to picture how the house will look. Windows and doors really do seem to change the whole personality of a house.

Any thoughts?

Comments

  1. Olive6 November 2020 at 01:47

    The slate grey / light grey colour combination sounds lovely

    ReplyDelete

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