Repair, Reinstate or Secondary

[Duddy]

Three large street facing windows.

Some big gaps, and believe it or not a hole in the wall - straight through, for an old bathroom extractor fan - which I've only stuffed some bubble wrap in temporarily. Needless to say noisy up here. It's a new house to us, couple months in.

I wondered tho, having repaired the hole - stone mason coming soon, if it's still noisy:

* Repair windows - some big gaps between upper and lower bars even when closed properly - and draught proofing (thanks Fernicarry for tips)
* thin double glazing (anyone done it and love it, anyone hate the results?) I've heard mixed things and obviously need council approval
* Secondary glazing (ugly, or good when installed correctly? I'd need listed building consent.).

We'll not be doing anything quick, just trying to figure on what we're aiming for.

Thanks

 

[Kearn]

Repair, for sure. Then secondary magnetic glazing. No LBC required. It’s not ugly, almost invisible.

It’s also the cheapest, easiest and most thermally and acoustically efficient option. You do need to eliminate the external draughts in the exiting windows though.

Ideally you want to have the Perspex panel around 100mm off the original aglazing, but less air gap is still good. If you can’t go over the panes due to space/furniture, then Gecko do a push fit inside each pane, but the benefits diminish here.

Your shutters will limit options physically, but also are brilliant at providing the same benefits, albeit lesser.

Replacing is totally wrong, for a serviceable historic window and glass.

Slimline double gazing is extortionate, poor performing, looks terrible with the flat shiny reflective glass and will fail - all double gazing does, the slimline stiff way sooner. Just ask the manufacturers about their guarantee periods…

 

[LadyArowana]

I’m thinking of trying something like Gecko Glazing as we have 6 over 6 sashes

 

[fernicarry]

Gecko do a push fit inside each pane

I'm tempted to give them a try. Although they are pushing the boundaries of what you can charge for a big piece of acrylic... On the other hand I suspect next winter's gas bill is going to be apocalyptic so getting ahead of that could be worth it.

As @Kearn says for almost all solutions you would start by addressing air movement between building, case and sashes. This can be quite inexpensive and a DIY job if you are so inclined. After that options get increasingly expensive with diminishing returns.

That window looks to be in pretty decent condition, at least from the inside. The top sash does seem to be sitting a bit low though. Are the cords ok?

 

[Kearn]

I'm tempted to give them a try. Although they are pushing the boundaries of what you can charge for a big piece of acrylic... On the other hand I suspect next winter's gas bill is going to be apocalyptic so getting ahead of that could be worth it.

As @Kearn says for almost all solutions you would start by addressing air movement between building, case and sashes. This can be quite inexpensive and a DIY job if you are so inclined. After that options get increasingly expensive with diminishing returns.

That window looks to be in pretty decent condition, at least from the inside. The top sash does seem to be sitting a bit low though. Are the cords ok?

There is a copier brand, I forget the name, basically someone who worked at Gecko has spun off and done the same thing for less.

The Gecko are the least good of the Perspex options, only for when a larger panel further away from the existing glass isn’t feasible.

There’s a very small air gap of insulation and the Perspex is also thinner than the big sheets, only 1mm, but still…

 

[fernicarry]

Their website claims 2mm thickness. Their gallery does show one installation with it fitted against the staff beads rather than into the sashes. Not sure how secure it would be there. The appeal of putting it inside the sashes is that they are more likely to be square than the overall opening but I appreciate that the smaller gap makes it less effective. In my case one window needs to be openable on a regular basis for the cat to come and go...

 

[Kearn]

Their website claims 2mm thickness. Their gallery does show one installation with it fitted against the staff beads rather than into the sashes. Not sure how secure it would be there. The appeal of putting it inside the sashes is that they are more likely to be square than the overall opening but I appreciate that the smaller gap makes it less effective. In my case one window needs to be openable on a regular basis for the cat to come and go...

Sorry, meant 1mm less! The bigger magnetic sheets are usually 3 or 4mm.

Unfortunately with sashes, the full sheets become trickier to fit. removing them is easy, but a pain to do and store for a regular opening window.

One thing to note with the Gecko ones, is that they can add enough weight to the sash to need adjustment on the weights.

 

[fernicarry]

One thing to note with the Gecko ones, is that they can add enough weight to the sash to need adjustment on the weights.

Hmmm, yes, good point. That would be annoying.