Building a House - Windows

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polo1

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Hi

Can someone help me. I am in the process of building a house in the Dublin area and am looking to get quotes on Windows. Am interested in anything except PVC. Can you someone give me a list of suppliers who I can get quotes from please as I was quoted over 30K for windows already.. Thanks.
 
Polo, it's always good to have someone here who is determined to not put in PVC windows.

How many windows for the 30k? I recently installed 23 windows, a pair of french doors and a front and back door for the admittedly not to be sniffed at sum of 23k but then again it was a lot of windows. My rule of thumb for wooden windows/doors is 1k per opening. If you're going traditional Marvin Architectural have some nice products. There's also a good traditional sash window company in Kells somewhere but I don't have the name. Rationel Windows in Dublin make a very high spec modern product featuring scandinavian pine (clad in aluminium if you prefer) for a high but not unreasonable price.

Timber is perhaps more expensive in the long term and requires more maintenance but as we both probaby know it's a better looking and longer lasting product.
 
Hi polo1,

I bought a set of double doors for the front of my house from a company called Dernawilt Joinery based in Co. Fermanagh. While down in their workshop I noticed they were making up some sliding sash windows (complete with rope & pulleys)- looked absolute class.
From talking to Shane (the bossman) he said that he does quite a bit of work in Dublin.

I can recommend them- their number is (048) 67751246 and ask for Shane.

Tell him the man with the Hallmark house in Smithboro sent you
 

Polo 1 - Im in the property business and I built a house last year in Dublin with 24 timber windows (some of which were quite large) and 5 glass doors (2 doubles, 2 singles and 1 front door with glazed side lights) - I used a company called Swedex and they were astonishingly good value - €15k incl. VAT for everything.

This was 25% cheaper than the next best quote (from a company I have strong links with who were doing me a favour!). The service wasnt too good but not bad enough to ignore the price they offered - your builder might not enjoy working with them but your bank account will benefit. Check them out but be sure to order well in advance of your required delivery date as they ship the windows from the baltic (which freezes over in winter!).
 
15k is a good price all right.

I looked at Swedex but passed because I was looking for traditional double hung sash windows. They make a nice product though.

The Swedex windows are not hardwood, they are arctic pine. But if they work in Sweden they should work here, right?
 
I just got a quote for 5 windows and 2 doors, all Timber for €6 300 (excluding Vat), but including installation. Sounds like it is a good price? The windows are around €675 each which sounds very reasonable, but the doors are €1500 each, which sounds expensive or is it right?
 
Hardwood timber doors and windows seem to average about 1k per opening in my experience so your price looks OK to me. Of course it depends on the timber etc. Doors seem expensive. Not French Doors by any chance? Or perhaps you chose some pretty expensive door furniture etc.?
 
Carlson is a company I went for. www.carlson.ie or the uk website [broken link removed] (has more info) There lead times are very good. 5 to 6 weeks. They also have a sister company making alu-clad windows form the same office.
I also looked at sweedex and was impressed with their windows. lead times were 12-14 weeks.

[broken link removed] . Very nice windows.
 
extopia said:
But if they work in Sweden they should work here, right?
Click to expand...

Ireland has a much higher humidity than sweden AFAIK, and better growing conditions for wet and dry rot, which could affect timber windows.
Saying that artic pine is supposed to be a good product (better than the deal windows put in every house 20-30years ago). proper maintenance will effect the life of any timber window.

Fair play to you for going the timber route, much more environmentaly friendly
 
Aluminium clad timber windows are ideal but very expensive. Alu can be recycled at the end of the windows life.
 
we used a crowd called "eco windows" (not sure about the exact spelling of name) for timber sash windows, similar prices to others but their customer service was very good, nothing was a problem, - 087 3840403 - will look for web/email on invoice when i get home
 
[broken link removed]

Give these guys an email for a quote, you can import them yourself for half the price of similar quality windows on sale in ireland!

Its a polish company, who supply the high class german market.

These windows simply blew me away when I seen them in reality.

HTH
 
OngarGuy

A very important issue with wooden windows is the humidity/environment/conditions in which the windows are made.

Problems have been experienced where wooden windows have been made in Eastern Europe (very dry conditions). When they are imported into Ireland the wood swells too much whilst settling into our much wetter environment. Dont forget the paint used is micro-pourous to allow the wood to breathe.

Danish windows do not have this problem.

Spending more than 10k? Dont take the gamble unless you can get some seriously good references.

Dollie
 
Any timber needs to be acclimatised. That's a given.

The issue mentioned in the above post smacks of scare tactics, although there could be something in it. Perhaps this would be a problem, perhaps not. What are the dry conditions in Poland of which you speak?

Tell us more about the problems of which you speak, Dollie?
 
Extopia is right, timber used for windows is about the best quality, carefully selected and dried for years, even killn dried after seasoning, depending on the manufacturer. Logging is done in Denmark mainly by harvesting machines whilest wages in Poland are so low-and skills are high- that most logging for high quality timber is still done by hand , often helped by horses in the forest.That would give a better selection and a better treatment of the log. Denmark and Poland have about the same climate conditions as well as the same timber growing conditions-southern Baltic climate. But Polish carpenters are known for their high skills, I have seen oak windows (for basements -a cold and damp position to place a timber window) manuftured by Polish carpenters to a finish and durability that would make any furniture maker pride of. I'm not saying that Danish carpenters are bad, their boats make it around the world since thousands of years.
 
Yes I would be "scared" to import windows from a factory that has not been able to establish a trading relationship with an Irish supply company.

I would not fancy being a Guinea-Pig, something that good references would resolve.

Unknown to many, some windows are imported from Baltic states under big brand names. I have no problems with these.
 
I know for a fact that Rationel imports windows from Estonia from a company called Viking Windows.
The Polish windows that I have seen use the same paint/varnish finishes that Rationel and Sweedex use from the German company Remmers.
The Polish windows had finger joints at the corners which is good, the wood is impregnated with preservative and the wood is engineered to avoid warping.
The frames of the doors and windows was a lot heavier in the Polish windows than the windows I saw from Sweedex last week.

I know there are bad windows available in Poland also just like any country but these were particularly good.

The price was €350 per m2 for windows and €400 per m2 for doors which seems very good to me.
 
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