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JoceAndChris
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I highly doubt it! Even double glazing is a big compromise!
Feltwell
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Without complete replacement of sash & frame, I'd say No. Casements, maybe, if you change the opening casements. Replacing existing sashes with double glazed ones can sometimes be done, but of course you're throwing away the original sashes, which is not a good thing, even if you can keep the box frame. Main problem is that double glazed sashes are heavier than the original single glazed ones, so require bigger weights to run within the box frame to balance them, and there may or may not be room for those. Glazing bars on sashes for DG units often have to be much chunkier than original to cover the DG unit seals - which is also a problem on casements.
A bigger question is why you'd want triple glazing or even double glazing? The biggest improvement you can make to thermal efficiency on original sashes or casements is to properly draft proof them (which means a proper strip-down of a sash window and installing brush seals, including replacing the beads) - well within the scope of most half-decent DIY'ers but there are companies out there that will do it for you - and you end up with a window that is visually almost identical to how it was originally, but with no drafts, much less noise intrusion and the sashes open and close easily & smoothly. You get to keep the original glass as well, if it hasn't already been replaced with modern float glass. As a bonus it's a lot cheaper than replacing the windows and environmentally you're not throwing much in landfill.
Please please please don't put UPVC windows in an old building. They just look wrong, always! Once those original windows are lost, they are lost forever, and UPVC replacement windows especially will have a much shorter life than the original wooden ones.
A bigger question is why you'd want triple glazing or even double glazing? The biggest improvement you can make to thermal efficiency on original sashes or casements is to properly draft proof them (which means a proper strip-down of a sash window and installing brush seals, including replacing the beads) - well within the scope of most half-decent DIY'ers but there are companies out there that will do it for you - and you end up with a window that is visually almost identical to how it was originally, but with no drafts, much less noise intrusion and the sashes open and close easily & smoothly. You get to keep the original glass as well, if it hasn't already been replaced with modern float glass. As a bonus it's a lot cheaper than replacing the windows and environmentally you're not throwing much in landfill.
Please please please don't put UPVC windows in an old building. They just look wrong, always! Once those original windows are lost, they are lost forever, and UPVC replacement windows especially will have a much shorter life than the original wooden ones.
Flyfisher
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58stand said:
Seems to be two questions here:
1. replacing single glazing in an existing window with triple glazing
2. replacing an existing single-glazed window with new triple-glazed window
The answer to question one is no, not in any sensible way. The existing window will have been designed and built for a single piece of glass about 3-4mm thick. A triple-glazed unit of 20, 30, 40mm in thickness (how thick is triple glazing these days?) simply will not fit without significant changes to the existing window.
The answer to question two is yes, but it will result in the loss of the original window and the replacement window will not have the same appearance, especially if the original window has thin glazing bars.
Thus, both are poor conservation options.
As for 'reality', many things are possible but that does not make them desirable.
88v8
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Triple glazing? Another means of uglifying an old building.
If you want to save heat, put up thick curtains, ensuring they do not cover the radiators, and draw them at dusk.
Ivor
If you want to save heat, put up thick curtains, ensuring they do not cover the radiators, and draw them at dusk.
Ivor
Triple glazing and even quadruple glazing are perfectly possible in side-hung timber casement windows. They are used regularly in Sweden, and look much nicer than any plastic window that I have ever seen in the UK.
If I was doing a new-build now in the UK, then Swedish timber windows are extremely likely to be the ones I'd use. However on an existing period building in the UK then there is no chance of me ever replacing an existing window with a new one unless the old is completely beyond being repaired.
If I was doing a new-build now in the UK, then Swedish timber windows are extremely likely to be the ones I'd use. However on an existing period building in the UK then there is no chance of me ever replacing an existing window with a new one unless the old is completely beyond being repaired.
I've bought in a Conservation Area, so there's NO FEAR of installing uPVC (not that this would ever cross my mind).
The question was more to fact find rather than indication of a desire. I want to upgrade the place but retain the period looks as far as possible. Many people in the neighbourhood have double glazing and many companies can install slimline double glazing in the existing cases or new windows with double glazing.
The question was more to fact find rather than indication of a desire. I want to upgrade the place but retain the period looks as far as possible. Many people in the neighbourhood have double glazing and many companies can install slimline double glazing in the existing cases or new windows with double glazing.
malcolm
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I had some new sash windows fitted with glazing bars and double glazing to replace some modern monstrosities. They look quite presentable to me. My cousin who made the windows preferred to make new bases as well as sashes so that everything fitted properly, but only one sash case was lost. There are companies that will replace the glass in existing windows with thin double glazing. If this replaces original wavy glass it's a shame. Secondary glazing is worth a thought.
Finnish windows are interesting - it is colder in Finland than Sweden. Finnish windows have an outer single glazed casement window and an inner double glazed window. The two are tied together by adjustable metal studs so they open at the same time. Triple glazing and double draft proofing.
Finnish windows are interesting - it is colder in Finland than Sweden. Finnish windows have an outer single glazed casement window and an inner double glazed window. The two are tied together by adjustable metal studs so they open at the same time. Triple glazing and double draft proofing.