some of our windows are very badly in need of replacing. I'm on a tight household budget at the minute so it is going to have to be a diy job. i've practiced on a garage window which seemed to go fine. I thought I was ready for first house window but on closer inspection it is an entirely different proposition. I can't even figure out how to get the old windows out... with the garage window I just slid a reciprocating saw down the side of the frames and cut through fixing screws, but its not possible here. I'm also not sure how I'm going to fit replacements if/when I mange to remove. will new windows need to be exactly same depth to fit existing space? or will i need to remove internal sill and plaster work to fit new window? and what is happening at the top and bottom of the windows?! are the external sills at top and bottom part of the window or extra fittings that need fitting separately? help!! a lot of questions sorry. any advice gratefully received. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LBy1Zq9OOxDhdEX40GxuYAHGD0zK8W0e/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BH0pTrA0K7fMXADOLqIUSrn7OWNlt-8N/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BGZ1EHuF2LoYCOGICDFQaSfiBuKLgtqO/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ft_yk4RguWEOlDUTODeAeWFjAldoFPh2/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/18VkLYpB_0F3-OYx8XJZ3MTtLm7mvvAJ7/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/18VkLYpB_0F3-OYx8XJZ3MTtLm7mvvAJ7/view?usp=sharing
For starters, is your home listed or in a conservation area? Second, I would get them done one at a time mate if I was you, try to get a friendly local window fitter to measure, order and fit singularly, keeping a bit of a cash flow going rather than you either attempting it yourself and buggering it up or eating soup and bread for the next few months in order to pay for the lot.
Windows from your average Double glazing firm look terrible in older properties. Conservation windows are an option but quite pricey. From the picture the windows look salvageable. However, it is a lot of man hours to put in sanding, repairing any rot and then repainting. One window looks like it can be refurbished in situ but the other looks like it needs to come out to fix the decay. On the windows I did recently I cut our the rot and then used Ronseal timber hardner and then rebuild the loss with Ronseal filler. I have started using the Dulux Weather shield system which consists of a preservative / primer, undercoat and gloss. Quite expensive but it is guaranteed for 8 years. To determine which way the windows come out, look for a cement lip on either the inside or outside you should be able to slide your reciprocating saw down the edge to cut any nails or screws. Any fixing are probably in chunks of wood wedged between the stones and should cut quite easily. You may need a crowbar to prise the window out of the opening. The external window sill should be fixed to if not part of the window frame whilst the internal one should be separate.
Agree mostly with Sospan's comments although far better timber repair fillers available albeit costly so research 'Repair Care Dry Flex' video's on YouTube are well worth a look.
Sorry couldn't resist it surprised Chippy hasn't called the union on you for crossing the demarcation lines and fitting timber It is surprising what can be done to save old frames. However, it is the labour cost that is the killer. Each one of the 12 pane windows I have restored would have been far cheaper to have replaced in UPVC
Apparently can find cheaper to replace some windows with pvc than repaint. Labour kills everything now. Having said that the dry care system isn't cheap. What is it 20-25 a set?
Yes, I mentioned they were costly in post #4 but used sparingly they can go a long way, that job used up one and a half sets with including the primer and am confident it will last a long time. It's not only labour charges that can hurt it's also a hefty increase in the last two years with the cost of materials.
gosh thanks eveybody for all the replys! I had considered repairing - I even have some of the repair care ready . But they are 30 year old south facing softwood windows and up close it is apparent there is little good wood left to cut back to in many of them. So yes, I think most of them will definitely need to come out to and I'm not sure to tbh if they will prove worth the repair time and effort or not.... my first problem remains though - how to remove them! While I can slide a reciprocating saw in the side of the frame from the outside, internally the frames seem to be behind the plasterwork: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BGZ1EHuF2LoYCOGICDFQaSfiBuKLgtqO/view So the reciprocating saw cannot cut....
The reason I didn't advise you how to do it is because I didn't want you buggering up your house through not having a clue and being in more of a pickle than when you started, but here goes..... Open the sash, crowbar it off, remove any timber beads holding the fixed glass panes, dig out any putty holding them in though it's a lot quicker to smash them out, make sure you smash out rather than in. Cut through any mullions, then cut the jambs down at an angle and lever the bottom pieces out, you may disturb the plasterwork doing this, sometimes it's unavoidable, you'll either have to make it good or patch up with uPVC beads which are a complete bodge 9/10 times. Remove the cill, then lever the tops of the jambs and the head out, snap off any protruding nails, screws or ties, then brush all the dust, cobwebs and cack away. Check the cill base for level and pack up if required, then drill and secure the uPVC cill with 3" screws. Check its bang on level, check you haven't mismeasured your new window, then run a bead of silicone on top of the cill towards the back lip, remove the beads on your new window, lift up your new window and plonk it on the cill, keep it tight to the back of the cill and fix down through the cill into the base below, plumb the window up both ways, then fix a couple of inches down from the tops of each jamb. Space your fixings roughly every 16" or 400mm. Use the packers provided from the place you bought the Windows to pack up the glass units at least 5mm off the bottom, sit the units on top, even out either side, pack either side, then fit the top bead first so your new glass doesn't fall out and smash, then fit the remaining beads. With all the glass in use expanding foam around the Windows edge, wait until it's cured then trim off any excess with a knife, then using your silicone, seal around the window and cill externally. If any of your windows are side openers then I suggest you look up toe and heeling as it's easier than me explaining on here, plus my fingers getting cramp and I'm hungry.