Nine Signs Your Windows Need Replacing

The checks that point to replacement

Any one of these on its own is worth investigating. Three or more on the same elevation usually means the elevation, not the individual window, has reached the end.

• Condensation between the panes, which means the sealed unit has failed and cannot be dried out
• A draught you can feel with the window shut and locked, particularly at the corners
• A handle that needs lifting, shoving or slamming before the lock will engage
• Visible mould or black staining on the internal reveal every winter
• Rot, soft timber or flaking paint on an older wooden frame
• Discoloured yellowing uPVC that no longer cleans up
• Cracked or perished rubber seals that have gone hard and shiny
• Traffic noise you can hear clearly in the room with everything closed
• Glass that is cold to the touch a hand's width away on a winter evening

Symptoms that are worth repairing instead

Not everything needs a new window, and we would rather fix a hinge than sell you a frame you do not need. A dropped sash is usually adjustment or a hinge set. A stiff handle is often the gearbox rather than the frame. A single failed sealed unit in an otherwise sound frame can be swapped on its own. All of these are hours of work rather than a replacement.

The judgement call in the middle

The genuinely difficult case is a house where the frames are structurally fine but four or five sealed units have misted over three winters. Replacing units one at a time works out expensive and you are still left with tired hardware and old seals. At that point the honest advice is usually to replace the elevation, and we will show you the numbers both ways at the survey rather than steering you.