New windows and doors just installed

MrBumBum

Hi.

Our first time getting windows installed so I don't know if I'm being too particular or had unreasonable expectations.

Bought a 23 Yr old house that needed a bit doing, job number 1 was getting rid of rickety old teak windows and doors.

Got an irish company for the job. Their T&Cs said full payment the day before install so that what we did. The installers speak little or no English but seemed to say they'd be back tomorrow to finish up around the front door. The above pictures are from some other areas of the house.

There s a few windows I can feel drafts near. A couple seem to be coming through where the windows open and shut, but mostly seem to be coming up through the sill.

In the pics - the blue wallpaper is a bathroom, 8 or 9 mm of Styrofoam visible all around it.

Yellow paint is a bedroom, just doesn't look great.

The splashback pic is the one that bothers me most. It's the kitchen window and it doesn't appear to be put in straight. About 20mm Styrofoam visible on one side, about 6mm the other side. Gap of 9 or 10 mm between the sill and the window on one side. The outside photos are the outside of this window, not easy to see in the pic but one side looks 6 or 7 mm short of the point the original window came to.

Did I have unrealistic expectations or would posters here be happy enough with this job?

10-10-20

Hi, a couple of things that I see:

The foam isn't a final finish, that's for sure. Normally (or in all cases actually) the gaps are backfilled with plaster and smoothed off to match the level of the reveal.

The section of the reveal which was damaged and repaired (with the mustard paint), that can happen with window installs, but the repair should be neater than that. It looks rushed as it's not properly smoothed into the surrounding plaster.

The uneven gaps - that's kind of common observation with new windows. Often the old windows were installed crooked and then the new windows were installed into the space to fit, but leave an uneven gap. The best test is to run a long level up the window, left and right, but the other test is to just open and close the sash window and see if the window closes smoothly on the locking mechanism and that the top of the window is brought in to the frame in alignment with the bottom of the window. If it's out by more than about a few mm, then you might have a misaligned window frame.

On the exterior photos - no this isn't complete - the silicon sealant is missing. Clearly this needs to be cleanly installed.

The finish should be a lot better.

Unfortunately without specific attention to detailing for airtightness (not standard practice) windows will always have a certain amount of air leakage around the frame. The final finish should reduce most of that to acceptable levels.

Unfortunately all they can do is create a good base for you to put your final finish on.

astrofool

I would say that they should be going through all this with you beforehand so you know what the final result should be, without knocking out and replacing the plaster and cills fully, it'll be very difficult to get them airtight, similar with the finish, plan to touch up with original paint or repaint the room after the work is done or live with the patchiness till later.

Mr321

I agree with all @10-10-20 has said.

Was PVC window boards mentioned at anyway time OP. They are usually done also with windows.

Mr321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436309#Comment_121436309

My window installers put this pvc strip right around the sides and top of windows over 10 years ago. I also got pvc boards installed at the time.

Its a nice finish around a window imo.

No air leaks/drafts getting in. Other then the air vents when opened.

10-10-20

Any luck @MrBumBum ?

MrBumBum

Sorry it took so long to get back.

I have to say everything was resolved. A team of 3 spent 6 hours here touching up everything. The only thing I couldn't say is done brilliantly is the kitchen window. It was sealed up and finished nicely, but if you closely at it you can see its about 10mm off.

Very happy with the job and thanks to everyone who replied to me.

ILikeBoats

Did you have to chase them to touch it all up? Or was it going to be done regardless?

MrBumBum

They were gonna do it anyway. He seemed to say to me the night before they'd be back to finish the front door. That's why I was concerned when I spotted the other issues. It was just a language barrier problem , he didn't make clear they would be touching up everything.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121460593#Comment_121460593

Great to hear, thanks for the update.