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Repairs

Repair it before you replace it

Most window and door faults are a repair, not a replacement. A misted pane is a £60 to £180 glass swap, a door that will not lock is usually a £80 to £250 hinge or mechanism job, and a draught is normally a worn gasket. Replace the window only when the window is what has failed.

We publish replacement prices on this site, so it is worth saying plainly: most of the faults people are quoted a new window for do not need one. Here is what each repair actually involves and what it should cost.

Choosing

When a repair is the wrong answer

Repair is not always right, and pretending otherwise would be as unhelpful as quoting a new window for a failed pane. Replacement is the genuine answer when:

  • The frame has distorted, so the sash no longer closes squarely however the hinges are set.
  • Parts are obsolete. Some 1990s hardware is simply no longer made, and nothing generic fits.
  • Several units have failed at once, which usually means the whole installation has reached the end of its life.
  • The windows are early uPVC with no low-emissivity glass, where replacement changes the performance rather than patching it.
  • You are in a conservation area or a listed building and the existing windows are inappropriate, where the conversation is about consent rather than cost.

If you are not sure which applies, that is exactly what a survey is for. Start with misted units or a door that will not lock, the two most commonly over-quoted faults.

The most over-quoted fault

A failed pane is not a failed window

Misting is the fault people are most often sold a replacement window for. The seal has gone; the frame usually has not.

A failed double-glazed sealed unit, with condensation and a chalky tide mark trapped between the two panes.

Before

A failed sealed unit. The moisture is inside the cavity and cannot be wiped off.

A sealed unit being replaced in an existing uPVC frame, with the glazing beads removed and a suction lifter on the sill.

After

The beads off and the unit out. The frame stays where it is.

If the frame is straight and the hardware works, this is a glass job measured in tens of pounds rather than thousands. Both photographs illustrate typical conditions. They are not work carried out by TrustedGlazing, which is an introducer and does not install anything.