How do you choose double glazers you can trust?

Taking your own measurements is risky – different companies have different break points for pricing and the difference of a half inch or so can put the price into a different category. Better to leave the measurements to professionals. Particularly for bay windows and anything that is not a rectangle.

‘Bigger profits’ go into better product R&D, manufacturing equipment, Quality Assurance, service, guarantees, etc etc as well as ensuring the company will be around for the long term. Have you looked at the figures for bankruptcies in the home improvements sector recently?

There is a reason why in everything you buy there are cheap prices, mid range prices and premium prices. You get what you pay for – the 11th commandment. There is nothing on this earth that can’t be made for less and sold cheaper if quality and service don’t matter.

ALL direct salespeople are paid on commission only – they have a tough job. They have to (or should) acquire a high level of professional knowledge about their products so that they can give professional advice to customers about what they are buying; to help them make sensible buying decisions that will – in the case of windows and doors – be appropriate and attractive/architecturally pleasing to the building and locale, and be effective for their property e.g. no point in putting A rated windows on North facing elevations. Their time is wasted by so many people that seem to be under the illusion that they get paid salaries, have their car/travel expenses reimbursed etc etc. and think it’s fine to ‘just get a quote’, taking the salesperson’s time for granted when they have little intention of buying from them. Especially those who think that the decisive criteria for a purchase is ‘who’s the cheapest’. So be respectful of a direct salesperson’s time – of course you’ll want to get 2 or 3 quotes, but to have en endless parade of companies is confusing to you, wasting the time of many people who just want to do a good job and get paid. My advice in any direct sales purchase for home improvements is a) Do your research into the companies, b) narrow the choice down to 1 national MANUFACTURER and one or two ‘local or regional firms. 3) get the locals in first – listen very carefully to what they tell you about their products and their company. Ask questions and assess how you feel about the honesty of the answers. Make notes and keep them about important things. Then get the national company in and do the same. See whether the national company salesperson can explain to you and SHOW you why their product is better designed, better made, better supported after the sale, better guaranteed, better installed etc etc. to justify what will mostly – but not always – be more expensive than the ‘local’ firm. (My brother recently had a new driveway laid – got quotes from 3 local companies, one door knocker who ‘was in the area’ and as a contrast called one of the top three Home Improvement ‘nationals’ – the lowest quote came from the ‘national’; beating the others overall by at least £2,000 and supplied better quality blocks, laid them in a more attractive design than the others proposed AND put them onto much better prepared foundations. The ‘locals’ priced higher, it seems because they had limited labour availability and thought ‘sellers market’… So priced themselves out. Brother is delighted yet he thought he’d not be able to stretch to a good .branded’ company. Installed in less than 4 weeks with a 20 year guarantee. He could only get 5 from one of the ‘locals’. If the national salesperson impresses you enough with their product differences, then you have a choice – perhaps stretch a little to afford those benefits or knowingly compromise – but always remember caveat emptor.

When researching the different companies – locals & nationals – and their products; find out if they are a genuine manufacturer (making the parts pretty much entirely in house themselves) or are fabricators (buying in frames, glazing panels, etc from third parties and assembling them in some sort of workshop) – be aware that a real factory (whether its for windows and doors or fitted bedrooms, kitchens, curtains and blinds, bathrooms) is a lot different from a ‘workshop’ which some companies may describe as a ‘factory’. See if their manufacturing or assembling process is in conformance with ISO9002/BS5750 Quality Standards – and if they buy in components like sealed glazing units if their suppliers’ manufacturing is. But realise that 11th commandment – you get what you pay for – is ALWAYS prevalent. Unless you are very lucky.

Remember when making home improvement decisions that you are investing further in the single biggest purchase you will make in your life – your home. You are adding to the infrastructure and quality of the home; improving its appearance (hopefully – and there are some pig-ugly windows and doors around that have been bough to a budget price that make once attractively designed homes look awful having been chosen by homeowners who have no clue about architectural perspective – there is a reason that the original architect divided the windows into certain numbers of panes and made some opening and some fixed); improving its thermal efficiency to reduce heating costs and make the home more comfortable; you are improving (hopefully) its security. And if you buy good quality then you can expect to see a return on that investment when you sell – look in Estate Agents’ windows. You’ll often see houses for sale that say in the ‘blurb’ that the windows were recently replaced by Everest or Anglian. You won’t ever see ‘replaced by ACME Windows of Wolverhampton or Southend’… There is a reason.