After moving into our first home, a 3-bed terrace in Worthing, we are finally getting around to doing some work on it. Up until now, we might as well have been living in rented accommodation as we still have the previous residents’ carpets and wallpaper in situ, as well as their cooker, fridge, lampshades and curtains!
Of course, as a trying-to-be-green girl, I’m keen for us to do the renovations in as eco-friendly a way as possible… but the inevitable purse implications are hitting before we’ve even peeled off the first strip of wallpaper (which, incidentally, covers the entire house, all walls and ceilings too!).
So I’m posting here in the hope that fellow green girls will offer us some support and inspiration and perhaps their own eco home stories!
Our first job is to replace the big window in our kitchen (that doesn’t open!) with French doors onto the back garden, and replace the back door with a window. As we’ll be taking out the original PVC frames, now is the time to think about materials for the new frames.
At first, we were considering soft wood but due to the position of the doors (south facing, lashed by wind and rain and burnt by the sun) our builder advised against this option as they would need treating every year and would need replacing in about 5 years anyway.
We then headed over to www.greenspec.co.uk who advise the following:
First choice:• FSC durable temperate hardwood • FSC temperate softwood treated with plant based paint systems
Second choice: • FSC temperate softwood clad with recycled Aluminium
If you are compromised: • Use a certified softwood painted with low VOC paint
Avoid: • PVC • Aluminium without thermal breaks.
We had already ruled out the softwood options so headed over to local Sussex business, The Green Wood Company to check out hardwood frames. The staff were lovely and we were really hopeful until we opened the envelope and the quote tumbled out… £4000. A similar enquiry to another local company produced an even bigger quote.
uPVC, GreenSpec’s ‘one to avoid’ is suddenly looming large on our window frame horizon.
The issue is not just the money. We also have to bear in mind (as our parents have been quick to point out!) that this is not our lifelong home. We would hope to be here probably another 5 years. Imagine if we invested in hardwood only to have it ripped out by the next residents and replaced with uPVC to match the other windows in the house. Would it then have been better to have gone for uPVC in the first place? The mind boggles…
At the moment, we have our builder seeking out hardwood and uPVC quotes for us for comparison and in case he can get a better price – so the work is on hold. But if anyone has any suggestions or advice we would love to hear them – post your comments below!
Wood washed up on Worthing beach – isn’t there enough for our windows?!
Take care,
Katie
March 28th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Speaking as a general contractor I would stay away from PVC windows. In fairness, PVC makes a durable window but if you are trying to be “eco” pvc is not the way. I use aluminum, wood or fiberglass on my clients windows and sometimes wood-clad fiberglass.
I have installed wood windows on MANY clients homes and the upkeep is not as tremendous as people make it out to be, especially if these windows are protected under an awning (canopy) or have some type of overhead covering such as a deck.
I plan on using a wood-clad fiberglass in my own home (I practice what I preach). I currently have aluminum but they are not as energy efficient as I would like.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Oh my! What a choice – Going eco can sometimes really test the grey matter and conscience, can’t it?
If I were only going to stay in a home for five years I would head to a reclamation yard and scour through until I found doors and windows that matched my requirements.
In fact, this *is* our ‘life long’ home and we are doing exactly that this summer for a new front door and back door. We’ll end up with PVC I have no doubt, but it’s already been made and I feel that reusing something already made is by far the greenest option. If I don’t take it and use it, it will end up in the landfill……….
A double glazed PVC front door with fittings will cost about #150…….
For a five year stint though, I would seriously ask myself if I *needed* to replace all that you do. Our front door has rain driving underneath it and is rotting. When it rains too heavily, we can hardly open it, but, tbh, we’ve just lived like this for about 3 years now! It’s amazing what you can put up with.
I would save as much as you can now and put it towards a really green build when you finally settle in your ‘life long’ home. Use these five years to educate yourself about what is out there, what you would like and what things cost…….
Good luck though; as they say, it’s not easy being green
Mrs G x
March 28th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Hello Arcadia and Mrs G,
Thank you very much for your comments. We will certainly investigate further – maybe the reclaimed route could be an option…
I’m afraid though Mrs G I must confess the urge to make our little home lovely is too strong after 10 years holding back in rented accommodation! And who knows, maybe if we make it lovely enough, it will even become our lifelong home!
I’ll keep you updated on developments…
Katie
April 5th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I have friends in Worthing who spent about 10 years renovating a house – it was perfect, they sourced all the right sash windows and had new wooden ones made as needed, restored original features and replaced them from salvage yards where missing – the works! They sold it to an artist couple from Brighton … whose first act on moving in was to rip all the wooden windows out and replace them with UPVC that didn’t even remotely match. Ouch …
April 6th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Ouch indeed!! And an artist couple to boot! But maybe you could put me in touch with your Worthing friends – they might be able to give us some tips?
May 8th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
if you want to be ecoligicaly friendly you should use window frames made from sustainable wood!
February 11th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
This is an excellent article that shows the ambiguity in conducting eco-renovations. As the owner and operator of Equinox Home Innovations, a renovation company in Saskatoon, Canada, i find that i face similar difficult decisions all the time. Thanks for this.
http://www.equinoxhomes.ca