Window

Cottage Windows Costs: The Ultimate Guide 2023

Written by  John Davies
Last updated: August 8, 2023

If you own a house in the UK and want to maintain that quintessential English charm of your home, you may want to consider maintaining your old cottage windows or installing new ones. Cottage windows offer the perfect traditional look for older buildings and are the perfect addition to any design that has an older style at its core. 

If you are in the middle of renovating a home or simply looking for ways to improve your home, cottage windows could be the way to go. For a better idea about the cost of cottage windows, take a look at our ultimate cottage window cost guide for 2023.

Cottage Windows Prices Calculator

Full Cottage Window Cost Breakdown Installation

When looking for cottage window quotes and setting your budget for your cottage window installation, you need to take into consideration several factors that influence cottage window pricing and installation costs. Typically, you can determine how much a cottage window will be based on the size of the overall frame. When you have larger cottage window frames, more materials are required during the manufacturing process, and therefore they typically have greater costs associated with them. 

Below, we’ve taken a look at all the factors that will influence cottage window pricing and help you understand what to look for when obtaining quotes for your cottage window installation. 

Cottage Window Frame Size (mm)Frame Material  Pricing Ballpark
Aluminium
600 x 900£500 – £700
900 x 1200£650 – £800
1,000 x 1,000£850 – £950
1200 x 1200£750 – £1,000
uPVC
600 x 900£200 – £400
900 x 1200£400 – £600
1,000 x 1,000£300 – £700
1200 x 1200£350 – £925
Wooden
600 x 900£600 – £1,000
900 x 1200£1,250 – £1,500
1,000 x 1,000£1,400 – £1,600
1200 x 1200£1,300 – £1,700

The classic shape of a cottage window is, of course, a square, however, there are also cottage window styles that take on more of a rectangular shape. As a general rule of thumb, the larger the overall frame size of your cottage window, the more expensive it will be. 

One of the other major pricing influencers is the material out of which your cottage windows are made. From the table above, you can see that wooden frames are usually a lot more expensive than other off-the-shelf materials. Although wood gives you the classic look you may be going for, it takes notoriously more time and effort to maintain and therefore should be carefully considered before purchasing. That being said, it does add a beautiful aesthetic to the home. 

For low-maintenance and affordable cottage window installations, uPVC frames are the best way forward. 

Should You Restore or Replace Your Cottage Windows?

If you’re lucky enough to have moved into an older property, you may need to do some maintenance on the windows that are already there. The best thing to do before deciding on replacement or restoration is to assess the damage or wear on the cottage window frames. 

If there is little to no damage and the frames can be spruced up with a simple lick of paint, you should definitely restore the windows instead of replacing them entirely. 

In many older homes, the cottage window frames were constructed out of wood or sometimes even lead. If there is severe damage to the wooden frame, such as wood rot or woodworm, you will need to have these cottage windows replaced. With led, it is a similar story. Some health and safety guidelines prohibit lead window frames, in which case they will need to be removed and replaced with cottage windows made from compliant materials. 

As you can imagine, restoring your cottage windows is a cheaper exercise than replacing them entirely, especially in older buildings. Where possible, always opt for restoration. If you are unsure whether to restore or replace your cottage windows, speak to a professional or a contractor. They will be able to advise on the most cost-effective way to either refurbish or install cottage windows. 

Cottage Window Profile

So what exactly do cottage windows look like? Think about the typical drawing of a window, which is a square with horizontal and vertical panes crossing over exactly in the middle. This is your typical cottage window style. When you have cottage windows in your home, it gives the profile of your house a stunning classic profile resembling older Georgian architecture. This is why they are so popular with homeowners who prefer more traditional home designs. 

The cost of a cottage window project will increase according to the number of units you will want to be installed. Most Georgian houses can have as many as 8 – 10 windows on the front of their house along. These projects are usually more expensive, so it’s worth speaking to your contractor about the different sizes and shapes of your cottage windows. 

Size and Weight of Cottage Windows

As the costing table above demonstrates, the size of the cottage window frame directly influences the price of the window unit itself. Another factor to consider is that the size of the window also directly influences the weight. 

There are also heftier costs associated with heavy cottage window units, given the fact that they often need more support built into the wall in which they are meant to sit. They are also more work to install and require more manpower to install them safely. The extra labour costs associated with installing heavier windows are also something that needs to be taken into account when costing up a cottage window installation. 

Types of Glass for Cottage Windows

Cottage windows are a great design for homes as they are also versatile in the types of glass they can hold. The type of glass and glazing your select for your cottage window will also affect the price. As you may have assumed, the more layers of glazing you have in a cottage window, the more expensive the project will be. 

The most popular form of glazing for cottage windows is double glazing, due to the cold weather homes can be exposed to in the United Kingdom. Older homes usually do not have double glazing and instead have a single pane of glass. While these are less energy efficient, many people choose to keep these to preserve older designs. 

The cheapest type of glass you can get for cottage windows is around £40 – £100 per unit, however, more specialised types of glass such as self-cleaning glass or tempered glass will be more expensive. 

Cottage Window Frame Types

The classic cottage window design comes in the shape of a square, but the size of the frame can be customised to suit your design needs. 

You can also customise the shape of the frame and the material of your cottage window frame. Customising this will typically add to the cost, but custom frames are a great way to make your home your own and add a unique style to the home’s profile. 

Cottage windows are incredibly versatile when it comes to frame types. It’s popular to incorporate the classic cottage window frame into other types of windows such as a sash or casement window. Sash windows are usually on the upper end of the pricing ladder, whereas casement cottage windows are a lot more common. 

Some houses will install cottage windows with circular frames, as this is a popular technique used in beachside houses. There are no formal rules when it comes to cottage window frame types, however, if you want to maintain a traditional look, your best options are either square or rectangular shapes.

Colour Customising Your Cottage Windows

Another popular trend when installing cottage windows into your home is customising the frame. uPVC frames have become a popular material to use in modern design. It’s a lot cheaper and robust against the elements and the UK’s sometimes intense climate. However, these frames are usually a lot more difficult to customise, and, therefore, customising the colour of a uPVC frame is an expensive undertaking as the process usually requires colour-blasting. A similar process is required for customising aluminium frames. 

Wooden frames are more expensive but are quite easy to customise yourself, requiring only a lick of wood-friendly outdoor paint to change the colour of the frame. The additional cost to colour customise a wooden-framed cottage window would therefore be only for the paint you choose. 

Other Customisation Options for Cottage Windows

Other customisation options for cottage windows include opening mechanisms and additional accessories. It’s common practice for some homeowners to put shutters onto their cottage windows for a particularly old-country-home aesthetic. Many people integrate the cottage window design into sash and casement windows, however, another great opening mechanism is where the cottage window opens in the middle. This adds more of a traditional flair to the home’s design. 

Important factors to consider before getting new cottage windows installed?

Aside from the actual assembly of the cottage window unit, there are other factors you will need to consider before undergoing a cottage window installation. 

The location of the site is an important factor, as a contractor will factor in aspects such as distance, transport logistics and delivery coordination with this in mind. Some contractors may also charge their clients for fuel costs if the location is especially remote. 

The size of the project and the time in which it is to be completed are other factors involved in cottage window pricing. The more cottage windows there are to be installed, the more likely it is an increased number of labourers will need to be employed for the job. This number will increase again if the contractors are given a tight deadline. 

What else influences the prices of cottage windows?

In some cases, the age of the building in which cottage windows are to be installed influences the price of the window. Some properties belonging to trusts or that have a listed status require an extra amount of care when being restored or renovated. For this reason, cottage window pricing may go up to keep in line with the aesthetic. It may also be expensive to employ specialist teams to work on older properties. 

FAQ’s

Should I replace old cottage windows?

The glass in old cottage windows should last for a while, therefore the first thing you should look at before deciding on whether to replace or restore a window is the frame. If the frame is not suitable for restoration, the entire window should be replaced. However, if only the glass is damaged, restoration is usually a relatively easy job. 

Do cottage windows add value?

Well-placed windows will add value to a property in any case. However, if the cottage window design specifically enhances certain features of the house, it will indeed add value to the property. 

Are cottage windows more expensive?

Cottage windows are one of the cheaper window designs you can opt for. However, they do get more expensive the more they are customised. Factors such as frame materials and the type of glazing you choose can make cottage windows more expensive. 

Are cottage windows more expensive than casement?

Casement windows are the cheapest type of window on the market. However, you will be able to implement a cottage window design onto a casement window should you wish. This is quite common practice when integrating cottage windows into your home. 

Why are cottage windows so expensive?

Basic cottage windows with uPVC frames are not expensive when compared to other window designs such as bay windows or sash windows. However, cottage windows are also popular designs to customise. Installing cottage windows can become expensive when you choose to customise the frame material and the glazing.  

Are wooden cottage windows worth it?

If you have an older property then wooden cottage windows are worth it to maintain the older aesthetic of the home. However, if you are looking for low-maintenance cottage windows, then you should consider another frame material such as aluminium or uPVC. 

Email newsletter
Tell us about what you want to learn!
We won’t spam you, we promise!