Replacing window frames in Nieuwegein

A window frame often goes wrong for years before you notice. The window no longer closes properly, the bottom of the woodwork is soft, there is a draught along the edge, or the door sticks in summer and not in winter. Then it is time to replace the frames. It belongs under carpentry and fitting. In Dutch these jobs are called kozijnen vervangen, and kozijn means the whole frame with its windows or door.

What happens when I replace window frames

I start by measuring. Frames are made to size, so the measurement you take yourself is never enough: I measure the opening where the frame goes, every corner separately. After that we choose the frame together. I usually buy the materials myself.

On the day itself the old frame comes out, with the windows or the door in it. I set the new frame level and plumb. That is the part you cannot correct later: a frame set crooked starts to stick every season. After that I connect it inside and out and seal it.

That is how I took out the old frames on a back wall under a balcony and fitted new white frames with French doors and transom windows. A second job, new frames in a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom, shows the result with the wall closed up again around the profile.

French doors and transom windows

A back wall often has more than one frame: French doors to the garden, windows beside them and transom windows above. I replace those as one glazed front, so everything sits in the same line and is finished the same way. If there is a balcony or an overhang above, I also make a neat join between the top of the frame and that.

Fitting sliding doors

Fitting sliding patio doors is a frame job with an extra step. The frame itself fits in the opening. But the transition from inside to outside decides whether it works: the floor inside and the terrace outside have to meet, and the water has to be able to run away from the threshold.

If the opening becomes wider than it was, something changes in the structure and a calculation has to go with it. That is bigger work than replacing frames. You will find it in a home extension or a renovation, and I say so beforehand if your job ends up there.

Scaffolding and access

On the ground floor I can usually manage without scaffolding. If the window is on an upper floor, or the facade cannot be reached, I arrange the scaffolding. The way in matters too: large frames through a narrow hallway cost time. I tell you that when I measure.

What comes around the frame

Replacing a frame is rarely just a frame. There is almost always some repair to the plaster, a new windowsill or new trim. I close the plaster up again and make it flat, as described under plastering. If a roof window is part of your plans, you can read about it under roof window installation. If more things in the same room are changing, I plan it as one job so the order is right.

How to start

Send me a few photos of the frames and the sizes you know through the contact page, and I will tell you what I would do. I work in Nieuwegein, Utrecht and the places around them. From measuring to sealing you have one person to deal with: me.