Fountainbridge Window Renovations

It has taken 3 reports over a period of 4-6 months that the windows do not open (after supposed renovation) and I have still not had anyone back. During ordering these guys never returned calls. Oh and I had to get the carpet cleaned. There was no apology or deduction. They even said I didn’t use a very good carpet cleaning company when the cleaners said they could not restore the carpets to the condition they were in before “refurbishing” They were utterly unapologetic and told me it was my job to ensure the carpets were covered before they began work!!

They have chased my invoice twice, each time I have told them the windows do not open and each time no-one gets back. One of the worst companies I have ever dealt with! Wouldn’t use or recommend them to anyone.

The double glazing option is only worth it if you have loads of cash as double glazing only works well when the gap between the two pains is 2cm or more and that cannot be done on sash and case so their patented option is not worth it. Decent curtains are much better.

Whilst the main body of work was acceptable (they replaced the glass with slimlite double glazing and rehung the windows), the standard of finish is dreadful.

They damaged the wood of the windows and failed to repair it, despite it being pointed out twice to them whilst they were there.
What new wood they put in they didn't sand properly, so there are rough edges.

They left really obvious putty marks on the outside of the glass, which they didn't clean and which are almost impossible to remove with the windows in situ.

The putty around the glass hasn't been applied evenly , so there are hollows in the paint finish.

They had to be reminded multiple times that they were supposed to replace the fittings despite it being included in the original quote and then threatened to charge extra for them.

When they did, eventually, replace the fittings, they didn't bother to fill the holes left from the old ones and didn't even ensure that the fittings matched.

On some of the windows, they placed the new cleaning system hinges so close to the frames that they actually shave the wood or scrape paint off, when we open them.

Then there was the painting...

The paint job was shockingly bad with paint on the glass (inside and out).
There were areas just not painted at all, leaving bare wood in some cases.
The painter didn't bother to remove the new fittings prior to painting, so they're covered in splashes.

There is paint on the new draught-excluding brushes (stopping them from actually doing the job)

There is paint on the new ropes (which leads to the ropes being damaged).

The new beading, designed to be removed to allow the window to swing inwards for cleaning, wasn't removed before painting. This meant that the paint that was chipped, when they removed the old beading, was not been re-painted and the new beading cannot now be removed without damaging the paint further.

The painter left paint to drip onto the window sill so that sections of paint came away when we opened the window after drying.

Oh, and he also didn't fill the holes or sand the wood, just slapped paint over it.

And then they asked for feedback on how well they have done; so I let them know.

They were very apologetic and came out to inspect the work (which they hadn't actually done at the end of the job). The man that came out appeared quite angry with how the job had been left and said that it would be fixed the following day. I was very reluctant to let them come back, but he seemed sincere in his wish to fix the problems.
So, I gave them a set of keys and back they came.

It's actually worse now. They didn't remove all the putty marks from the glass, didn't remove all the paint splashes from the glass or the fittings. They did fill in some of the holes, but left others. They didn't clean all the fittings (as promised). They didn't replace the painted ropes with clean ones (as promised).

And then they slapped on more paint where they had done work but instead of using the egg-shell that's there already, they appear to have used something else entirely, leaving very obvious brush strokes. So, now we have two very different types of paint together on the same window. Oh, and they got more paint on the glass and there are still patches that just haven't been painted.
This company appears to have no professionalism, whatsoever, and they give the impression of just wanting to get the job finished as speedily as possible without actually taking care to making sure it's done right.

I would never recommend this company to anyone.

Excellent company to work with. Effecient job done and staff are very polite and happy to help.
Would definatly recommend them to anyone!

Draft proofing and general renovation of windows. Not too badly priced and relatively quick. However, didn't listen to my concerns with the consequence being that they have had to come back numerous times. Didn't full draft proof every window (some brushes missed out), nailed batons down when I asked it to be able to be screwed out when the decorators come, poor installation of locks and removal of all locks, the wood they used had knots which had fallen out and now experiencing dry rot. Many other little errors which were easy to solve but had to be pointed out. Very pleasant staff but the group we had really had to be supervised. The three day job has turned into a 3 month one with more and more faults being uncovered.

Slimlite units extremely poor quality. Had whole house done and about a third had misted up with in six months. They came back and changed them, but service is poor, quality is poor. Would wait till technology improves.

We used this company to install Slimlite double glazing in 4 sash windows. They seem poorly organised as dates weren't kept and the job had to be finished the next day. They are also a bit messy on site so cover up your carpets before they arrive! However all of the staff were really nice guys and they have a good product and standard of work. The double glazing is hardly noticeable in the original sashes and the rooms are so much more warmer, so we are pleased with our investment.

Recommended.

Having tried a variety of companies to replace upvc windows with sash and case, Fountainbridge have come out the clear leaders.

Their windows employ their own double glazing technique they call Slimlite where the double glazed panel is only 12mm thick. This allows it to fit within a standard window rebate with only minor modification thus keeping the windows true to their original look. They can even make the panels with reproduction crown glass to match existing original glass.

Service has been excellent and prices good, usually around £800 for a typical window. Replacing a double glazed panel only cost £70 when smashed by some local kids and there have been no problems asking them back to adjust weights once they had settled which was free of charge.

Highly recommended