uPVC French Windows Cost in Hampshire: Price Guide

French windows are a pair of glazed doors that open outward or inward onto a garden, patio or balcony. For uPVC French windows the typical range runs from about £1,100 for a standard pair to £3,500 for wide, Juliet-balcony or higher-spec versions. That is a narrow range compared with the other services on this site, and most of it is explained by width, threshold and lock choice.

Typical French window prices

French windows or French doors?

The two names are used interchangeably, and there is no strict legal line between them. The usual distinction is that French windows go down to the floor and are glazed from top to bottom, often opening to a garden from a living room or dining room, while French doors can include a solid lower panel. The service pages here cover the glazed pair. If you want sliding patio doors or bifolds, they are a different product, and a different price.

What moves the price

• Width. A pair that opens up to 1.8m costs less than one spanning a wide opening.
• Side panels. Fixed glazed panels either side widen the opening and add cost.
• Threshold. A low or flush threshold, useful for step-free access, costs more than a standard raised one.
• Locks. Multi-point locking with cylinder protection is usual and worth having; upgraded locks cost more.
• Glass. Toughened or laminated safety glass is standard for glazed doors, and decorative or obscure panes add to the price.
• Juliet balcony. When the opening is on the first floor, fixed guarding or a balustrade is needed and is priced separately.

Replacing a window with French windows

Turning a window into a pair of doors is a bigger job than a straight swap. The opening has to be lowered, a lintel check may be needed and the brickwork below the cill has to be dealt with. That usually needs building regulations sign-off, and in some cases planning permission, particularly in a conservation area or on a listed building. The price of the doors is then only part of the total.

Hampshire's garden-facing homes are well suited to this. A lot of the county's semis and bungalows have a back room that opens onto a modest garden, and French windows turn that room into the main living space in summer. Along the Solent shore, such as at Lee-on-the-Solent or Milford on Sea, exposed doors take more weather, so ask how the threshold drains and whether the sill is designed to keep wind-driven rain out.

Checks before you order

• Whether the quote includes lintel checks and making good
• Handle and lock specification, including anti-snap cylinders
• Threshold type and how rainwater is kept out
• Competent person scheme sign-off, such as FENSA

If you want the opening to tilt for ventilation, see our tilt and turn cost guide. For a first look at the whole project, use the cost calculator, and if the old doors are failing, our signs checklist helps you decide.