Your window installation day, hour by hour

Arrival

The fitting team should arrive within the window they gave you, introduce themselves, and walk the job with you before starting, confirming which windows are being done and in what order. This is a good moment to flag anything you're unsure about, a curtain pole that needs care, a window that sticks, anything.

Protection and clearing

Dust sheets go down inside, floors and furniture near each opening get covered, and access routes are cleared. If curtains, blinds or window boards need removing, this is when it happens, so it helps if anything fragile on a windowsill has already been moved before the team arrives.

Removal

The old frame is cut or levered out room by room, keeping the opening weathertight for as short a time as possible. In cold or wet weather, only one or two openings are exposed at once rather than the whole house at the same time, which limits draughts and keeps rooms usable while work continues elsewhere.

Fitting and packing

The new frame is offered up, checked for level and plumb, packed square and fixed. This is the step that determines how well the window performs for years, so it's not rushed even when the visible work looks quick. A frame fixed slightly out of square will bind at the openers long before the glass itself is a problem.

Sealing and making good

Once fixed, the frame is sealed internally and externally, and any disturbed plaster, render or brickwork is made good. Full curing of sealant and any wet making good can take longer than the visit itself, so a small amount of drying time after the team leaves is normal rather than a sign of a rushed job.

Waste, handover and testing

Old frames and glass are removed for disposal, the work area is swept and vacuumed, and every new window is opened, closed and locked in front of you to demonstrate it working.

• Every opener tested in front of you
• Locks and handles demonstrated
• Trickle vents shown, if fitted
• Certificate and guarantee paperwork handed over
• Any snags noted and a date agreed to resolve them

Preparing your house for the day

Move pets to a room that isn't being worked on, or arrange for them to be elsewhere; open doors and dust create stress for animals and a safety risk if they bolt outside mid-fit. Keep a parking space near the house clear for the van and skip if one's being used.

If heavy rain or high wind is forecast, ask in advance how the team plans to sequence openings to keep the house weathertight throughout, and consider whether a full-house job might be better split across two calmer days rather than pushed through in bad weather.

After the team leaves

Give sealant and any wet making good the time it needs before leaning heavily on a reveal or hanging anything from it. Test the openers again yourself over the following days, since hardware can occasionally need a very minor adjustment once a frame has settled, and any snags should be reported using the date agreed at handover.

Keep the paperwork handed over at the end of the day somewhere safe, since the certificate and guarantee details are what you will need if you ever come to sell the house or make a claim years down the line. It is worth photographing them as a backup as well as keeping the originals.

Noise, mess and access through the day

Removing old frames and packing new ones does involve drilling, cutting and some banging, so it's worth planning around it if you work from home or have a young child napping. Dust sheets and vacuuming at the end of each stage keep mess contained, but a small amount of dust settling nearby during the noisier steps is normal rather than a sign of carelessness.

Internal doors near the working room are often left open for access, so it's worth keeping anything you don't want disturbed, ornaments on a nearby shelf, for instance, moved well clear rather than just pushed to one side.

What a multi day job looks like

On a full house replacement, the team will usually work through the property room by room over the agreed number of days rather than opening up every window at once. This means some rooms are finished and back to normal while others are still mid-fit, so it's worth agreeing which rooms are being tackled each day so you can plan around them.

It's reasonable to ask for a rough day by day plan before work starts, particularly if certain rooms, a home office or a nursery, need to be usable again by a specific time.