Which Rooms Should You Double Glaze First? | Eagle Vale NSW
Walk the streets off Eagle Vale Drive and Epping Forest Drive and you see the same picture in most driveways: single storey brick veneer homes from the estate building years, many of them with the original aluminium windows still in place. A short walk from Thomas Clarkson Reserve, these homes face the full western Sydney summer with glass that was never designed to hold heat out. The question we hear most often from owners here is not whether to upgrade, but where to start.
Key takeaways
- Prioritise the living room, main bedroom and any window that faces west in the afternoon.
- Staging the job by room is normal and sensible; the windows do not all have to be done at once.
- NatHERS rates whole home thermal performance out of 10 stars, and window glazing is one of the biggest levers in that score.
- Like for like replacement in the same opening usually needs no council approval in NSW; size or structural changes can, and Newage advises on this before quoting.
- A free on site measure settles the order of work far better than guessing from the street.
Which rooms gain the most from double glazing?
The rooms where you spend waking hours in the hottest part of the day, and the rooms where you sleep. For most families that means the open plan living and kitchen area first, then the main bedroom, then the children’s bedrooms.
Living areas tend to have the largest panes in the house, and in many homes in this part of Eagle Vale they were built opening onto a back yard that faces west or north west. That glass takes direct sun from early afternoon until sunset in summer. Bedrooms matter for a different reason: a room that has baked all afternoon stays warm well into the night, and that is where double glazed windows make the most noticeable difference to sleep.
Rooms you rarely use, such as a formal lounge or a laundry, can wait, and a small frosted bathroom window is usually last.
Why does orientation matter so much in Eagle Vale?
Because the afternoon sun in this part of Sydney is the single biggest source of unwanted heat in a brick veneer home, and the glass is the weakest point in the wall. Brick and insulation slow heat down; a single pane of 3 or 4 millimetre glass lets it straight through.
Many homes near Gidley Crescent and Scapolite Place sit on blocks laid out for the street pattern, not for the sun. It is common to find the main living area facing west, with a patio on that side and large sliding windows behind it. Those are the windows to upgrade first; a south facing window shaded by the eaves is a far lower priority.
How do you work out the order for a staged upgrade?
Rank each window by three things: how much sun it gets, how much time you spend in that room, and how much noise it lets in. The windows that score high on two or three of those go first.
- Walk the house Note every window, which way it faces and what room it serves.
- Mark the sun Flag anything facing west or north west with no shade from eaves, trees or a verandah.
- Mark the use Flag living areas and bedrooms; leave garages, laundries and spare rooms unflagged.
- Mark the noise Flag windows on the street side or facing a busy local road.
- Group by stage Windows with two or more flags go in stage one, one flag in stage two, the rest in stage three.
- Book a measure Have the whole house measured in one visit so each stage matches in frame colour and style.
When double glazed windows made to measure in Smeaton Grange are fitted in stages, you want stage three to match stage one exactly, and that is far easier when the whole job was drawn up together.
Newage measures the whole house in one visit and quotes each stage separately, so the frames match from the first window to the last. Call 0408 585 846 for a free on site measure.
What should you compare when choosing the glazing for each room?
Not every room needs the same glass. A west facing living room wants the best heat control you can get, while a quiet south facing bedroom may only need a standard double glazed unit.
| Room | Main problem | Glazing priority | Typical stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| West facing living area | Afternoon heat gain | Double glazing with a low emissivity coating on the outer pane | Stage one |
| Main bedroom | Heat held overnight, street noise | Double glazing, thicker panes if facing a road | Stage one |
| Children’s bedrooms | Morning sun, noise | Standard double glazing | Stage two |
| South facing rooms | Winter heat loss | Standard double glazing | Stage two or three |
| Laundry, garage, bathroom | Minor | Can stay single glazed or go last | Stage three |
Frame choice matters as much as glass. A thermally improved aluminium frame holds a double glazed unit properly and keeps the look consistent with the rest of a brick veneer home. The residential window range covers sliding, awning and double hung styles so each room can keep its original opening type.
Do you need council approval to replace windows in NSW?
Usually not, if the new window goes into the existing opening and the structure around it is unchanged. Swapping an old single glazed sliding window for a double glazed one of the same size is generally treated as minor work in NSW.
Approval or certifier sign off can come into play when you want to make an opening larger, add a new window where there was a wall, change a window on a boundary wall, or work on a home that sits in a heritage area or a bushfire prone zone. Energy requirements under BASIX also apply to some alterations and additions rather than to a straight replacement.
Newage advises on this at the measure stage. The team has been doing this across Sydney and surrounding regions since 2009, and if a particular change looks like it will need sign off, you hear about it before the quote is written, not after the windows are made.
How does staging affect the look of the house?
It does not have to affect it at all, as long as every stage uses the same frame profile and powder coat colour. The risk is choosing a colour for stage one and finding it has been changed or discontinued by the time stage three comes around.
The simplest protection is to settle the full specification at the first measure and keep the written quote for the whole house. Many homes in this part of Eagle Vale still have the original natural anodised or light coloured frames, and owners often take the chance to move to a darker colour across the whole house, one stage at a time, starting with the street facing windows so the front looks finished early.
For a deeper look at how glass thickness and air gaps change what you hear, the guide to windows for noise reduction covers the options in plain terms.
Book a free measure and the Newage team will walk the house with you, flag the west facing glass and give you a written quote for double glazed windows in Eagle Vale, stage by stage.
Should sliding windows stay sliding when you double glaze?
In most cases yes, because the opening, flyscreen and furniture around it were all set up for a sliding window. Changing the style is possible but it is a decision to make room by room, not across the whole house by default.
Awning windows are the common exception. In a bedroom or bathroom where you want ventilation during rain, an awning window that hinges out from the top lets air in while keeping water out. In a living room with a long low opening, a sliding window still suits best. Either style is available with double glazed windows in the same frame family, so mixing them does not create a mismatch.
What homeowners near Thomas Clarkson Reserve usually run into
The homes around the reserve and along Amethyst Place and Dalwood Place are mostly single storey brick veneer from the same building period, so the installers see the same handful of issues over and over. The first is tired original aluminium frames. Rollers worn flat, flyscreens patched, and sashes jammed in worn tracks. Newage does not repair these; they are simply the reason the window is being replaced.
The second is the back of the house. Many of these homes were built with a large sliding window or a pair of them opening onto the patio, and the patio side often faces west. Owners describe the living room as unusable after lunch in January, and the old glass is usually the reason. This is where double glazing with a heat reflecting coating on the outer pane earns its place.
The third is the gap between what the plans say and what is on site. Openings in homes of this age are rarely perfectly square, and sill heights and reveal depths vary from one window to the next even in the same house. Measuring every opening separately, rather than assuming they match, is what stops a new window from arriving a few millimetres out.
The last is simple: owners worry that staging will leave the house looking half done. It does not, provided stage one covers a whole elevation and the later stages are already specified.
Planning new double glazing in Eagle Vale?
The Newage workshop at Unit 2/16 Blackmore Rd, Smeaton Grange is about 5 km from Eagle Vale, close enough that the person who measures your house is the same team that makes and installs the frames. The Gregory Hills service area and the surrounding Macarthur suburbs are home ground for the installers.
Newage has been building double glazed aluminium windows in its own Smeaton Grange workshop since 2009, with more than 2,500 projects completed and a 4.7 star rating on Google. You can read more about the team on the about page, or call 0408 585 846, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm, to book a free on site measure and written quote for the whole house, staged however suits your budget and your summer.
Double glazed windows for Eagle Vale homes are made to measure in the Newage workshop and installed by its own team. Call 0408 585 846, Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm, Sat 8am to 1pm.
FAQ
Can I double glaze just some of the windows in my house?
Yes. Staging the upgrade by room is common and sensible. Start with the rooms you use most and the glass that faces west or a busy road, then do the remaining windows later. Having the whole house measured and specified at the start keeps every stage matching in frame profile and colour.
Which windows in an Eagle Vale home should be double glazed first?
In many homes in Eagle Vale the main living area opens to a patio on the west or north west side, so those large sliding windows are usually first. The main bedroom comes next, since a room that has baked all afternoon stays warm overnight. South facing and rarely used rooms can wait.
Does replacing windows with double glazed ones need council approval?
Usually not when the new window fits the existing opening and the structure is unchanged. Approval or certifier sign off can apply if you enlarge an opening, add a new window, or the home is in a heritage or bushfire prone area. Newage advises on this at the measure stage before quoting.
Will double glazed windows fit into my existing aluminium frames?
No. Double glazed units are thicker and heavier than single panes, so they need frames and hardware designed to carry them. Newage makes the frame and glass together in its Smeaton Grange workshop and fits the complete window into the existing opening, which is a cleaner result than adapting an old frame.
Does double glazing help with heat as well as noise?
Yes. The sealed air space between the two panes slows heat moving through the glass in both directions, so rooms stay cooler on hot afternoons and hold warmth better in winter. Adding a low emissivity coating to the outer pane improves heat control further on west facing windows.
