Your 1970s weatherboard rattles in the wind, drops below comfortable in July, and bakes from the afternoon sun. You want new windows. What's holding you back is the house itself: it's 50 years old, and you're worried about what replacing the windows involves.
Here's the short answer. You can replace the windows in an older Melbourne home, including weatherboards, brick-veneers, and double-brick period homes. Most jobs don't need a building permit. Installation usually takes one to three days. Your original architraves often survive the process with minor touch-ups. The surprises that do come up, like rot, non-square openings, or crumbling plaster, are routine for an experienced installer and get handled on install day without sending the job sideways.
The rest of this guide walks through what happens from the first phone call to a finished install, and what to ask a window manufacturer before you commit. Weatherall Windows manufactures uPVC double glazed windows and doors in Campbellfield and installs across Melbourne and regional Victoria, which informs some of the specifics below.
The first decision is whether you're doing a retrofit or a full-frame replacement.
Retrofit means the original frame stays in place and new glass (usually double glazed) is fitted into it. It's cheaper, faster, and less disruptive. The catch is that the weakest point in an older window isn't the glass. It's the frame. Single-glazed timber frames leak air around the sashes. Old aluminium frames conduct heat straight into and out of the room. A retrofit on a tired frame gives you better glass in a frame that still underperforms.
Full-frame replacement removes the existing window, frame and all, and installs a complete new unit. That's what Weatherall does. It gives you a new frame (uPVC, which doesn't conduct heat and doesn't need repainting), a tight seal around the opening, and a whole-window U-value as low as 1.4 W/m²K with double glazing and Low-E glass.
What happens to your architraves and window reveals?
For timber weatherboards, original architraves usually survive. The installer removes them carefully, takes the old window out, fits the new frame, and reinstates the trim. Expect some filler, a sand, and a paint touch-up where the nail holes were. The inside of the room looks close to identical when it's done.
For brick-veneer and double-brick homes, it depends on the condition of the existing reveals. If the timber reveal is sound, it stays. If it's rotted or split, it's replaced and painted to match.
Either way, plan for some internal touch-up painting. Even when the trim comes off cleanly, the wall edge near the frame usually needs a quick fill and repaint.
Here's the timeline for a typical Melbourne house of windows.
| Stage | Timeline | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Site measure | 1 to 2 hours | Exact measurements of every opening. Notes on anything unusual (non-square openings, unusual heights, security issues). |
| Quote | Within a week of the measure | Itemised quote, broken down by window so you can adjust the scope if the total is higher than expected. |
| Manufacturing | Approximately 4 to 6 weeks | Units made to order at the Campbellfield facility. There's no stock pile to pull from. |
| Installation | 1 to 3 days for most homes | A three-bedroom house with eight to twelve windows is usually a two-day install. Two-storey homes, or jobs requiring scaffolding, take longer. |
The biggest variable isn't the window count. It's access: whether the installer can move freely around the outside of the house, whether the openings are at ground level or first floor, and whether any external features (pergolas, decks, rendered finishes) need working around.
Renovators get nervous about this part. It's usually less disruptive than they expect.
Dust and noise. There's saw work, drill work, and occasional hammering. Each window is typically out and replaced within an hour or two, so the disruption is localised to whichever room is being worked on. Plastic sheeting goes up to protect furniture.
Security overnight. Installers aim to complete each window the same day it comes out, so you don't have an open hole in your wall at night. On the rare occasion a window can't be finished in a day (discovery of rot, unusual sizing issues), the opening is boarded with plywood and sealed.
Whether you need to move out. Almost never. People work from home, cook, and sleep at the house through the job. Kids and pets stay inside. If you have a home office you need to keep clean, plan to work elsewhere on the day that room is being done, and you'll be back in by that evening.
Weather. Rain doesn't stop work in most cases because the crew can tarp an opening if needed. Heavy rain on a multi-day job can push the schedule, and your installer will call the day before if the forecast looks bad.
Different wall types need different install approaches.
Weatherboard homes. The window fits into a timber frame within the wall cavity. Removal is straightforward: lift the cladding if needed, cut the old frame free, slide the new unit in, refix. External flashing is the critical step. A properly flashed window sheds water away from the wall. A badly flashed one lets water track down into the frame and rot it out within a decade. Weatherboards in Yarraville, Reservoir, and Preston make up a big share of the older Melbourne housing stock, and they're the most forgiving to work with.
Brick-veneer homes. The frame sits between the external brickwork and the internal timber stud wall. Removing the old frame is a careful operation because you don't want to disturb the brickwork above the opening. The new frame is inserted, flashed to the brickwork, and sealed internally. Brick-veneer is the dominant build type across the eastern suburbs, and uPVC replacement is standard work in these homes.
Double-brick period homes. These are the trickiest. The external and internal skins of brick are both load-bearing around the window opening, which means less tolerance for play. Old double-brick homes in suburbs like Brunswick and Northcote sometimes reveal surprises on install day: rot behind the existing frame, openings that have shifted over a century, or plaster that disintegrates when the trim comes off.
The honest truth about surprises. If rot or structural issues are discovered on install day, they're handled then, not at quote stage. Most manufacturers cost these as variations: a documented cost for the extra work, priced transparently so you can see what it's for. Ask how surprises are priced before you sign a contract, so you're not caught off guard.
For like-for-like window replacement in a non-heritage home, a building permit is usually not required. Under the Building Regulations 2018, repair, renewal, or maintenance of part of an existing building is exempt from needing a permit, and most window replacements fall inside that exemption. Your building surveyor or local council can confirm this for your specific project, and it's worth a five-minute phone call before you order.
Heritage overlays are a separate conversation. If your home is in a heritage overlay, you'll know from your council rates notice, a planning property report, or a previous renovation. In a heritage area, window replacement can require a planning permit from the local council, and the council may limit your options (timber-look profiles, matching the original style, specific colours). A uPVC manufacturer can often produce windows that satisfy heritage requirements, but you need to confirm with the council before ordering.
Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) zones apply to regional properties and some outer-Melbourne fringe areas. If your home is in a BAL zone, the windows have to meet the rating for that zone. Weatherall's tilt and turn, smart slide, and hinged door ranges are available to BAL 40, which covers most Victorian bushfire-zone properties.
This is the shortlist to take to every quote. The answers separate the manufacturers from the resellers, and the experienced installers from the ones who are learning on your house.
A reader who works through this list ends up with a manufacturer whose answers match the quality of the product.
Winter is the worst time to sign off on replacement windows. Lead times stretch because demand peaks, and your first cold night in a drafty house is the one you want the new windows already installed. If you're planning to replace the windows in your old Melbourne home this year, the earlier you book a site measure, the more choice you have on install dates.
Weatherall Windows manufactures uPVC double glazed windows and doors at our Campbellfield facility and installs across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Book a site measure and we'll walk the house with you. Bring your list of concerns, point at the drafty windows, and we'll tell you what the job involves.
