In Ghent, window and door work is rarely about standard catalogue sizes. Townhouses have tall, narrow frames in solid wood, terraced houses in Sint-Amandsberg or Ledeberg often still have their original single glazing, and on the street side the heritage department has a say in what is allowed. Renovata connects you with joiners and window fitters who work with that reality.
Ghent consists largely of terraced houses and townhouses in the densely built city centre, with neighbourhoods such as Sint-Amandsberg, Ledeberg, Gentbrugge and Wondelgem around it, where 19th-century workers' houses and interwar homes are the norm. Many buildings stand wall to wall, with narrow facades, small courtyards at the back and old vaulted cellars.
A large share of these homes is owned by landlords and lived in by students or young households. You notice this in the state of the installations: electrics and pipes are often decades old, and work has been kept to a minimum in the past. When a house is sold or re-let, that backlog suddenly comes to light.
In the protected townscape inside the R40 ring road, extra rules apply to facades, dormer windows and windows. Work on the outside often requires an environmental permit or advice from the heritage department.
Many Ghent townhouses still have their original wooden windows with single glazing. Full replacement is a big job (and sometimes needs a permit on the street side); a good alternative is to keep the existing frame and have high-efficiency glass or thin triple glazing routed in. This takes precision work from a joiner who knows which old frames can take it and which cannot.
Inside the R40 and in designated protected townscapes you cannot freely choose profiles, glazing bars and colours. PVC is usually ruled out on the front facade; wood or wood-aluminium with the original glazing bar pattern is the standard. Your tradesperson helps with the notification or permit application and provides samples that fit the street scene.
Where the sill wood has taken water for years — especially on north-facing walls — the bottom is often soft or rotten, while the rest of the frame is still perfectly sound. A joiner restores it by replacing only the bottom rail, which is much cheaper than a completely new window and keeps the original look.
The original panelled front door with stained glass of a Ghent townhouse is usually beyond repair for the ordinary joinery firm around the corner — but not for a specialised restorer. Replacing it with a modern door is only allowed if it respects the original layout and materials; here too the heritage department sets a high bar.
If you only replace the glass and not the ventilation, the condensation problem moves to colder spots in the room — often behind cupboards or in corners against outside walls. A good quote discusses in advance whether trickle vents or extra extraction are needed to prevent mould.
Open jobs on Renovata for windows and doors in and around Gent. This list is updated with the latest jobs when the page opens in your browser.
Post a job yourselfThe amounts below are guide prices based on common rates in East Flanders. Every job is different; the tradesperson makes a specific quote after an inspection.
Replacing single glazing with HR++ in the existing wooden frame (per window) frame kept, thin glass made to measure |
€250 – €600 |
New made-to-measure wooden window (townhouse, per window) depending on layout and glass |
€900 – €2,200 |
New standard-size PVC window not allowed on protected front facades |
€450 – €900 |
Made-to-measure wood-aluminium window |
€1,100 – €2,400 |
Restoring a historic front door depending on condition |
€1,200 – €3,500 |
New front door incl. installation |
€1,500 – €3,500 |
In a protected townscape and on listed facades: almost always no. In ordinary residential areas outside those zones it is possible, but we recommend contacting the city's heritage department before ordering. Your joiner usually knows at a glance whether your street falls under the rules.
In many cases yes, provided the frame is strong enough and the rebate deep enough. A joiner checks this on site. For thin single-glazed frames there is special thin HR glass (6 to 12 mm) developed for this purpose.
Via Mijn VerbouwPremie you get an amount per m² of glass area, provided the U-value is at most 1.0 W/m²K. Your contractor gives you the certificate of conformity for the application. Historic buildings may also fall under separate schemes.
With a clean removal, the damage is usually limited to a strip around the frame. Some joiners work with a plasterer and include the finishing in the quote; others deliver the window ready-fitted and leave the filling and painting to you. Ask about this explicitly in advance.
Post your job for free and normally hear from several tradespeople in East Flanders within 24 hours.
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