Price of a picture
window.

The amounts in this guide are prices excluding VAT, supply and fitting included, taken line by line from our quotes: the joinery, its fitting and its weatherproof seals. They include neither the removal of the old window, nor the masonry, nor the interior finishing around the frame. These items have their own lines, and we give their order of magnitude below.

Almost all of these windows are in thermally broken aluminium, for a height of 2.00 to 2.30 m. We set aside three cases that would blur the picture: low sliding frames, which are windows; lines that include an adjustable sun-shading louvre; and two older variants whose price no longer matches later quotes. Each range is rounded, and when it rests on only two quotes, we say so.

These windows were priced for houses and flats around Aix-les-Bains, Chambéry and Annecy, and fitted by our salaried joiners. They reflect the market in the two Savoies, not a national average.

Width is the first variable: beyond 3 m, the profiles are strengthened and the glazing changes size, and therefore price. Two-leaf sliding windows, in aluminium, prices excluding VAT, fitted:

The integrated roller shutter, box and slat curtain, is never priced separately in our quotes: it is part of the window line. For a comparable width, it adds a few hundred euros. The guide to the price of a fitted roller shutter details this item.

To arrive at the incl. VAT figure, count 5.5% if the window replaces existing joinery and achieves the required performance, and 10% in most other works on a home more than two years old. A 3 m window with shutter invoiced at €4,300 excl. VAT thus comes to €4,537 incl. VAT at 5.5%, or €4,730 incl. VAT at 10%.

The pocket-door system makes the leaves disappear into the thickness of the wall: with the window open, the whole opening is clear. In our quotes, a 2.25 m pocket-door window comes to €3,500 to €4,000 excl. VAT, about a third more than a standard sliding window of the same width. The casing that receives the leaves also means redoing the partition or lining that covers it: the only quote that isolates this item prices it at a little over €1,000 excl. VAT. A three-leaf version 4 m wide exceeds €5,000 excl. VAT before this reworking. Only two quotes: these are orders of magnitude.

Three leaves open two thirds of the width instead of half. A 3.70 m three-leaf window with roller shutter comes to around €5,000 excl. VAT in our quotes; a 2.25 m three-leaf window topped with a fixed frame exceeded €6,500 excl. VAT, because every element added has to be paid for.

The lift-and-slide system, whose leaf lifts before sliding so as to seal better on its gaskets, appears in none of our 2024-2026 quotes. We therefore give no price: it is priced on the chosen joinery.

As for material, only one of our quotes concerns a PVC window, too few for a range, and none a timber window. On large widths, aluminium wins out through the slimness of its profiles, which explains its place in our projects. Facing the lake or at altitude, a large window takes the wind: its air-water-wind classification, shown on the technical data sheet, deserves to be read before signing.

In replacement, the new window takes the place of the old one. Two methods exist: renovation fitting, onto the old frame kept in place, which is quicker but slightly reduces the glazed area; and full removal, which takes the frame back to the masonry. The removal and disposal of the old joinery cost €80 to €120 excl. VAT per unit in our quotes, or a lump sum when the whole house has its joinery changed. Reworking the reveals and interior returns is often added, and is priced case by case.

If the facade receives external insulation, the window is fitted with a frame extension, a widening of the frame that makes up the thickness of the insulation: our quotes write it on the window line, for example a 140 mm extension.

Creating or widening an opening is a different project: opening the wall, fitting a lintel or a beam, reworking the jambs, and only then fitting the window. In our quotes, this masonry is a line separate from the joinery, and it can cost as much: in the order of €4,000 excl. VAT to widen an opening by a metre and fit the new window in it, up to nearly €10,000 excl. VAT for the masonry alone of an opening of nearly 6 m carried by a steel beam. When the wall is load-bearing, the steps and precautions are those of our guide opening a load-bearing wall.

Enlarging or creating a window changes the appearance of the facade: a prior declaration (déclaration préalable) is required at a minimum. In a protected area, such as the old centre of Annecy, the opinion of the ABF heritage architect (architecte des Bâtiments de France) is added: it is better to build it into the schedule from the start.

Take a sliding window 3 m wide, in aluminium with an integrated roller shutter, replacing an old single-glazed window. Applying our ranges:

This calculation leaves out the reworking of the interior returns and any change of threshold, which we price after a visit. It is a calculation made from our ranges, not the quote of a specific project.

Reduced VAT at 5.5% applies to a window or French window fitted to replace existing joinery, in a home completed more than two years ago, if it achieves Uw ≤ 1.3 W/m².K with Sw ≥ 0.3, or Uw ≤ 1.7 W/m².K with Sw ≥ 0.36 (article 30-0 D bis of Annex IV to the French general tax code). A window created in a solid wall is not a replacement: it generally falls under the 10% rate, and under the 20% rate as part of an extension. Our guide to VAT on works details these cases.

Since 1 September 2026, MaPrimeRénov' no longer funds window replacement per measure: the order of 25 August 2026 removed this lump sum, along with those for insulation. Joinery is still taken into account in a whole-house renovation, where it counts among the insulation measures required; our overview of MaPrimeRénov' 2026 sets out the conditions. Our RGE CertiRénov certification (no. CR-2026-73-0095) covers this whole-house renovation offer.

This guide is part of our series on joinery: the general guide changing your joinery brings together windows, doors and shutters.