Window replacement
The window replacement questions Cypriot homeowners actually ask
What new windows cost in Cyprus, what moves the figure up or down, and the checks worth making on frames, glass and shutter boxes before you accept a quote.
8 min read
Photo: Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels
Stavros covers the rooms that carry the most cost per square metre and the finishes that go into them. He tracks the order trades have to arrive in, which moves a Cypriot renovation bill further than any hourly rate does.
Published
Replacing a window in Cyprus is recorded at roughly €190–450 per square metre of opening, supplied and fitted for a thermally broken aluminium frame, with the middle of our records near €280. Very little of that spread is the glass. It is the frame system, whether there is a roller shutter box sitting above the opening, and how much making-good the old frame leaves behind when it comes out of the wall.
The ten questions that come up most
Roughly in the order they arrive in the conversation.
- Can I keep the frame and change only the glass?
- Aluminium or uPVC?
- What is a thermal break, and do I need one here?
- Will double glazing actually make the house cooler in August?
- What happens to the roller shutter and the box it lives in?
- Are the mosquito screens included?
- Does anyone have to give me permission?
- How long between ordering and fitting?
- Is there a wrong time of year to do this?
- Why is one quote so much lower than the others?
Short answers
Keeping the frame. Rarely worth it on the older stock. A standard sealed double-glazed unit is 4-16-4 — about 24 mm overall — and the single-glazed aluminium frames fitted through the 1970s to 1990s were never made to take that depth. If the existing frame is a modern profile that was glazed single by choice, re-glazing is real, and a replacement unit in an existing frame is recorded separately at roughly €90–260 per square metre. If it is an original slider from a 1980s block, you are replacing the frame whatever the glass costs.
Aluminium or uPVC. Both are used across the island and neither is the wrong answer. Aluminium takes larger spans, which matters for the veranda sliders that almost every Cypriot flat has, and it accepts colours that hold up under UV. uPVC insulates better for the money in a like-for-like small opening. The material argument matters less than whether the profile is thermally broken and how the unit is sealed into the wall.
Thermal break. A polyamide barrier that separates the inner and outer aluminium profiles so heat does not conduct straight through the metal. Non-broken aluminium is still sold here and is still cheaper. In a house you run air conditioning in, the frame you can feel the heat through in July is the frame you paid less for in March.
Double glazing and August. It helps, but not for the reason people expect. The dominant summer load through a window in Cyprus is sunlight coming straight through the glass, not heat conducting through it. That means the coating on the glass and whatever shades the opening from outside do more work than the U-value does. A west-facing living room with clear glass and no external shading will still cook.
The shutter box. This is the one nobody prices properly. The built-in housing above the opening that the roller shutter winds into is usually the weakest point in the whole assembly for both heat and air-tightness, and it is often left untouched because opening it up means plaster work. Ask specifically what happens to it.
Mosquito screens. Usually a separate line. Everyone assumes they are in the price and they frequently are not. Ask whether they are fixed, sliding or roller, because the answer changes the frame.
Permission. Replacing windows like-for-like inside the existing openings is generally maintenance rather than development, so it does not go through the planning route. Enlarging an opening, forming a new one, or changing anything structural above it is a different matter and needs proper advice before anyone picks up a disc cutter. Two other permissions catch people out: an apartment block's own rules commonly govern changes to the external appearance of the building, and placing a skip on a public road generally needs municipal consent.
Lead time. Four to eight weeks from final measure to installation is normal for made-to-order frames. Nothing gets ordered until someone has measured the actual openings, and openings in older Cypriot houses are seldom square, so the survey visit is not a formality.
Time of year. Removing a window opens the house to the weather for a day. Coastal winter rain and the dust that arrives on a Nicosia wind are both good reasons to plan around the forecast rather than the calendar. High summer is workable but the working day shortens at both ends.
The low quote. Nearly always non-broken profile, a thinner sealed unit, screens excluded, or making-good excluded. Read the specification before you read the total.
Where the answer depends
The frame that is already there
Start by finding out what you have. Slide the shutter up and look at the head of the opening: if there is a shutter box, the job includes it whether the quote says so or not. Then look at the frame section. Non-thermally-broken aluminium with a rubber gasket and a single pane is the standard fit-out of Nicosia's 1970s to 1990s blocks, and Strovolos is full of them. Those frames are usually bedded straight into the concrete surround, so they come out with plaster attached.
The elevation and the sun
North-facing openings are close to a free choice. South and, more importantly, west elevations are where glazing specification earns its money — a solar-control coating, or external shading in the form of the shutter you already own, recessed reveals, or a pergola. Cyprus is one of the few places where a window salesperson talking only about winter heat loss is answering the wrong question.
Where you are on the island
Within a few kilometres of the sea, salt in the air is the deciding factor for ironmongery rather than for the frame. Around Kato Paphos, galvanised and marine-grade fixings are the standard for good reason, and the parts that fail first are runners, hinges, handles and shutter mechanisms rather than the profiles. Inland, Nicosia has the widest temperature range on the island, so large aluminium spans need enough tolerance to move without binding. On the hillside plots around Peyia, access is the constraint: a full-width veranda slider has to physically reach the house, and if a lorry cannot get up the road it goes up by hand or by a smaller vehicle making more trips.
Our district and town pages exist because those differences are consistent enough to plan around, and the window replacement section sets out what each frame system involves before you start pricing it.
The building
A ground-floor house and a fourth-floor flat are the same window and a different job. In a block, glass goes up and old frames come down through a shared stairwell or a small lift, someone has to protect both, and the management committee will have a view on the external appearance and on working hours. Get those conversations done before the delivery date, not on it.
The sequence, and the season it lands in
Nothing here stops work, but the order matters if the windows are part of a larger renovation. Frames go in before internal plastering and painting are finished, because fitting them makes good the reveals. Fit windows after the decorator and you will pay the decorator twice.
The season is decided earlier than most people realise. A made-to-order frame runs four to eight weeks behind the final measure, so the weather you fit in is chosen when you sign, not when the fitters arrive. If you want the openings out of the house before the winter rain, count backwards from the date you care about and place the order against that, not against the day the quote lands.
What nobody asks but should
What happens to the shutter box? Insulating it, or replacing the shutter with a surface-mounted unit and closing the box up, is one of the few window-related decisions in Cyprus with a noticeable effect on comfort. It is also disruptive, which is why it is quietly omitted.
Who makes good the reveals? Inside and outside, plaster, render, paint, sills. This is the most common gap between two quotes for identical windows. If it is not written, assume it is not included.
Are the sills draining away from the building? Old aluminium sliders leak at the sill long before they leak anywhere else, and if the outside sill falls towards the house the new frame will do exactly what the old one did. Look at this on a wet day if you can.
How does the house ventilate at night? Summer nights in Cyprus are cool enough to purge heat from a house, but only if something opens safely while you sleep. Tilt-and-turn openers and secure top vents make that possible; a sealed picture window does not.
Who is doing the measuring? The measure is where jobs go wrong. Ask whether the person who quotes also surveys, whether they check the openings for square, and what happens if a frame arrives short. And get three quotes rather than two, so the middle one has something to sit between.
Common questions
Is it worth replacing windows one room at a time?
It costs more per opening, because each visit carries its own setting up, delivery and making-good. It is a reasonable way to spread the cost, and the sensible order is the west and south elevations first, since that is where the summer gain is.
What has to be in a quote for it to be comparable?
Opening-by-opening schedule with sizes, frame system named including whether it is thermally broken, glass specification including the sealed unit make-up and any coating, opening type per window, screens in or out, shutter treatment, making-good inside and out, disposal of the old frames, and the working days required. Three quotes written that way can be compared. Three totals cannot.
Do new windows need a permit in Cyprus?
Like-for-like replacement in existing openings is generally maintenance and does not go through the planning route. Changing the size or position of an opening does, and so may work on a building in a conservation area or on a listed property. If either applies, take advice before ordering anything.
Will new windows cut my electricity bill?
They reduce the load your air conditioning has to work against, most visibly on sun-facing rooms and in houses where the old frames whistle. Treat it as comfort first and running cost second, and pair the glass with external shading rather than relying on the glass alone.
Who should I be asking for quotes?
Window and glazing contractors who work in your district and on your type of building — a block with a shared stairwell and a detached house are different logistics. Our project pages set out what each system involves and the district listings show who covers your area.
Window and glazing contractors in Cyprus
8 companies covering this area.
Atrium
Chalkoutsa, Limassol
Atrium is a window construction in Chalkoutsa, in the Limassol district.
Pipakis Aluminium Systems
Deryneia, Famagusta
Pipakis Aluminium Systems is a window construction in Deryneia, in the Famagusta district.
Muskita Aluminum Industries
Aradhippou, Larnaca
Muskita Aluminum Industries is a company in Aradhippou, in the Larnaca district.
Euroblinds
Agios Georgios, Nicosia
Euroblinds is a window blind in Agios Georgios, in the Nicosia district.
P. Andreou Enterprises
Kalograes, Nicosia
P. Andreou Enterprises is a doors business in Kalograes, in the Nicosia district.
Window Gallery
Aspres, Nicosia
Window Gallery is a window construction in Aspres, in the Nicosia district.
Alpha Blinds
Agioi Anargyroi Ii, Larnaca
Alpha Blinds is a window blind in Agioi Anargyroi Ii, in the Larnaca district.
Sources
- Department of Town Planning and Housing — planning and permit guidance — retrieved 2026-07-24
- Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) — construction practice — retrieved 2026-07-24
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry — buildings and energy performance — retrieved 2026-07-24
01More on this topic
Same cluster.Different question.
7 min readWhat Window Replacement Actually Involves in Cyprus
What a Cyprus window replacement quote really covers, what it leaves out, and the costs owners only find out about once the old frames are on the pavement.
7 min readWindow Replacement Maintenance in Cyprus: What and How Often
Cypriot windows fail at the gaskets, rollers and drainage holes, not the glass. What to check, how often, and which jobs need a professional.
Thinking of doing this?Get up to five quotes, free.
Describe the project and we will gather quotes from companies that can handle the whole sequence.