About Pvc Windows.pdf

About PVC-U

ouble Glazed

indows

This is an excellent, highly insulate material, which

benefits from little or no external maintenance. It is

readily available and well tested and is usually the

lowest cost option of all three materials. It is mainly seen in white but also

available in Mahogany and Oak woodgrain styles. PVCu is by far the most popular

material for windows and doors today.

There are many well-proven PVCu extrusions available. Problems with

discoloration are virtually unheard of and most suppliers will warrant against this.

The design of the windows varies from company to company. Here are a few of

the main points. You may like to raise them with your supplier .

Internal or Externally glazed windows

Most PVCu systems will now give you this option. As a generalisation Internally

beaded windows (where the glass is held in from the inside) are considered more

secure and burglar resistant. That said there are a lot of satisfactory externally

beaded PVCu systems about - many of which feature either internal wedge

gaskets or a "double sided" tape which holds the external bead firmly in place.

You should investigate this particular issue with your supplier.

Thickness of PVCu walling?

Most PVCu systems for window and door construction are "multi-walled" with

internal reinforcement by means of either Aluminium or Galvanised Steel box

section. Wall thickness can vary from system to system - most are around 3 - 3.5

mm thickness. Generally speaking the "thicker" the walling - the stronger the

section. Ask your supplier for an example section and enquire if the frames

are fully reinforced. Note also that the greater the number of internal walls - the

greater the strength.

Depth or thickness of frame

Actual depth of frame extrusion varies from as low as 50 mm to a number at 70

mm and above. Most are in the 60 - 65 mm region. Clearly this does have an

effect on the structural strength of your replacement window or door. This is

especially worth bearing in mind when comparing prices. It would not for instance

be fair to compare the price of a conservatory built using a 55 mm depth of frame

with a window made using 70 mm depth of frame.

We bring the points above to your attention purely to give you a feel for the sort

of questions you should ask a potential supplier. The above is by no means the

whole story, and there will be varying arguments one way and the other.

Here is a short list of PVCu systems companies supplying extrusion for the

manufacture of PVCu windows and doors in the UK. These include Rehau, Veka,

Spectus and Synseal.

For some, however, PVCu lacks authenticity when it comes to the more traditional

e on listed buildings

d not popular with planners in conservation areas.

oloured Frame Options

What colour do you want? You name it and today you can almost certainly get it

Standard colours for PVCu and aluminium are white, whilst for hardwood it is a

natural stain option such as mahogany, walnut or light oak. You can, however,

have hardwood already primed in green, cream and teak plus a whole host o

options to your specification. PVCu in mahogany woodgrain and cherry oak

woodgrain styles is also increasingly popular. Additionally, both PVCu and

aluminium can be specially colour

ed in red, blue, green, black and orange! (and

at's just a few of the options!)

The above only really touches the surface on some of the options

available. Your

upplier will be pleased to give you a more detailed specification.

This article is about PVC-U Windows (also referred to as upvc, pvcu and pvc

windows). Other mate

rials used for windows include Aluminium and Timber /

ardwood

For more information on Double G

lazed replacement windows visit Windows

Today http://www.windowstoday.co.uk/

Buyers Tips - Top Design Tips

In this section we introduce you to some very important but often overlooked

issues when choosing window designs. Regrettably we find that quite often some

aspects of window design are not discussed at the buyi

ng stage. These aspects

an often turn out to be very important to the buyer.

One such issue is "equal sight lines"

Unequal Sight Lines

Equal Sight Lines

When manufacturing most modern replacement windows it is normal for there to

be smaller areas of glass wherever there are openings (sashes) fitted. Where the

frames are fixed the glass area will be larger. This "unequal" site line is quite

normal and acceptable to most people.

However on a lot of older properties (and indeed some newer ones) it was more

common to have an equal sight line. (i.e. you would not be able to tell from the

outside which windows opened and which did not.) Fitting "dummy sashes" or

"dummy openers" into the frames created this "equal" sight line.

designs. It is not acceptable to planners for us

As you will see from the photographs

above the windows can have a

considerably different appearance

dependant on whether or not they have

equal sight lines.

overall

Equal sight lines are not for everybody - indeed some will not like the

"bulkier" appearance. However there is no doubt that for some types of

y this will be a "better bet". It is also a very good alternative with

propert

Georgian and Leaded Light window designs as it allows you to have rectangles /

squares that are more equal in size.

Having

for this

equal site lines adds to the overall cost of your replacement windows and

reason many peop

hile con

le do not favour this approach. That said -- it is still a

worthw

sideration in our opinion.

r possible alternative is to consider having "vertical equal sight lines". W

roach fixed windows are always above fixed windows and opening

s are always above opening windows. Ask you suppliers for more

information on this if this is unclear to you.

ith

this app

window

Another design issue that is often overlooked is whether to use black

gaskets or white gaskets on your white PVCu windows.

In the past white gaskets had not been favoured as it was not always possible to

get a "matching" white and it was not also possible to offer a "colour fast"

guarantee. This has now changed and more and mor

companies now offer bo

th alternatives.

We feel white gaskets are a good alternative - especially o

"panelled" doors.

This photograph shows a panelled door design with black

gasket. It would have looked better with a white gasket.

An alternative to white gaskets are "low profile" black

gaskets which are very slim and less obtrusive.

show up the dust/dirt. This may

be an important cons eration is you live close to a major road network etc. (Or

don't fancy cleaning

One disadvantage of white gaskets reported by some people

l often appear grubby and

too often!)

Whatever your choice we do especially recommend white gaskets on white PVCu

panelled doors.

Consider your Neig bours

When replacing wind

changes on the overa

ows it is sometimes worth considering the effect of your

ll appearance of the street or road where you live.

For instance if you and your neighbour both agree on a style for your windows

the overall effect can be considerably better if you both agree to use similar

designs. It doesn't matter if you both use the same company or even have the

work done at the same time.

Anothe

lack coloured gaskets are the norm with most companies and are widely fitted.

is that the gasket wil

Sometimes using "

e neighbourhood. As can be seen in the photograph below

n both of these porches has added to the

conflicting" styles or designs "side by side" will spoil the

appearance of th

using

similar designs o

visual appearance for

these two neighbours.

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