Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
I'm looking to replace all the windows in my house. Currently I've got uPVC with dark wood effect on the exterior and white interior. The uPVC has been a nightmare with all the large windows warping at the frame. This has the effect of not allowing the window to seat properly in the frame and so leave a gap where cold air/noise gets in.
The supplying company went bust a few yrs back so no chance of claiming on a guarantee and I just want shot of them.
So.... I'm loathed to replace with uPVC again and potentially face the same issues downstream. Hence me looking at aluminium instead. I know the old skool '70's ali frames suffered from condensation and basically looked naff but presumably things have advanced somewhat.
Anyone else had the same decision to make recently (uPVC or ali) ? If so which way did you go ?
There's always the wood option but am put off by additional maintenance + potential for frames to warp (I'm now paranoid about warping frames 🙂 ).
Anyone ?
If a large window is warping (is it a bay? )suggest lack of structural support - uPVC windows can/should have steel 'poles' in their frames to prevent this.(?)
Edit [url= http://www.ggf.org.uk/assets/W&D_Good_Practice_Guide-4ec42d0c5aa21.pdf ]W&D_Good_Practice_Guide see p13[/url]
Basically all of the house windows warped except the small ones in bathroom/toilet.
The warped frames seem to have bowed outwards. So the mortar at the sill is pushed away from the wall and on the interior a gap is appearing between the frame/wall. And then there's the gap between frame and window seal - I can see daylight through one gap.
Perhaps a manufacturing defect ? Who knows.... I don't want a repeat performance however 🙂
3 choices really…
1/ Composite - alu on the outside and laminated timber on the inside. Maintenance lite, Robust, Cost can be eye-wateringly prohibitive. Much nicer than alu inside and out.
2/ Timber - Pay for what you get. Needs more maintenance. I'd want laminated timber (doesn't/shouldn't bow)
3/ uPVC - Some are better than others. Costs less then the others.
All comes down to cost really. Whats your budget per m2 (that's how the windows will be priced by the supplier)?
Cheers piha.
Hadn't got a budget figure in mind really at this stage.
I've had various fitted in loads of developments. The industrial side of things in the past has always been powder coated ally and therefore there's a multitude of colours you can go for. Very hard wearing but expensive.
Upvc has come a long way, foiling has been a problem for some companies. The danger with foiling on white is any scuff on the foil shows through.
I certainly wouldn't discount upvc. Cream foiling looks lovely in the right house.
We as a company have built factories for two of the big players in the industry and if you subsequently get the right fabricator you can't beat it for price.
Has to be a dark exterior finish to not stand out like a sore thumb and I'm now just not convinced about dark foiled upvc behaving well in strong direct sunlight. Perhaps it's possible to seriously beef up the frame with metalwork but I'm not sure if I have the appetite to risk it all going Pete tong again.
Actually IME the cost of composite windows (timber frame, aluminium cladding externally) is comparable to that of upcv. Composite will last longer too.
Where you start getting into silly money is for thermally broken aluminium frames and hardwood frames.
Why does it have to be dark? What's the house built from?
Aluminium and then a good timber or composite. Rationel or similar.
Just doing a job where a local company are providing an aluminium window package and I'm amazed on how competitive the quote was
Take a look at velfac,ideal combi or rational these are the bigger supliers of composite windows in the market at the moment.They will have a list of approved suppliers on their website who can work with you to get the finish you want.
Composites are fine but expensive. Also tend to be very Scandinavian in character and possibly tripled glazed, fine on the right property but not for every house. I used to run a department making more English composites but they were really expensive and technically could have been better.
All aluminium systems will be thermally broken these days, no way they would pass the energy efficiency tests. You can get them powder coated or foiled and they will look the same as uPVC from more than a coupleof feet away. Some have uPVC internal cladding.
uPVC should be fine although darker colours do have potential to warp in exposed sunny locations, so not really an issue in the UK.
uPVC should be fine although [b]darker colours do have potential to warp in exposed sunny locations[/b], so not really an issue in the UK.
This is what I don't want a repeat of 🙂
Thanks for all the posts so far.
I would stay away from uPVC: There are better alternatives. As I said above, composite windows are not really any more expensive that uPVC these days and will last a lot longer. Oh, and you don't have to get them in triple-glazing.
Aluminium only windows WILL be very expensive.
Like most things, theres a world of difference between a fabricator using whatever's the cheapest available materials, or going for the higher quality, more expensive stuff. Same with UPVC. This stuff is British made, by a German company, and is quality, manufacturer-guarenteed stuff that won't warp. You can find a local fabricator and installer using their kit [url= http://www.vekauk.com/profile/consumers/products.html ]here[/url]
UPVC doesn't have to be white or woodgrain any more either. [url= http://www.vekauk.com/profile/trade/variations-our-range-of-foils.html ]This might be of interest[/url]. Absolutely loads of colours available, so it doesn't look like UPVC at all.
The composites are effectively wooden frames but with aluminium "cladding" (for want or a better word) on the outside, correct ?
The composites are effectively wooden frames but with aluminium "cladding" (for want or a better word) on the outside, correct ?
Correct, and thermally broken in the case of Velfac. You'll want the V200 series 🙂
Be careful with choosing composite replacement windows as some have a particular way of sealing that isn't the usual method (silicone to the external perimeter). V200 series windows use a weatherproof strip that is only as good as the structure it seals to.
The aluminium on composite windows is a alu profile that makes up the opening part of the window - the sash. The sash contains the double or triple glazed unit. This is fixed to the timber part of the window with steel hinges or similar.
Mate of mine had alu windows put in last year, with a dark grey colour.
They look really nice, but he's had no end of problems with them, so I think that the installing company has as much to do with the quality/longevity of the windows as anything else.
We had upvc fitted early last year. I think we had more windows than him, but he had two sets of french windows where we only had one. His total cost was over 3x ours! And he's a salesman so pretty good at not getting ripped off, but that price just seemed ridiculously high...