I'd trust a builder as far as I could kick him with my feet tied together & set in concrete.
Go for wood. Any builder who thinks plastic lasts longer obviously hasn't got a clue. Ever seen an old pastic window? They're yellow, probably cracked or cracking etc. Plastic really doesn't like UV... Whereas wooden windows will last for centuries.
HHi
I am doing a loft conversion and my builders have asked if I want to have wood or plastic window frames.
Instinctively, I figured wood would give a classier finish but will need painting every few years whereas plastic will last for ages and be maintenance free. My builder recommends plastic, saying it is more widely used, is less bulky and is more expensive (and therefore better). However, I'm not sure my builder is much of an expert on this.
I have no clue as I've never looked at this at all. Does anyone out there have any advice? I would greatly appreciate any help you can give...
Ben
my take is that if wood gets damaged or needs repair it is fixable, plastic is throw away time.
mrcheerful
If they can't be reached by ladder then painting may be costly. If you feel PVCu would not be out of place, then it really is the default choice.
I'd keep 100y.o. sashes all round the house, but put PVCu in a rear dormer. I would ensure the internal board used for the sill/reveal is wood not hollow plastic.
We have had the uPVC windows installed all over the house. Wow the frames are really cold in winter. Much colder than wood. I'll have double glazed wooden framed windows at my next house if I need to have them replaced.
-- troubleinstore
uPVC was a *third* of the price of wooden replacment windows in our place. I don't think I'd want to see the sort of quality wooden windows your builder is thinking of then... ;)
Lee
I've always thought white plastic ugly and the gasket liable to run filthy black streaks down it. The section is hollow and relatively good at conducting heat and they channel internal draughts.
Having said that, they fitted them in my council flat and the flat is as warm as toast. Too hot in the summer.
Ben: Before you go any further , since you are making the opening why not make it to suit the size of your window?
Go around some of the local double glaziers and ask them for mismeasures. Anything they have in stock will be dirt cheap.
HARDwood windows. More expensive but they last forever even if not properly maintained.
Up there, who cares? I'd go with the plastic and forget about it. Wood will be a maintenance nightmare.
If you *WANT* to paint windowis in your loft every few years - wood, else all other considerations aside - plastic.
You can get some "heritage" plastic windows, that look like painted wood (the edged are much slimer)
Rick
If the rest of the house has classy wooden frames then stick to something similar but research it carefully.
cheers, Pete.
Wood has better proportions than uPVC owing to its higher strength, and IMO a wooden window frame done in a 'natural' wood finish ( e.g. microporous Sadolin Advanced Woodstain - not varnish ) looks heaps better than uPVC. My remaining wooden window frames are 70 years old and sound. As mentioned, they do need painting once in a while though. Sometimes to get the best end result you need to put a little work in.......
If you paint the windowframes in gloss paint then use a paint 'system', i.e. primer/undercoat/topcoat or as recommended, and buy the best quality paint, painting is a chore so best to do it properly in the first place.
I have seen wood effect uPVC and it is reasonably good in reproducing the grain and colour of wood but as with all uPVC, the frames are rather chunky. Anyway, my personal view is that a fake is a fake, if you want something that looks like wood, buy wood!
Andy
Plastic windows are total crap. Wood windows can be total crap worse than plastic if badly done, but can be brilliant if done well. So the main question is who is doing it.. If your builder is recommending plastic then I wouldn't have any faith in his judgement re wooden windows. You might be better off with a proper joiner.
cheers
Jacob
Wood looks nicer and actually requires less maintenance. OK, wood requires recoating in acrylic or solvent based paints every five years (but will last for hundreds of years if this is done). Plastic doesn't require painting, but does require wholesale replacement every 10 years as it rots and goes totally skanky in approximately that period of time. I suspect that over a long period, the wood would turn out to be cheaper.
Christian.
Rubbish. I don't like plastic frames aesthetically but I have never come across one that needed replacing, or had degraded in any way since it was fitted. No doubt today's materials are better than 10 years ago anyway.
So you haven't seen the surface delaminate and the joints come apart and the corners covered in that black staining mould that eats the surface?
Christian.
On Mon, 10 May 2004 10:39:29 +0100, "stuart noble"
I'd have to agree with you on that one (I normally agree with Christians advice) ;-)
From memory we did the 'rebuild' on this (1897) place 15 years ago and that included taking out 100 year old and mostly filler, newspaper, rotten wood (and draughty) sash windows, re shaping the window holes so they didn't go from 1' off the floor and ceiling to a more useful shape (aspect) and fitting uPVC ones (I didn't care what it looked like from the outside as it's not a 'nice area' and I live *inside* )
I can honestly say I haven't touched any of them in all that time (apart from a wipe down with a damp cloth every 5 years ) which is just how I like it (I've got more interesting things to do than scrape / paint wood, however nice it might look). ;-) That job would be even worse at dormer height? As soon as the soffits / facia's fall off they will be uPVC too. ;-)
There are no draughts, 'stuck' (overpainted) openers, no moved rubber seals, no black stripes or discolouration. Nor is there any condensation or problems within the panels. The frames are no colder in winter than the solid 9" walls they are fitted to? And 15 years ago the 8 windows and doors cost 2.000 (local small Co) so I don't think were that expensive either (I believe they were cheaper than wood at the time ..).
Oh, and the two biggest windows and front door are South facing and are in direct sunlight all day.
All the best ..
T i m
p.s. Anyone know if uPVC can be recycled as I would imagine most of them would come out pretty clean (no paint / nails / putty to contaminate it like wooden ones and you could easily unscrew the hardware and cut out any reinforcement)?
Pah!
You're all philistines! ;-)
I'd love to see how your plastic windows compare with wood after 100 years!
They do vary, though. Some are much better than others. My last house came with brown wood effect plastic, around 7 years old, which actually looked OK after I scrubbed the black mould off with a pack of catering size scouring pads. I couldn't get it all off, but the dark grained background made this unnecessary, as a few spots didn't show.
The door did get ruined by trick or treaters, though. When we got back from holiday to find egg stains on the door, it was actually impossible to remove. Some compound in the egg appeared to have fused with the plastic coating.
Other houses I've lived in had the white uPVC with split joints, failed DG units and smooth surfaces punctured and roughened by the mould. The windows were around 12 years old in that place and ready for the skip.
Another place I lived in had aluminium DG. The windows looked awful, stained and mouldy, but it was the easiest thing in the world to clean and polish them up like new. The mould practically leapt off when invited. It's just a shame that metal frames were totally inappropriate to the house and looked totally ridiculous.
Christian.
I'll second this. I have a south-facing wooden window frame painted with an acrylic "system" coatings that showed no sign of flaking or other deterioration after nearly 15 years. (Sandtex exterior). Properly applied, I see them as giving you the best of both worlds - you have wood with a replaceable plastic coating to resist the weathering !
To some extent it depends on installation details, e.g. exposure, aspect, fitting position (flush or in reveal). Where and how do you plan them to be?
J.B.
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