Plastic or wooden doors and windows

[mark]

Depends how old the property is. For me anything Victorian or earlier should have timber windows and anyone putting in plastic should be shot.

mark

[sweetheart]

Quick survey.

Plastic or wooden doors?

OH wants wood. I want plastic. Which is actually better and why? ( my reasons are I don't like painting !) Thanks.

[Man at B&Q]

Plastic doors that look like wooden ones, rather than looking like plastic ones.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

You can get plastic doors that look very much like wooden ones from not too fat away.

MBQ

[NT]

Plastic: good insulation, sealed glazing units prone to fail and need replacement, frames easily damaged and not easily repaired, no painting, multipoint locking more secure than single point, multipoint mechanism can jam, but no matter what you do plastic windows look crap.

Wood: Look good, in character with old houses, poorer insulation, locks should generally be fitted but often arent, very repairable, but need painting and rot if not maintained. A legal requirement in many houses in conservation areas or if listed.

NT

[geraldthehamster]

Why would a double-glazed timber window offer poorer insulation than a plastic one?

I agree that plastic windows almost invariably look crap. The only exception might be the high end plastic sash windows, and even they look crap from close by. You don't need to maintain plastic windows, but the corollary is that you can't really maintain them, they just deteriorate, and look more crap. Aesthetically, few things would make me happier than an unexpected discovery that UPVC was as hazardous as asbestos, and the wholesale removal of the ill-proportioned, poorly designed, flimsy crap that has disfigured so much of the nations' housing.

Obviously that's just my opinion ;-)

Cheers Richard

[TMC]

I have softwood windows and treat with Sadolin/Sikkins

I do not use paint as it was cracks in the paint that caused the original windows to rot

The ones I put in 18 years are fine, one of those put in 20+ years ago needs a bit of repair to a corner of the cill

Neighbours have all had their original replacement upvc windows replaced a second time

Beware of the wood grain upvc as I have been told that there are 2 different types (but I cold be wrong or out of date) one which is white with a wood grain surface and another which is wood coloured throughout the latter are not as bad as the former

Regards

[NT]

1. A lot of timber windows are simply not compatible with double glazing, especially sliding sash. The extra weight means bigger counterweights required, and there isnt room. These windows have thin glazing bars that rely on the glass and putty to raise the strength to the required amount, but sealed dg is incompatible with putty fixing, and silcone bedding it would leave a weak window.
2. Plastic frames are filled with insulating foam, wood is not.
3. Plastic normally incorporate multipoint latching and draught sealing, timber usually incorporates neither.
4. Secondary glazing is sometimes done with timber, but this has compatibility issues too. If opening the window is blocked by a whole sheet of sg, that works, albeit with rather an issue. If sg is mounted onto the timber sashes, sometimes it works, sometimes it causes condensation, mould & rot.

NT

[geraldthehamster]

Another issue is structural: even in fairly modern houses, the original wooden frames can have a supporting role. When removing timber windows from my 1960s bungalow (to replace with double glazed timber windows), we discovered that while there were lintels in the inner block wall, the windows were built into the brick skin with no lintels. Fortunately they didn't have much to support, but many an older window bay has suffered damage through cracking, because solid timber frames have been replaced with flimy plastic.

Cheers Richard

[geraldthehamster]

Many modern sash windows use spring balances, rather than counterweights. Double glazed units are more rigid than single panes of glass, and the timber frame and sash are deeper to accommodate them, and therefore stronger. Glazing bars are either as deep as the frame, or planted on a double glazed unit the size of the window, and not structural. I don't think putty adds to the rigidity of a window. Plastic frames need to be filled with foam to stand a chance. Any good timber window will incorporate draught sealing (all mine do).

Cheers Richard

[1970alr]

Depleted uranium?

[geraldthehamster]

This is an interesting piece on plastic vs timber windows:

think the relative strength of the arguments from both sides is fairly clear.

Cheers Richard

[geraldthehamster]

While I'm at it:

[Jonathan]

Powdered aluminium - can be any coulour you choose. You don't have to paint them and they look much better than plastic. Add self-cleaning glass and you are away!

Jonathan

[Tim Streater]

There are timber DG units that are just crap, too. When we moved in here first thing we noticed is that in a howling north gale, the house froze. Why? because cold air just seeped around the edges of the DG units. Closing such a window did not give an airtight seal.

If you want timber DG units that are effective, it's gonna *cost*.

Advice to sweetheart: get some pricing comparisons.

[chris French]

Yeah, but that is just bad product/installation. Steel supports inside the frame would have avoided the problem

[sweetheart]

So do I take it you all have wooden windows and doors in your houses then?

Well thats me up the creek any way. I don't want wood. The wood we have is rotten to the core. I don't want to repair or paint it ( I have to go to work and besides its not my scene).

So I guess we will have nothing. It will all have to fall down.

I was hoping for s ome support in getting in some new windows and doors really. But you all support OH. Thats fine.

Not as it matters . I called a firm for a quote They said they would call back to make an appointment but they have not, so that is that, as they say.

Thanks.

[NT]

Factually incorrect, largely political, and misses most of the points

[funkyoldcortina]

Neither. Aluminium.

Just make sure you get a decent one where the aluminium is filled with insulation, and it is actually two pieces (inner skin and outer skin) joined together with resin, which helps stop heat loss as alu is a great heat conductor.

[Roger Mills]

As a couple of other people have said - NEITHER. If you want good looks, coupled with high strength and freedom from maintenance - it

*has* to be powder-coated thermal-break aluminium. I've had this type in my house since 1985, and am convinced that they're far superior to wood or plastic.