Wood Types

Most of our windows are made from Oak, Iroko or Douglas fir

Iroko is mainly grown in West Africa. It looks like teak and has the properties of teak. It is extremely stable and is ideal for windows and doors. It is naturally one of the most durable timbers as it contains natural oil. It needs no preservative outside. When oil is applied the colour tends to be slightly darker and not as golden as Oak. Iroko will fade to a silvery colour in time.

Oak – Northern European oak is denser and stronger than wood from central regions as it grows slower. Much of the wood harvested in Britain is done so under the scrutiny of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We select our wood carefully to ensure that each piece is suitable for production.

Softwood. There are many different grades of softwood. We mainly use Douglas Fir as it is very durable and in our experience needs little attention in the future.

Wood finishing

We recommend that Danish Oil is used on Oak and Iroko. A thin coat should be applied either prior to leaving the factory or by your builder on site immediately after delivery. A further coat should be applied after fitting.

Silver look to windows can be obtained by allowing the Danish oil to fade. This process takes about a year depending on the amount of sun on the wood. Both Oak and Iroko contain enough natural tannins to keep the wood protected. However the inside of the window must be coated as the wood will stain if rain reaches the open sashes.

Iroko can be stained light oak using the Sadolins 3 coat system. You will then achieve the look of Oak at lower prices. The windows however will not turn silver with age.

Glass

Double glazed units - Pilkington K 4mm + 16mm space + 4mm float. The U value is 2.0 W/m2K . Spacers come in black, brown or white. The units are guaranteed for 10 years. All the glazing is kite marked to BS EN 1279 British Standard.

Safety glass is either toughened (or 'tempered') glass or laminated glass. Toughened glass is made by heating and cooling the individual piece of glass in a way which makes it up to three or four times more resistant to breaking.-

Laminated glass is made by sandwiching two sheets of thinner glass around a plastic interlayer. When impacted, laminated glass will crack but stay in one piece. Wherever possible we use 6.04mm laminated glass because it offers better security in terms of resistance to intrusion

Leaded lights – see www.toplineglazing.co.uk

Windows that have 4 and 6 panes are supplied as one double glazed unit with spacers between the window bars.

We can also supply sun cool glass, obscure and laminated

Most of our glazing is supplied by Topline Glazing- www.toplineglazing.co.uk

If you prefer you can order the glass directly from Topline or from a glazing company near you. In the online pricing system simply put glass not required.

Ironmongery

- Hanging of doors and locks

Ironmongery is a personalised choice and is also liable to damage during the building process. As such we provide basic ironmongery with our windows and recommend that you purchase and fit your preferred ironmongery after the decorating stage of the build.

Our windows will be supplied with a locking handle and latch using the espagnolette locking system. This system is optional but has the benefit of locking the windows in two positions which helps keep the wood in the correct position.

Doors will be supplied separately for fitting on site by site carpenters. No door furniture or locks are supplied.

We recommend Jim Laurence, Dartington Steel and Clayton Monroe as suppliers of good quality window and door furniture. Their details can easily be found on the web. They provide fittings that are compatible with our system. If there is a particular fitting you require please send it to us prior to manufacture.