uPVC Windows | uPVC or Wooden Window Frames?

uPVC or Wooden Window Frames?

Windows with wooden window frames have obviously been the choice for many decades and even centuries.  In recent years uPVC doors and windows have made an incredible impact in the window market, as these windows have many advantages, including ease of maintenance and now many manufacturers such as Marvin Windows, Anderson Windows and Senator Windows and Munster Joinery, to name but a few, are huge players in the business markets and produce many different types and styles of windows, that home owners can install themselves if they wish.  However, as many environmental questions hang over the issue of uPVC production, there are disadvantages to uPVC windows and as the timber window manufacturers have started a spirited fightback,  the pros and cons of each are being debated with renewed vigour.

  • With regard to the life span of the products, both camps make claims for victory, with the uPVC window suppliers claiming that 25 years is a good life span with minimum maintenance and the manufacturers of timber windows saying that given the improvement in timber protection products (not environmentally friendly by the way), that timber windows, with proper care and attention could have a much longer lifespan that their counterparts.

    Try This Book On Timber-Frame Homes (click on image for details)

    Try This Book On Timber-Frame Homes (click on image for details)

  • The timber window frames fan club (The TWFC – just kidding!), claim that whereas a handyman can and will carry out repairs to a wooden  window frame, the same cannot be said for the complicated moulded and sealed system that is employed in the manufacture of uPVC windows.  If your uPVC window frame or locking system breaks, call the installer.  An added point to this is that in the event of a break in to your home, the damage that may be done to your uPVC window frame may be impossible to repair.
  • It is a law of nature that all products deteoriate over a period of time.  In several years, when your timber windows lose their lustre, or when you get sick and tired of that fashionable pink colour you painted them, you need only grab your paint scraper and wirebrush and clean them down and repaint them.  With uPVC windows however, you cannot do this.  In fact, you can do very little, besides keep them clean.  Manufacturers of uPVC windows say exactly, and that is why so many of their customers are happy – there is little upkeep and maintenance involved, and little temptation to change the look.
  • The Environment:  Timber is a renewable and a sustainable resource.  Here the uPVC camp are on to a loser, as uPVC is a non-natural resource which create toxic products during production and which cannot be easily disposed of.  The argument being put forward by those in favour of timber window installation is that to install timber windows is to help reduce your carbon footprint.
  • Many Planning Authorities are raising question marks with regard to the over use of uPVC sash windows in older residential estates and in character buildings.  The manufacturers of uPVC windows say that they, in turn, have made huge inroads into providing a wide range of finishes to their product and that often quality made uPVC windows sashes are indistinguishable from timber sash windows for example.

If you want to find out more about either uPVC or Timber windows and want to narrow down your search to a certain geographical location, then you can do an online search under the heading ‘wooden window frames U.K.’ or Ireland depending on which country you wish to get results from.

Related posts:

  1. Cleaning uPVC Doors And Windows.
  2. The Advantage Of uPVC Sash Windows.
  3. uPVC Windows
  4. The Advantages of Installing uPVC Windows
  5. uPVC Double Glazed Windows – Maintenance and Repair

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