Thursday 30 July 2009

Any upvc frame colour you like - as long as it's white?

Not so long ago, if you were choosing upvc double glazing to replace your old windows, then the frame colour choice was usually limited to white, white or… White.

You can’t keep a good plastic extrusion manufacturer down, though, and they quickly caught onto the fact that us homeowners quite like wooden windows – and that if they could make their plastics look a bit more like wood, they might just get a few more sales.

And so it was, that wood grain finish uPVC frames were born, and in the last few years, they have flourished. Nowadays there’s a huge variety of frames and fittings for your fenestration.

White.

White is the original, and is still the most popular colour choice by far. White upvc frames rapidly underwent major improvements soon after they were first developed to battle dis-colouration problems, and modern white frames keep their appearance for many years after manufacture.

White frames, whether they’re casement, bow, bay or sash style continue to look good in any property.

Hardwood.

Cherry – The darker wood colour particularly suited to fascia uses (as it doesn’t show the dirt so much) is a ‘foil’ layer that’s applied at the extrusion manufacturing stage rather than applied by the window company themselves. This makes for an extremely durable finish.

Light Oak – with the look of a more traditional timber frame colour, Light Oak is proving to be very popular and not just in windows. This frame colour looks great on conservatories and doors. Again, the coloured ‘foil’ layer is applied at the extrusion manufacturing stage so it’s a very durable finish.

It is possible to now specify either a colour finish on the outside to blend in with existing brick or stonework, whilst opting for white on the inside to brighten up the room.

Expect to pay around 15% more (than white frames) for one sided colours and around 20% more for 2 sided colours (Oak outside, white inside etc).

Cream.

A newer frame finish that’s quickly found favour with home building developers is Cream.

To our knowledge, it’s not available as a dual-sided colour, rather the colour (like white) runs through the whole of the extrusion from which the frame is made.

It certainly looks distinctive though and if you’re looking for something to really set your property off then cream may be the finish you’ve been looking for. I’ve seen them in period properties as well and they look very good indeed – they don’t have the starkness that white windows sometimes have.

Cream is a relatively new colour and at present will cost around 20% to 25% more than standard white upvc frames.

Black and White.

You don’t see them very often and not every window company deals in them but there are two other frame colours worth mentioning here – black, which has been around for a few years now and a much newer ‘foil white’ and it’s that I want to tell you about.

Like its colour foil counterparts, the white finish is applied at manufacturing so it’s extremely durable. Why choose white ‘foil’ on a white frame? Well one of the advantages of the white ‘foil’ finish is that it gives your frame a very realistic woodgrain finish and unless you’re up close,can easily be mistaken for wood.

Hopefully, as this product becomes more and more available, it will find uses in period buildings etc that were previously unsuitable for upvc frames because of planning constraints.

Expect prices to be around 20% more than standard white frames

Whatever frame you colour or combination of colours you prefer, you'll find instant online quotes at Windowquoter - double glazing quotes without the need for a salesman to call.

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