Timber Windows
James Spraget

Timber Windows the Environmentally Friendly Choice

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Whether it’s cutting out single use plastics, switching to electric cars, or volunteering for beach clean-ups, we all play our part in helping to reduce pollution and in making our planet a healthier, more sustainable place to live. At Timber Windows Direct, we are no different, that is why we ensure all the timber that we use is FSC certified.

The Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC for short, are a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to promoting responsible and sustainable forestry. They certify forests all over the world to ensure they meet the highest environmental standards.

To be given FSC certification a forest must be managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This is what makes the FSC system unique and ensures that a forest is well-managed from the protection of indigenous people’s rights to the methods of felling trees. Forests that meet these strict standards are given FSC certification and the timber allowed to carry the FSC label.

As well as our timber coming from environmentally friendly and sustainable sources, it also holds plenty of environmentally friendly properties itself. Wood has the best thermal insulation of any mainstream construction material, so that when you Timber Windows are paired with argon filled double glazed units, your home will stay warmer for longer, allowing you to keep the heating off for longer, saving both money, and the environment.

Timber windows also last up to 60 years, double the length of some other materials, and are repairable should any damage occur, meaning your investing into the future of the planet as well as the future of your home. When the time does eventually come to replace your windows, wood is fully reusable and uses much less energy to recycle in comparison to steel or aluminium.

Even after replacing your windows, you can rest assured knowing that you are making a positive impact on the planet!

A material that only needs sunlight and rainfall to grow? A material that uses 24 times less energy to produce than steel? Now that’s seems like the environmentally friendly choice for your windows…

Get in contact with Timber Windows Direct to obtain a quote.

Timber Windows
James Spraget

Should I choose Weights or Springs?

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Traditionally, all sliding sash windows were operated by cast iron weights.

Weights

A sash box of 98mm is built into each side of the window, which houses the weights. This is then attached to a piece of sash cord, which travels over a pulley in the top corners of the window and attaches to the sash that will be sliding. The weight is selected to closely match the weight of the sash that is sliding, so that a perfect counterbalance is achieved and movement of the otherwise heavy window sash is as effortless as possible.

Spring Balances

The use of weights and pulleys in modern sliding sash windows has declined over recent years, and has largely been replaced by the spring balance system. The Springs work using similar principles of counterbalancing, but achieve it through the use of two springs inside a PVC tube. Spring balances are normally visible on the inside of the window. However, a thin cover paint matched to the window and allow total concealment is used in manufacturing. This makes the windows with spring balances almost perfectly reflect the style of those with weights and pulleys.

To aid in opening windows, as well as hold windows open and closed, spiral balances utilize a spiral-shaped rod within a tube. This rod connects to a spring, which is what provides the tension for supporting the sash. The tension is adjusted by being wound to match the sash it is supporting.

Should I choose weights or springs?

Both systems have advantages and disadvantages, and the right system for you will depend on your location, the reveals in the window opening and the desired impact you are hoping for. Weight and pulley systems have an unmistakeable historic feel, they fit neatly behind traditional reveals, the systems last longer (many decades) and repair only requires fitting a new sash cord. Spiral balances systems fit neatly into all building/reveal profiles without reducing light.

If you would like a quote for sash windows with Weights or springs please get in touch.

Timber Windows - Meranti Hardwood
James Spraget

Meranti

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Meranti is a versatile hardwood timber suited to a range of projects where aesthetic beauty is a priority. 

Whether your latest creation looks like a window frame, moulding, piece of furniture or general joinery job, this straight-grain wood is a hardwearing and easy to work with choice that can be machined, sanded and finished beautifully.

With straight-grain consistency, meranti trees produce long, straight pieces of lumber. It’s used for moulding, structure, furniture, cabinets, window and doors, and veneers for plywood. Meranti is one of the more affordable hardwoods due in part to numerous subspecies, prolific growing characteristics and availability.

Red meranti is not a tree species but a loose wood term that is used for lumber from trees of the shorea genus. In total there are over 190 shorea tree species and all part of the dipterocarpaceae family. These trees grow in the tropical rainforests all throughout Asia and are famous for their hardwood properties. Red meranti is a classification term based on wood properties like colour, hardness, density and weight. Trees like shorea leprosula and shorea ovalis produce top quality red meranti!

Red meranti is one of the most used and traded tropical hardwoods. It is difficult to work with hand tools because of its hardness and high density. Pre drilling is always advised when screws or nails are used.

Red meranti will absorb paint quick and multiple layers are often not sufficient. It is therefore recommended to use special oils that soak into the wood. This protects it from the elements and gives it nice colorations. Red meranti can be glued well but due to its high density it is advised to use special heavy duty glue.

Hardwoods generally come from broad-leafed, deciduous trees such as oak, beech and mahogany. The thing that defines a hardwood from a softwood is the presence of special pores in the cellular structure of the wood itself. Their complex cellular structure gives them a great dimensional stability and durability. Hardwoods are used in everything from musical instruments, boats, tools and of course, windows.

Why not request a hardwood window quote from Timber Windows Direct?

Timber windows direct - Obscured
James Spraget

What does obscure glass mean?

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Obscure glass can be any one of dozens of types of glass, each set apart from ordinary glass due to their partial lack of transparency. Obscure glass of any sort distorts or obscures the items on the other side of the glass, whether this is by using textures or patterns. Obscure glass ranges from only offering very slight distortion to completely hiding the items in question from view or revealing only silhouettes.

Perhaps our most common sort of obscure glass is float mat glass, which has been chemically treated to stop it from being transparent, while still allowing large amounts of light through. Immediately distinctive with its smooth, frosted appearance, satin glass is a versatile and popular form of obscure glass – though many, many more types exist.

Frosted glass is produced by the sandblasting or acid etching of clear sheet glass. This creates a pitted surface on one side of the glass pane and has the effect of rendering the glass translucent by scattering the light which passes through, thus blurring images while still transmitting light

The increased use of glass as a modern decorative material leads to the necessity of satisfying the specific requirements which designers and architects place before it. Thus, ornamental glass should let the light come inside a room enhancing the warmth and depth of its features while at the same time preserving its privacy. The ornamental glass offered by Timber Windows Direct boasts the highest quality and a unique style to match.

Timber Windows
James Spraget

Timber Windows with Argon

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Why Are Double-Glazed Windows Filled with Argon?

When it comes to energy efficiency, windows are notoriously vulnerable.  Given a chance, they’ll drain the heat out of your home and into the great outdoors, far faster than brickwork and doors.

Thankfully, certain types of Timber window offer considerable protection against this loss of heat.  Of these, the most widespread is Double Glazing, which features in a majority of homes in the United Kingdom.  It works by placing two panes of glass parallel to one another in the frame – an arrangement which helps to impede the flow of heat from one side of the Timber window to the other.

Inert gases like argon, krypton and xenon are more often used by manufacturers today.  Each offers considerable improvements in thermal efficiency and noise reduction.

What is Argon?

‘The chemical element of atomic number 18, an inert gaseous element of the noble gas group. Argon is the commonest noble gas, making up nearly one per cent of the earth’s atmosphere.’

It is therefore amazing that it was not discovered until 1894, the technology was simply not available before then. Now we do know it exists it is very useful, Argon is non-reactive so it is a perfect element when really high temperatures are required such as with welding, when you look in a light bulb it looks like there’s nothing there, but in fact you are looking at Argon it is non-toxic, colourless, odourless and chemically inert.

Argon is heavier than air, and so provides superior insulation and sound-proofing characteristics.  It’s also far more resistant to the formation of condensation, and will corrode the surrounding window far less than its equivalents – particularly at the bottom of the window, where condensation tends to start forming.

If you’re looking to upgrade your existing windows, an argon filled double-glazed replacement makes a sensible choice.

http://www.timberwindows-direct.co.uk

Timber Windows
James Spraget

Timber Sash Window – Horns

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Window horns were originally used in timber sash windows to strengthen the window’s structure. They supported the mortice and tenon joints and prevented the sashes from opening too far and becoming jammed. As the Victorian period progressed, architects wanted to use increasingly larger glass panes. Without the glazing bars, a new method of support was needed. Thus, sash horns were born.

If you look closely at any period property from the Victorian era, you should be able to see the window horns. They were manufactured in several shapes depending on the architectural fashions of the time and place. Some are a simple curve while others feature an ‘s’ shaped design, an inverted slope, or a more intricate combination of inset and protrusion. They are now representative of the period style and are considered essential in any heritage property renovations.

Victorian houses are now associated with large single pane windows many with canted rather than bowed bays. Canted or square angled bays were a third of the labour cost of bowed windows. During this period many late Georgian and regency properties had their windows upgraded; a sign of wealth was large windows without glazing bars. To accommodate these heavy single panes of glass the horn or joggle was introduced on the upper sashes. This is a detail you can see in the corner of the sash which is to hide a mortise and tenon joint which slots into each other. Earlier multi pane window were just slotted together but this joint proved to be weak with the weight of the new glass.

Originating almost 400 years ago sliding sash windows have a rich history having spanned various eras including the Victorian and Georgian eras and have seen many design developments over the years. One of which being the inclusion of a sash horn; dating back to the mid-Victorian period sliding sash horns were a little piece of intelligent Victorian engineering designed to make the joints stronger. Taking on various shapes and sizes over the years, these horns, often intricate, are used today as purely a decorative element and, despite their size, can make all the difference to the overall look of the window.

Timber Windows
James Spraget

What is Low-E Glass?

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Ordinarily, glass will allow solar energy to pass from one side of the Timber window to the other.  This includes the relatively narrow spectrum of visible wavelengths, as well as those higher and lower wavelengths (known respectively as infra-red and ultra-violet light).

This is bad news!

Ultraviolet light has a habit of bleaching materials it comes into contact with.  Fabrics and wallpaper will fade much more quickly if they’re exposed to UV for a significant period of the day.

Infra-red light poses a different problem, in that it’s transmitted into the building as heat.  If you’re looking to keep cool during a blisteringly hot summer’s day, you’re going to struggle – you might even be tempted to draw the curtains in order to keep the sunlight out.

The Low-E glass in our Timber Windows comes with a special coating that’s designed to act as a filter, allowing visible light through while excluding the superfluous wavelengths to either side.  This will allow your interior to enjoy the benefits of more light, without the downsides posed by ultraviolet and infra-red.

How low-E Glass Works

When heat or light strike a surface, that surface will absorb a portion of that energy and re-radiate it.  How large a portion this might be will depend on the surface in question.  If you’ve sat in a car with black leather seats on a summer’s day, you’ll know that dark materials tend to absorb and radiate more energy than reflective ones.

The amount of energy radiated by a surface is known as its emissivity. Glass, unfortunately, is naturally high in emissivity.  The more we can reduce this, the better an insulator our glass will be.

On the surface of each pane of low-E glass is a microscopically-thin coating that is designed to reflect infra-red rays.  This coating can be made from silver, or a variety of other metals, but their purpose is always the same: to deflect heat away from the glass.

Types of Low-E Glass

Low-E glass comes in two different varieties, and it’s produced using two different techniques.

A passive Low-E coating is built to contribute to the amount of heat within a home, preventing energy from leaving and thus lowering the heating bill.

A solar-control low-E coating works in the opposite way. It reduces the amount of energy entering the home, helping to keep it cool.

The right type of low-E glass for you will depend on the location of the building.

How is Low-E Glass Coated?

Each type of glass can be coated using one of two methods:

Pyrolytic

This process emerged in the 1970s.  It is applied to the glass shortly after production.  The coating fuses neatly with the hot glass before the latter has a chance to set, and stays that way for the entire lifespan of the window.  The glass is then cut to size and shipped.

Magnetron Sputter Vacuum Deposition (MSVD)

This process came a little bit later, in the 1980s.  It’s slightly different in that it’s applied to the sheets of glass after they’ve been cut to size, using a vacuum chamber and magnets to apply the coating at room temperature.

For many years, passive coatings were produced using the pyrolytic method, and solar-control coatings using the MSVD method.  More recently this line has begun to blur.

What does Low-E Glass Look Like?

So what effect, if any, does a low-emissivity coating have on the appearance of the window?  Since there are many different types of low-E coatings, and they can be applied at different thicknesses, it’s easy to be misled by reports of a set of ‘tinted’ low-E windows which block out certain colours, and distort the view of the exterior.

If, however, you want to ensure you don’t get any nasty surprises, it’s worth inspecting the sort of low-E glass you’re considering before making your purchase.

How Much UV Does Low-E Glass Block?

The thermal performance of windows is typically measured using the U-value.  This number refers to the amount of heat loss the glass permits per a given area.  According to the U-value, low-emissivity windows tend to be twice as efficient as their plain-glass counterparts – but it’s important that an impartial initiative backs up the manufacturer’s claims.

Naturally, this figure doesn’t cover the UV light that low-E glass will block.  Depending on the strength of the coating, low-E glass can prevent anywhere between 80% and 99% of ultraviolet light from entering the home (compared with around 60% by a standard window).  This extra protection is especially worthwhile if the sunlight entering a window is immediately falling on a set of curtains, a fabric-covered sofa, or a prized rug.

Contact us for a quote – Timber Windows Direct.

James Spraget

What U-Value Should your Timber Windows Have?

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When you are looking for a new set of Timber windows, there’s one metric that you’re almost certain to encounter, the ‘U’ value. This number is a way of describing a window’s thermal efficiency, but what does it mean? What is the best U-value Timber window, and what is the U-value of double glazing?

How Does U-Value Work?

Let us start with some definitions.

A U-value is a measure of heat energy moved through a given area of material in a given period of time. This might be a Timber window, but it might equally be a wall or a door. It’s most often measured in watts per metres squared, when the difference in temperature between the two sides is one-degree Kelvin. Given that that’s a bit of a mouthful, we tend to say ‘W/m2K’ instead.

It’s important to note here that the U-value of a given window refers to its efficiency per square metre. So, two windows might have the same U-Value, but transmit heat at different rates because one is a different size to the other.

The lower its U-value, the better an insulator the window will be. If you’re aiming for the most thermally efficient house possible (as most of us are, cost permitting), you should almost always go for the Timber window of the lowest U-value.

How to Calculate the U-Value of a Window

If you’re buying a new Timber window, you’ll be able to see its U-value advertised by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, calculating a window’s U-value yourself isn’t particularly easy, nor are your calculations likely to be totally accurate.

For example, not every glass panel is manufactured to the exact same standards, and what stacks up in a laboratory might not translate into the real world. While there are bodies like the BFRC (which we’ll discuss in a minute) there to maintain quality standards, it’s important to treat claims about efficiency with a degree of scepticism.

Secondly, the glass panel isn’t the only thing you need to consider – the window frame also conducts heat, and will contribute to the thermal efficiency of the window. While it’s possible to account for this in your calculation, given that the interior of a window frame is made from a range of different materials, doing so can be very difficult.

To comply with building regulations, windows (like every other element of your property) must meet a certain minimum U-value. In the case of a window, it’s 1.6 W/m2K. Double-glazed windows, filled with argon, are typically 1.4 W/m2K, while thicker triple-glazed windows can go as low as 0.7 W/m2K.

The British Fenestration Rating Council provide a colour-coded rating system to help homeowners distinguish between different qualities of window. Good windows which keep the heat in are rated A or above. Bad ones are rated E or below. While this rating system is easy to follow, and will prevent buyers from making a mistake they will regret for years, it isn’t quite as specific as the U-value. As such, when you are looking for windows, we’d suggest looking for the U-value and spending your money accordingly. Obtaining a quote for windows with a good u value is easy.

Ultimately you will need to look beyond the lettered rating, and look at the U-value.

Timber Windows
James Spraget

Engineered Softwood Timber Windows

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Timber Windows

Educate yourself about the engineered softwood used to manufacture Timber Windows

Softwood Engineered Timber Windows

This is the only softwood that we recommend using as it is ‘engineered’. This is a process where several pieces of softwood are glued together with opposing grain directions to form a single ‘laminated’ piece, this in turn leads to a very stable product, far outperforming solid generic softwoods. Less movement in the wood means that the paint or finish doesn’t have to flex as much, ultimately leading to longer periods between re-finishing and maintenance of your windows.

The process of bonding timber together to create a component that can be used in windows, doors, conservatories or stair cases has been used for over twenty years. However, it has only been in the last ten years that we have seen significant improvements with large European joinery companies investing in the equipment to produce laminated or engineered components in hardwood or softwood to compete against products offered by companies selling UPVC and aluminium clad systems.

The UK window and door market has been dominated by UPVC and composite products for the past 15 years. However, with the increase in availability of laminated timber components this has allowed the larger joinery manufacturers to produce high performance windows and doors in timber that offers a sustainable and attractive alternative to plastic or aluminium.

Why use Engineered Timber?

  • Timber bonded together in thickness and/or width offers greater stability over solid timber. • Wastage is reduced significantly during the manufacturing process, due to specific width and length availability. • Reduced production costs including labour. • Significant improvement in quality (defects removed) • Full utilisation of every component purchased. • Reduced stock holding • Reduction in waste removal.

Contact us for a quote to see for yourself how competitively priced our Timber windows are in comparison to UPVC.

www.timberwindows-direct.co.uk

Timber Windows
James Spraget

Timber Windows – London

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Timber Windows are an exquisite feature of any modern-day London property.

Timber Windows

timber windows

The period properties found in this area of the country are iconic with their large Timber Sash Windows and the history of them is rather grand.

Timber Sash windows are first believed to have been used in the late 17th century. Earlier than this heavy timber casement windows were normally used. In the early eighteenth century, the superiority of the timber sash window meant that sash windows became predominant, in fact some owners of houses of earlier dates, replaced their casement windows with timber sash windows. This can lead to 16th and 17th century houses being mistaken for Victorian properties.

Some of the very earliest sash windows did not have weights and pulleys, but more often the lower sash was held up using timber wedges.

The window tax of 1746 was repealed in 1851, as a result of this house builders started using more timber windows and the popularity of the Timber Sash window boomed especially in London.

In the Georgian period, smaller panes were used in the sashes. Typically, this was 6 panes over 6 panes, although larger timber windows would have had to use more panes simple to cover the size of the apertures.
During the Victorian period the development of polished sheet glass in 1838 revolutionised the manufacture of Timber Sash windows, the use of larger sheets of glass became possible, with fewer glazing bars. This coincided with the use of “horns” to strengthen the frame.

During the 1870’s four paned timber windows became the norm, followed by 1 over 1 sashes. A late revival in the use of smaller panes took place at the end of the 19th century, along with the use of multi-paned upper sashes over single paned lower sashes.

Please feel free to get in touch with us to obtain a quote for Timber Windows.