Here in the UK almost every single homeowner, person renting or business/company under a lease agreement has double glazed windows in their property or premises with single glazed windows almost unheard of in these modern times apart from in buildings such as detached garages, sheds, out-houses and greenhouses although even some sheds and garages nowadays boast double glazing especially if they are being used as a home office which is becoming more and more popular with the working from home trend.
Most UK based window manufacturers only offer their customer’s the uPVC option but a few still give customers a choice of uPVC or traditional wood, but why would anyone choose wood over uPVC when uPVC is hard wearing, doesn’t rot or need painting, ever and lasts much longer than wood does. In some cases it’s a personal choice because the customers simply wants to keep the traditional look of their home but sometimes the customer or homeowner has no choice because they live in listed building.
For those who don’t know what a listing building is, a building is class as listed when it is of special architectural or historic interest and considered to be of national and historical importance and therefore worth protecting in its original state and protecting a listed building means keeping the original architecture including windows, or course you can replace the windows in a listed building for new ones, you don’t need to live in a building with old rotten windows, but the new windows do need to be replicas of the originals using original materials, i.e. wood.
For modern, non listed buildings the preferred choice of material for external windows is uPVC which as previously mentioned is very hard wearing, weather resistant and requires very little maintenance.
uPCV windows first started to become fashionable in UK homes and businesses around the late 1980’s though to the early 1990’s, before this you had those dreadful aluminium windows, luckily their popularity was short lived, on the other hand you now have new powder coated aluminium window and door frames that are becoming popular, but with a much higher price tag than uPVC they are still beyond most peoples budgets allowing uPVC to reign supreme, for the time being anyway.
As demand grew for uPVC windows during the 1990s, 2000’s the price came down too just like any new product and with new modern machinery being built and more efficient, innovative manufacturing techniques getting invented the cost of manufacturing uPVC window frames dropped considerably making them affordable for all and this is where we are today.
Unfortunately these frames do have one problem; should you damage a uPVC window frame either due to an accident or through a break in, the only course of action used to be to have the whole window replaced, which was not only very costly much more costly than the cost of repairing or replacing a wooden window frame but would also mean internal redecoration would also be required. Luckily this has now all changed.
With new materials and techniques currently available it is now possible to have your uPVC window or door frame invisibly repaired so it is as good as new, seriously, you can not see the repair whether you have chipped your frame, cracked it, burnt it out even took a chunk out, your uPVC frame can now be repaired so it looks as good as new and far less than the cost of replacing the entire window. So how is it done?
The actual method is currently a closely guarded trade secret and no DIY kits are currently available to the general public as I assume the materials, if used incorrectly might be dangerous especially if used by an untrained amateur and are probably only available in bulk anyway, but just like having a bodywork repair done to your vehicle, the repair is only as good and the person doing the work so like any business or services it’s up to the customer to seek out the best person for the job.
There are a number of companies and independent tradesmen across the country currently offering uPVC window and door frame repair like the ones mentioned , typically along side other related services such as the realignment of uPVC windows and doors, Patio and French door adjustments, Window locking mechanisms repair services and general locksmith and security services.
There are some independent tradesmen offering uPVC frame repair but most of the time you’ll find this double glazing repair service being offered by locksmiths who are usually already involved in the post break in, post window, door, lock damage industry. This industry is still relatively new but we’ve managed to fine a couple of locksmiths offering this service
