Basic types of windows

Windows are important parts of almost any home or apartment. They serve to illuminate the interior space of certain rooms, can be a decoration of a building, play an important role in thermoregulation and ventilation of a room. Currently, the technologies for the production of modern types of windows can be very different. The materials from which the windows are made are also varied. Window frames can be made of PVC, fiberglass, wood, aluminum and some others. Today, the most popular and widespread are metal-plastic structures, followed by wooden ones, combined and aluminum windows follow..

Reinforced-plastic window structures have been widely used in construction for more than fifty years. They entered the markets of Russia and the CIS countries only in the nineties of the last, twentieth century. Previously, their cost was very high, and therefore such windows were in the houses and apartments of only very wealthy citizens. Now, with the development of production technologies, their cost has dropped sharply and in our time they are quite affordable. Such structures consist of a reinforcing reinforcement (made of galvanized steel), a PVC profile, a glass unit and fittings. Such windows have many advantages. They have a fairly long service life. Some manufacturers give a product warranty for more than forty years. Such windows easily cope with both tropical heat and arctic cold. These windows are self-extinguishing. There are many manufacturers on the market, therefore, the buyer always has a lot to choose from. Reinforced-plastic structures provide high tightness and sound insulation. They have a relatively low cost. There is a wide range of paint options and designs. The disadvantages of metal-plastic windows are their properties: they do not breathe (this disadvantage is eliminated by the design, that is, you can use the microcirculation mode). The material from which they are made is not natural, which means less environmentally friendly.

The next most popular are wooden windows. There are two types of such windows on the market today. One of them is traditional windows, which do not use double-glazed windows and other modern technologies, and the other is windows using the most modern technologies in the manufacture. The traditional type of windows uses single or double glass. They are well known to us since Soviet times. In European windows, a single-chamber or double-glazed unit is used. In the manufacture of the frame of such windows, a three-layer timber of hardwood is used. Technologically, the manufacture of such windows is more expensive than metal-plastic ones. This affects their cost, and as a result, the final price. However, such windows are considered environmentally friendly. Most often, frames are made of pine and larch, and the most expensive and high-quality ones are made of Ural or Altai larch. The advantages of such windows include the fact that they are made from environmentally friendly materials that are safe for human health. Also, they are perfectly combined in color with doors, wooden furniture and parquet, such windows breathe, and their service life, with proper care, can be more than fifty years. The disadvantages include their high cost and capriciousness. That is, such windows require constant care and careful handling..

Aluminum windows are used where a large glazing area is required. They found the greatest application in the construction of public buildings. Their advantages, undoubtedly, include a very long service life, good resistance to fires, a relatively low weight of the structure, modularity, and corrosion resistance. The disadvantages of such windows are the complexity of the installation. Aluminum frames do not withstand the effects of cement mortars and some building mixtures. Therefore, they must be installed very carefully..

Combined windows have not yet become widespread enough. However, the majority of specialists who understand this matter are increasingly inclined to believe that in the future this particular type of windows will take a leading position in the market. Such windows have incorporated the advantages of the above types of windows. In such designs, various materials can be successfully combined. At the moment, the most widespread are aluminum-wooden windows. Such windows are made of wood, which is closed from the outside with an aluminum shell. These windows have absorbed all the best properties of wooden windows, but at the same time acquired the best protection from the external environment, they are more durable than their wooden counterparts. They don’t need constant care. There are other combinations of materials, but they are too expensive to manufacture and are unlikely to be widely used, but will be used in solving highly specialized problems..