Many people over-estimate what it takes to maintain wooden windows. It is easier than you think and is well worth the time and the value that timber windows and doors add to your property.
How to maintain wooden windows or doors? Expert tips and advice.
Good quality products are usually quite easy to look after. To maintain wooden windows and doors, you should do a few simple things:
- Regularly check the outsides of them to make sure the wood has not moved and caused any cracks in the protective painted surfaces. Problems only get serious if these cracks, which are rare, are not repaired quickly.
- Clean them every few months, with paint friendly soft detergent (like heavily diluted fairy liquid), to prevent the pollution and dirt from eating away at the painted surfaces.
- DO NOT use a high-pressure spray to clean any timber products. It will destroy them and void your guarantee.
For specific advice please see our Maintenance Guide here.
Common issues often over looked
The most common problem with timber windows and doors is that people completely ignore them after they have been installed. With just a little TLC they will last so much longer and help you avoid any time consuming repairs or having to repaint them a few years down the track.
Another issue is that many manufacturers do not treat the wood properly when making them. Using an “end grain sealer” is of paramount importance to prevent the lousy UK weather forcing moisture into the most vulnerable areas of timber, which is the end grains and joints. They act like a sponge and if not sealed properly, they will absorb water from the rain and humidity from the air; and they will swell and start to rot and fall apart quite quickly. The other manufacturing issue is that many do not follow the proper process and let each coat dry for at least 12 to 24 hours, they just want to rush it out the door so they get paid as quickly as possible.
On top of this, the quality of the impregnation, primer and topcoat is critical for durability. Quality is much more important than economy.
Unfortunately for you, the customer, many companies do not care about these aspects as they are more concerned with making maximum profit today than they are about your windows in 30 years’ time. Is this Integrity? Sadly, it seems to me that integrity is becoming a rarer and rarer quality to find.
We are not one of those “other” companies. And we do not spare ANY expense to make the best possible product for you. Unfortunately for us, you probably will not realise this for many, many years but the trained eye, when comparing our product side by side with another, will see the differences immediately.
