Clearview National February 2018 - Issue 195 | Page 64

HARDWARE& SECURITY Door furniture guaranteed for harshest conditions » » VBH HAS A NEW SOLUTION FOR properties in coastal, heavy traffic and industrial areas, and choked city centres: a 25- year guaranteed stainless-steel Coastline range. Adrian Gale, Regional Sales Manager (North), explains more. There aren’t many parts of the UK that are completely free of pollution and a corrosive atmosphere. That matters when it comes to selecting the right door or window hardware. Homes by the coast, particularly with a sea view, are expensive and very desirable, but there are well recognised drawbacks. With a coastline of nearly 20,000 miles around the islands of the UK, there is a lot of property at risk. In fact, it’s estimated around three million of us live on the coast itself. Homeowners who have bought smart new doors in these properties want to keep them looking good. But zinc, as used for everyday door furniture, can’t withstand moist salty air and is liable to pit in a very short time. However, it isn’t just properties by the sea that are at risk. Depending on the wind, sea air loaded with moisture and salt travels a long way. A team from Seattle’s University of Washington was surprised to find sea spray in the middle of the United States, some 900 miles from any ocean. “We discovered chlorine chemistry happening in a region we didn’t expect it to be,” said Joel Thornton, an atmospheric scientist. Lichfield in Staffordshire claims to be England’s furthest point from the sea – just 84 miles. But, most of Britain’s housing stock is within easy reach of sea air if the wind is in the right direction. It’s not just sea air that poses a problem, either. Our city centres are choked with traffic and fumes, and pollution levels are often above recommended limits for human health. Pollution levels around city properties and those near busy road networks and industrial areas are not only unhealthy for us, they’re harmful to standard hardware and furniture. Sea air, acid rain and pollutants damage door furniture, so within a couple of years it can become pitted and shabby-looking. It’s a serious problem. 64 » F EB 2018 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M So VBH customers asked for stainless steel versions of our standard furniture to avoid future problems. We listened and came up with a proper solution: a suite of fittings which withstand the harshest conditions. The greenteQ Coastline range is a set of stainless steel door furniture to add to our ever- increasing greenteQ range. The standard greenteQ range has proved really popular and we added stainless steel door handles a few years ago. These were very well received and we’ve now added suited letterboxes and knockers, a brand-new butt hinge and grouped them all together with our pull handles to form the greenteQ Coastline stainless steel furniture range. The new Coastline furniture is made from hard-wearing, corrosion-resistant austenitic grade 304 stainless steel, and subjected to more than 1,000 hours salt spray testing to BS EN ISO 9227, so it’s well able to stand up to the harshest conditions. The products suit doors of all styles and materials, including composite, PVCu, timber and aluminium. Coastline comes in a choice of brushed or polished stainless steel, along with PVD gold and chrome, with satin and polished stainless-steel hinges. The suite comprises our long back-plate lever/lever door handle, a brand-new letterbox and Victorian urn door knockers with or without viewing holes. Coastline is completed by our wide range of brushed pull handles and cylinder rosettes, which are perfect for the market’s recent trend toward contemporary composite, aluminium and auto-locking doors. And it comes with a valuable 25-year guarantee – much longer than the standard ten years. All Coastline products are interchangeable with VBH’s standard Alpha, Omega and Kappa products so customers find it’s simple to upgrade existing doors. It also makes it easy to run two hardware lines, so installers can make a straightforward choice when buying. Our fabricator and installer customers tell us they’ve achieved higher sales prices as a result of fitting Coastline products and say that the guarantee often helps to secure orders as they can use them to help differentiate themselves from the competition. Coastline has become a very important part of our greenteQ range. Further information direct from VBH call 01634 263300, email [email protected] or visit www.vbhgb.com