News
22 | JANUARY 2018
News
Fire window offers long-lasting barrier
Once again raising the bar and extending its range of durable, dependable fire-rated products, pioneering Astraseal has become the first fabricator to manufacture a 60-minute rated, fixed fire window.
Council building boom?
Most headlines about the autumn budget focussed on the Chancellor’ s stamp duty cuts. The threshold has been raised to £ 300,000, supposedly to help first-time buyers and families who are desperate to move to bigger properties.
The jury is out on whether the stamp duty break will have its intended effect. But the detail that caught the eye of Chris Coxon, head of marketing at Eurocell plc, was a plan to lift borrowing caps on Housing Revenue Accounts for local authorities in areas of‘ high affordability pressures’ so that they can build more council homes. This follows on from Theresa May’ s announcement of an additional £ 2bn funding to deliver 25,000 homes for social rent, during her embattled speech to the Conservative Party Conference in October. And while neither gesture can be considered a game-changer, what they do demonstrate is a change of heart from the Government towards local authority house building.
www. eurocell. co. uk
Instead of traditional hardwood or steel, Astraseal’ s unique fire window system is based on the proven FireFrame from Winkhaus, combining durable composite and PVCu materials for advanced fire resistance. Add to this Astraseal’ s fire-retardant sealed units and the new window system can provide a long-lasting barrier for both internal and external uses.
The new fire window system is available in a range of sizes in both single and double fixed pane configurations. Designed for use in any residential or
commercial application, the window offers incredibly slim, internal sightlines along with dependable durability and strength thanks to its, innovative hybrid frame.
The 60-minute fire window strengthens Astraseal’ s industry-leading fire-rated product line, joining its range of PVCu and composite FD30 and FD60 fire door systems. As well as offering its new 60-minute solution, Astraseal also offers the RAUFERNO PVCu fire-window system.
www. astraseal. co. uk
LETTER
Read online at www. proinstaller. co. uk
WHEN COLOUR GOES WRONG
Pro Installer has been hearing about increasing calls asking for advice on rectifying coloured PVCu jobs that have gone wrong, because window frames just aren’ t being reinforced properly.
Paul Sullivan, managing director at Anglo European, is one of those affected by such calls.
He writes:“ One involved a new-build apartment block where the architect had specified Anthracite Grey PVCu windows. The fabricator hadn’ t used steel reinforcement in the frames and as temperatures rose in early summer, residents in the south facing apartments started to complain about sashes sticking and not closing correctly. On inspection, warping of the profile caused by heat from the sun was plain to see.
“ Today’ s popular grey and black windows have none of the heat-reflective qualities of white PVCu and even lighter colours do not reflect heat well. The bigger percentage of foil profiles in a fabricator’ s product mix increases the risk of warping frames caused by solar heat gain. Add to this the move towards longer guarantees on frames and it makes sense for PVCu window manufacturers to reduce their exposure to failures by choosing a steel reinforcement specification.
“ PVCu isn’ t first choice for homeowners by accident. They know that it is low-maintenance, durable and that it will last. Now that the market has such a strong emphasis on coloured frames, it’ s important for homeowners and specifiers to be able to choose coloured PVCu and know that it will perform for years to come.”
At Anglo European we’ ve also launched a 10-year warranty backed with extensive testing on steel reinforcement to give fabricators extra reassurance on the life-time performance for windows and doors.”
www. angloeuropeangroup. co. uk
EPWIN EXPANDS SALES TEAM WITH TWO NEW APPOINTMENTS
Fenestration powerhouse Epwin is bolstering its sales team with the appointment of two respected industry veterans.
Boasting more than 50 years of industry experience between them, John Barry and Mick Thompson strengthen the Epwin sales force as a crucial time for the business, as it looks to significantly expand its activities in the years ahead.
Their focus will be growing two of Epwin’ s constituent businesses, market-leading PVCu fabricator Sierra, and respected composite door specialists Safedoors.
Mick will cover the Midlands and the South East, while John’ s patch will encompass Scotland and the North of England. Combined with Epwin’ s existing sales personnel, this gives the group full coverage of mainland of Britain.
The pair will report directly to Epwin Sales Director Paul Tranter, who comments:
“ A combination of best-in-class products and outstanding customer service have helped Safedoors and Sierra establish themselves as leading businesses in their sectors.”
www. epwin. co. uk