Your Opinion On Window Frames

[apetley]

Just wondering if anyone can offer me some advice on types of windows to put in a house.

I like both wood or aluminium frames.

Trouble is I have yet to find any aluminium frames available in Kanchanaburi that are of what I would call good quality. OKish but not great. Plus I have been given a price of around 300k Bht for the 20 windows in the house I plan to start later this year which is a little more that I want to spend.

As I said I like wood and have seen some that have been built really well but lots of people have said dont use wood as somewhere down the line you will have problems with termites.

Well maybe this has something to do with the rubbish laquer they usually use on the wood and the fact I very rarely see any sign of a sealer around the window frame.

Anyway, I would prefer a nice white gloss finish so how about a good paint job on some wooden windows with a good seal all around the window frame. Would that lessen the likelyhood of termite attack in the future?

Finally, wifey and me both like green glass. Anyone know what sort of UV protection it offers and the cooling effect if any.

Thanks for reading, Andy

[rgs2001uk]

apetley

you say you have been quoted 300k baht for 20 windows, that equates to 15k per window.

is that for frame (including handle and bolts of your choice) and glass, or just frame ?

all i can say is it must be a h*ll of a size window, what kind of endangered hard wood are you using and is that bulletproof glass ?

someone somewhere is taking the p*ss.

all the frames in my house are wood, i went to a few local places for quotes for my 19 frames.

they cut and treated the wood , i bought brass handles and bolts screws etc, they came and knocked the old window frames out (dont forget to sell those and not just throw away) and fitted and sealed the new ones. it was nowhere near that price.

suggest you try a few different sources.

[zoltannyc]

I have two sets of windows on two houses one in BKK the other is in Phuket.

In BKK the window frame is wood and after a couple of years you could see how the fungus is spreading on it (it was painted white and now looks quite ugly after 8 years.)

In Phuket we have aluminum windows made by a contractor exactly for the openings. They look nice (ok this is only two years old ) no discoloration or other signs of aging. The only issue was that the laborers did not seal around the aluminum frame well and it had to be resealed otherwise moisture would get in.

I would choose again aluminum I think it's more practical in LOS as well as you may design the window opening several ways instead of having the standard horizontal way of wooden frames.

You may have sliding left-right or up-down, horizontal opening or vertical opening.

We decided to have push out opening i.e. you can open the window by pushing out the lower part of the frame this way even if it's raining the water will run down on the panel ...... hope you got it ..

[Crossy]

I'd choose wood over ali any day, but wood needs to be looked after if it's going to last any sensible time here. Unless it's teak (expensive) or a similar hard wood you'll get termites in if you're not stripping and treating every other year.

We'll be having nice wood frames and doors when we finally get our place started, I can spend my retirement pottering around 1.5Rai of 'garden' (it'll be full of geese, ducks and small pigs if the Mrs has any say) and looking after the house

[Gary A]

Having had both I say aluminum for sure. Termites are not the only problem with wooden windows. They shrink when it is dry (low humidity) and swell when the humidity is high. I'm not talking about swelling and shrinking just a little. I'm talking a LOT!

Maybe a different type of wood would be better. I don't know about that. The window frames in our house are so hard that you have to drill a hole for a screw. The windows won't open when the humidity is high and during the winter the jing joks can crawl through the cracks.

[jumnien]

Many of the home-owners here in Hua Hin choose wooden windows because they can look nice and they are cheap. They usually replace them with vinyl windows in short time due to poor sealing qualities of wooden windows. We have aluminum on our condo which are perfect after 10 years of service.

[cobra]

If you could get them, vinyl covered frames would be the best, next I'd go for powder-coated or plain alum frames, never have to paint and dimensionally stable.

... I try to never own anything you have to feed or paint, ..

Edited March 29, 2007 by cobra

[Naam]

Finally, wifey and me both like green glass. Anyone know what sort of UV protection it offers and the cooling effect if any.

green tinted glass is very soothing for the eyes, we also went for it. as far as cooling effect is concerned you should not expect too much. heat transmission exists whether the glass is tinted or clear. tinted glass panes reduce (a bit) heat transmission when hit directly by sun. best protection against direct heat transmission and UV-radiation is tinted glass, goldcoated on the outside. the price for these panes is only 15-20% above normal tinted glass.

one caveat though. the quality of goldcoated glass produced in Thailand is substandard. outside window cleaning with a sharp object causes easily scratches. we also have some problems with birds pecking continously on the windows or flying against the panes as they are like mirrors from the outside. all in all we quite happy what we got.

as for frames. for heaven's sake! NO wood!

[apetley]

apetley

you say you have been quoted 300k baht for 20 windows, that equates to 15k per window.

is that for frame (including handle and bolts of your choice) and glass, or just frame ?

all i can say is it must be a h*ll of a size window, what kind of endangered hard wood are you using and is that bulletproof glass ?

someone somewhere is taking the p*ss.

all the frames in my house are wood, i went to a few local places for quotes for my 19 frames.

they cut and treated the wood , i bought brass handles and bolts screws etc, they came and knocked the old window frames out (dont forget to sell those and not just throw away) and fitted and sealed the new ones. it was nowhere near that price.

suggest you try a few different sources.

Hi. The 300k was a quote for aluminium windows. Price was for everything. Measuring and fitting too. Frames are white powder coated and most windows are quite big and with a couple of sliders. Maybe I need to get a couple of other quotes but I dont think this was farang price as it matches with the prices they quote in their Thai brochure.

Thanks for the other replies too, very useful and gives me plenty to mull over now. Wont be building until the end of the year so time to make an informed decision.

Andy.

[toptuan]

Regardless of the material they use, I would stick with Microsoft Windows. Over 20 years' experience already. If they break, all you have to do is hit the reset button.

[chuckd]

The nine (9) windows and double sliding glass doors in our new home in Isaan are priced at 40,000 Baht.

This is with tinted glass, aluminum frames, insect screens, fitted and installed. Eight of the windows are over 2 meters long.

Sorry, but, methinks you might be paying a farang price.

[MarcHolt]

Just wondering if anyone can offer me some advice on types of windows to put in a house.

I like both wood or aluminium frames.

Trouble is I have yet to find any aluminium frames available in Kanchanaburi that are of what I would call good quality. OKish but not great. Plus I have been given a price of around 300k Bht for the 20 windows in the house I plan to start later this year which is a little more that I want to spend.

As I said I like wood and have seen some that have been built really well but lots of people have said dont use wood as somewhere down the line you will have problems with termites.

Well maybe this has something to do with the rubbish laquer they usually use on the wood and the fact I very rarely see any sign of a sealer around the window frame.

Anyway, I would prefer a nice white gloss finish so how about a good paint job on some wooden windows with a good seal all around the window frame. Would that lessen the likelyhood of termite attack in the future?

Finally, wifey and me both like green glass. Anyone know what sort of UV protection it offers and the cooling effect if any.

Thanks for reading, Andy

I doubt you will find any quality Aluminium frames in Kanchanaburi. You may have to travel to Bangkok, buy them yourself and then get a local trademan to fit them.

One way to ensure you don't have to worry about termites in wooden frames it to soak the wood for a week in sump oil, used car engine oil. After soaking them, dry them in the sun and then seal them. After that you can paint them. Old Australian trick.

[elkangorito]

Another problem with wood in Thailand - it is usually not 'seasoned' correctly, which results in warping &/or size change after installation.

Still, I prefer wood over Al any day.

[lingling]

Just wondering if anyone can offer me some advice on types of windows to put in a house.

I like both wood or aluminium frames.

Trouble is I have yet to find any aluminium frames available in Kanchanaburi that are of what I would call good quality. OKish but not great. Plus I have been given a price of around 300k Bht for the 20 windows in the house I plan to start later this year which is a little more that I want to spend.

As I said I like wood and have seen some that have been built really well but lots of people have said dont use wood as somewhere down the line you will have problems with termites.

Well maybe this has something to do with the rubbish laquer they usually use on the wood and the fact I very rarely see any sign of a sealer around the window frame.

Anyway, I would prefer a nice white gloss finish so how about a good paint job on some wooden windows with a good seal all around the window frame. Would that lessen the likelyhood of termite attack in the future?

Finally, wifey and me both like green glass. Anyone know what sort of UV protection it offers and the cooling effect if any.

Thanks for reading, Andy

There is a window company with a factory in Tha Muang that makes double and single glass windows with pvc frames. I was quoted B3200 per square meter for double glass, everything included. Construction of our house is still ongoing so we haven't had the windows installed yet but I'm 99% sure I will use that company. Don't have the contact details handy right now but I'll post them here later.

If price is not an issue then of course wood frames are much nicer, but it has to be good quality (old) wood. Drive from Kanchanaburi to Ban Pong, then take road #4 from #4 in Ban Pong towards Ratchaburi. Then when #4 comes to the three way crossing (where #4 from Ban Pong meets #4 to Nakorn Pathom and #4 to Ratchaburi) turn right towards Ratchaburi (yeah, I know the big roads are all #4 in that area for some reason) and then turn left towards Damnoen Saduak there is a long stretch of road where they only sell old wood. This is a good place to get wood that are good enough quality for window frames. Shop around a bit as some of the shops like to quote crazy prices. Just buy the wood from them, compare price per cubic foot, and then find a good carpenter/window maker.