PVC or Aluminium ??

[thequietman]

Windows and frames. Which do you prefer? PVC is a little more expensive and I worry about discoloration.

 

Aluminium seems to keep color and is a little cheaper.

 

Experiences please.

[maprao]

Hardwood paint every year

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[kamalabob2]

I live in a home in Isaan with aluminum window profiles, three aluminum sliding doors and a smaller house with off the shelf UPVC window profiles and a sliding door. There are both excellent and can be terrible UPVC windows and certainly can be terrific or horrible aluminum windows and doors in Isaan.  If you have time and a large project it will be worth your while to visit the Architect Expo in early May at Impact in Bangkok.  Many of the prominent custom size windows suppliers both UPVC and aluminum will have booths. Chinese window supplier of stock standard sizes will also have booths.  Sun Paradise is one of many reputable companies with a booth. Windsor Windows will be part of the SCG booth. The two major window glass companies will have booths and staff who understand and speak English. MOST ANY glass is already available in Thailand, but getting a limited amount of windows installed properly out of a major area such as Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui, Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Hua Hin is a challenge. I've been in a few window fabrication plants and some are more feral, some more professional.  Certainly ANY reputable fabricator | installer will have references so you can see the windows installed in the real world, after one rainy season. Home owners will be candid if windows leak. Even off the shelf window retailers should be able to offer reference sites near you, where you can speak with the owner of the off the shelf aluminum or UPVC windows and doors.  I have personal experience at how some off the shelf companies have actual service teams and other "brands" have zero customer service employees to go to Up Country installations. Local or national fabricators could offer you references of people who have had "customer service issues" resolved.  Window locks and sliding door locks is a bad joke in 95% of the windows and doors I have seen in Thailand. 

[Hereinthailand]

Not sure if it would matter much depending on your house structure makeup but the UPVC will not transfer heat and cold like an aluminum frame will. Aluminum makes for a good heat sink.

[Naam]

3 hours ago, Hereinthailand said:

Not sure if it would matter much depending on your house structure makeup but the UPVC will not transfer heat and cold like an aluminum frame will. Aluminum makes for a good heat sink.

quite correct but the frame area of AL is so small that any heat transfer is negligible when compared with the heat load a home takes through glass. ideal is the use of coated glass which reflects a high percentage of visible and invisible heat rays. i am very happy with the solution i selected 11 years ago, cost of the glass is approximately 20-25% higher.

 

 

[canopy]

There are good and bad frames of each type. Good aluminum frames have thermal breaks between inside and outside. Good upvc frames have multi-chambered designs. Good upvc frames have a 10 year color guarantee, cheaper ones have no guarantees.

 

[Hereinthailand]

Yes that glass coating is nice, I have been thinking about putting film on my windows for some time now to help with the heat. The quality film seems quite expensive here though.

[Kwasaki]

Ali frames doors & windows with mirror glass everytime for me.

[AJBangkok]

I used a company called Prime Asia for my UPVC windows and I am very satisfied. They are an official distributor of one of the 2 "global " UPVC manufacturers and the installation and service was was excellent. Pricing wise they were in the middle  of the pack on term of UPVC, my average price was a little over 10,000 per m2 but I had a lot of windows and some special window profiles imported from the USA so I got a decent discount. The lowest price windows in my lot were 6,500 and the highest price 15,000 but I got an overall discount on top so that may not be representive of actual pricing.

 

 

[Naam]

1 hour ago, Hereinthailand said:

Yes that glass coating is nice, I have been thinking about putting film on my windows for some time now to help with the heat. The quality film seems quite expensive here though.

too expensive!

[Hereinthailand]

Import duties and customs strikes again.

[CGW]

We have had double glazed UPVC in current house now for 3+ years, no noticeable discoloration! we did have one window that changed colour, they replaced it under warranty within a couple of weeks though I discovered after that it wasn't the window frame that was the problem but water running onto it from nearby sandstone stairs, once I redirected the water, no further problems!

[Morakot]

Quote

Aluminium seems [...]  a little cheaper.

 

I don't think so. Proper aluminium frames cost more than PVC, but the extra you'll pay may be  worth it in terms of duration and aesthetics. However, PVC will outdo alu in terms of noise and thermal performance.

 

Having said this the standard low-end alu windows made in backstreet workshops in Thailand ---of course--- are nowhere close in quality and price to a decent PVC window.
 

Based on several quotations in 2017, the starting price for good powder-coated aluminium frames (1.8 - 2.0 mm) casement windows, with multi-looking systems, green float glass 6-8mm is about 10,000 THB per sqm (which may possibly include installation). Starting prices for similar PVC configurations is about 8,000 THB per sqm.

 

The Architec Expo in May will be a  good place to see a range of national and interactional manufacturers.

 

 

Here a little overview on the old PVC vs Alu...

https://www.aluminiumtradesupply.co.uk/5099/what-is-better-aluminium-or-pvcu/

Edited April 2, 2017 by Morakot

[Naam]

1 hour ago, Morakot said:

However, PVC will outdo alu in terms of noise and thermal performance.

for both "performances" glass is the dominating factor. the performance of the frames is negligible. several years ago i was in a home with top quality PVC frames. i was able to bend the glass of the sliding doors with my thumb.

 

by the way, double glazed windows in Thailand is a waste of money when installed to block heat transfer because delta t is max 8-10ºC whereas in cold countries delta t is up to 40ºC in winter. double glazing helps of course to reduce noise transfer.  

[canopy]

8 hours ago, Naam said:

double glazing helps of course to reduce noise transfer.  

 

Only if done properly--proper spacing, proper pane thickness differential, glazings, etc. In Thailand noise reduction is more important than energy efficiency. If you can't sleep or concentrate, it's irrelevant how much money you are saving on electric bills. Quality frames also have full weather stripping and multi-point locks to make really tight seals.

 

[Morakot]

9 hours ago, Naam said:

for both "performances" glass is the dominating factor. the performance of the frames is negligible. several years ago i was in a home with top quality PVC frames. i was able to bend the glass of the sliding doors with my thumb.

 

You're right Naam, in practice the thermal performance issue is probably negligible.

 

What I don't get in this country, is the sliding doors/ windows fixation. It's just so el cheapo and the most useless architectural design of an opening. Surely it's ok, to have a sliding door inside for a utility room or what not, but you see these high-end "luxury" condos or houses and their "show-case" patio outside the main living or bedroom has sliding doors...  Sliding windows maybe for a 1960s style camper van...

Edited April 3, 2017 by Morakot

[Naam]

9 minutes ago, Morakot said:

 

You're right Naam, in practice the thermal performance issue is probably negligible.

 

What I don't get in this country, is the sliding doors/ windows fixation. It's just so el cheapo and the most useless architectural design of an opening. Surely it's ok, to have a sliding door inside for a utility room or what not, but you see these high-end "luxury" condos or houses and their "show-case" patio outside the main living or bedroom has sliding doors...  Sliding windows maybe for a 1960s style delivery van...

i'm not sure what you mean with "fixation" Morakot. i designed and build a home for a German friend of mine in Florida which had 9 sliding doors and only 2 normal doors (main entry and door to garage). all sliding doors disappeared in the walls. he was raving about it!

[Naam]

43 minutes ago, canopy said:

noise reduction is more important than energy efficiency

actual noise reduction starts when selecting where to build or buy a home. i'm not talking about condos where you are exposed to noise pollution no matter what you do. during construction period we rented a penthouse (19/20th floor) in Jomtien. when somebody drilled a hole in a wall on the groundfloor we could hear it.

[canopy]

True site selection can help reduce noise and should be carefully considered, but in itself it will never be a completely reliable solution. Nor will windows, but having the ability to silence window openings are a must ingredient. No matter where you build your house in Thailand from the very "quietest" country home to the biggest metropolis you will find unwanted man made noise outside rearing its ugly head.

 

[Naam]

1 hour ago, canopy said:

True site selection can help reduce noise and should be carefully considered, but in itself it will never be a completely reliable solution. Nor will windows, but having the ability to silence window openings are a must ingredient. No matter where you build your house in Thailand from the very "quietest" country home to the biggest metropolis you will find unwanted man made noise outside rearing its ugly head.

 

we live 11 years in our home and hat initially problems to sleep because of lack of any noise. the same happened to us whenever we commuted from our German home after a couple of months to our Florida home.

[CGW]

Obviously I could learn about the right way to go about "site selection" despite all my efforts, which include no sliding doors or windows, double glazing, being a good distance from any neighbours of which I have only two, being on a three Rai lot with two meter walls around we are still disturbed by noise! be it the neigbours with there two stroke bush cutters, the village 3 kilometer away with there booming bass or the village 180 deg in the other direction with their bass booming or simply the tractors working in the fields a kilometer or so away! How anybody lives in Thailand in a truly quite and idyllic location is beyond me! Just to stop all traffic noise you would need to be probably five kilometers from any major road, though given the Thai penchant making noise may not be far enough away!

[Naam]

20 minutes ago, CGW said:

How anybody lives in Thailand in a truly quite and idyllic location is beyond me!

the LORD works in mysterious ways

[Morakot]

3 hours ago, Naam said:

i'm not sure what you mean with "fixation" Morakot.

c :  an obsessive or unhealthy preoccupation or attachment

 

 

3 hours ago, Naam said:

all sliding doors disappeared in the walls. he was raving about it!

Now, that's truly marvellous! 

 

I think, Thai architects should pay attention here...

Edited April 3, 2017 by Morakot

[CGW]

7 hours ago, Naam said:

mysterious ways

Is that on the East side? I will go see him and ask if he wants a job maintaining peace and quiet where I am!

[Naam]

1 hour ago, CGW said:

Is that on the East side? I will go see him and ask if he wants a job maintaining peace and quiet where I am!

yes, 2.5km east of Tesco. best time to meet HIM are thursday afternoons.

[CGW]

Can't make it! Sundays I'm free but guess that will be a busy day for Him!

[sanukjim]

Oh I thought he meant for his Anti UFO ha and radio wave deterrent.

[BsBs]

Good quality PVC windows color do not change, but how to know before buying that quality is good ?