Technical

At Brookeswood, we have designed our products to be aesthetically pleasing, and last for years to come. Dedicated to continual development and product improvement, we ensure modern optimum performance methods are incorporated. By doing this we use highly developed and tested components, from well-known, industry leading suppliers.

By being committed to delivering high specification products, we are able to create a visually appealing product, incorporating a host of sustainable design features to set a high standard in terms of aesthetic appeal, durability, sustainability and energy efficiency.

Click on one of our technical topics below to learn more:

Timber

Wood is one of nature’s finest assets, as a tree standing in the wild, reincarnated as a sculpture or for architectural use. Wood retains a constancy and integrity no other material can match.

Our awareness of the environment means that we can assure our customers, that all of our sourced timber is from legally & sustainably managed forests.

Our strength in timber is our use of ‘Stabilised Timber Section’, which means the dimensional stability is far better than a solid wood section, Stabilised Timber, also known as a Engineered or Laminated Section, is made up from layers of the timber species bonded together under a pressure glue process, this multi-layer construction, offers stability and stress performance, outperforming a traditional solid hardwood, it is also free from knots, plaits and staining which overall results in no ‘gateways’ into the timber centre and allows for an even surface finish.

Red Grandis (Eucalyptus Grandis) – Hardwood

Red Grandis stands out from the hardwood crowd. It is a straight-grained, medium-textured timber. In terms of end-grain, Red Grandis has medium pores diffused in diagonal rows, this means there is a less likely chance of moisture ingress into the timber, followed by our premium process of end grain sealing, resisting any type of moisture entering the timber.

Grandis is extremely durable, resistant to rot, mould, and mildew. Therefore, it is highly unlikely to suffer from substantial decay. It is also highly resistant to insect attacks. Red Grandis is highly flexible and absorbs glues, stains, and finishes exceptionally well.

Our timber suppliers, ensure that the Red Grandis we use is from carefully managed forests where tall, straight trees are grown free from natural defects and have stress-free straight grain.

How is Red Grandis sourced? Watch the video to find out

European Oak – Hardwood

European Oak is predominately chosen for its golden colour, close grain configuration and natural beauty. It is a very enduring and stable timber, offering fantastic thermal and acoustic insulation. The fine lines and sleek appearance of oak make it a widely used timber in the window and door market.

Being the historic ‘go-to’ hardwood, many people consider European Oak for their replacement timber windows, although highly aesthetically pleasing, and offers a long-life expectancy, it does require more regular maintenance, compared to its counter parts such as Red Grandis and Accoya.

Accoya

Accoya has hugely risen in popularity in recent years. It is a specialist, high-performance wood which has been modified from the surface to the core to produce an extremely durable, quality material which is suitable as a replacement for popular materials such as tropical hardwoods. Accoya raises the standards and reliability of timber windows & doors to a new level. It is the result of more than 90 years of research and development.

‘Accoya’ being the brand name is created by an acetylation process. Starting off its life as a softwood – radiata pine, it is Sustainably Managed Forests Certified and plantation grown, mainly sourced from New Zealand & Australia. From its natural habitat, it is transported to the Netherlands, where it is kiln dried for a period of time until its moisture content is reduced to between 12 – 18%, from here the radiata pine is ready for the acetylation process, which takes place in an onsite chamber, after the modification has taken place, the now, Accoya wood, goes through a vigorous quality control process, before being prepared and shipped across Europe.

Guaranteed for 50 years above ground and 25 years under water, Accoya is modified to the core and not just on the surface. As a result of acetylation, the Accoya will resist all rot, decay and swelling by resisting moisture absorption.

How is Accoya sourced? Watch the video to find out

Glass

Insulated glass units create comfortable homes, as they offer benefits that really enhance the building you live in. A sealed unit is made up of two or three panes of glass spaced apart with a warm edge spacer bar and sealed with a primary and secondary sealant to form a single airtight unit with an air space in between.

By using sealed units, we can offer solutions to a range of traditional issues. These include keeping the heat in your rooms, stopping unwanted excessive heat from the sun, keeping noise out and making your home more secure.

Using a Low Emission Coating (Low E) which is a transparent layer on the inside surface of the internal glass pane, this reflects heat back into the room, thereby reducing heat loss through the window or door. In addition, the coating also allows large amounts of free solar energy to enter the room, thereby heating it passively. Low-E insulating glass can therefore be a helpful contributor to energy retention in your home.

The use of ‘warm-edge spacer bars’ has increased thermal efficiencies in sealed units by lowering the transmission from outside to in, a warm edge spacer bar is the separating surrounding bar, which is located between both glazing units, the bar acts as an insulator to the edges of the units. Preceding the warm edge bar was a standard aluminium spacer. This reduced the effectiveness of the unit as the aluminium would enable heat to be transferred. Aluminium spacer bars are generally considered to be old technology for this reason.

By filling the centre cavities with Argon or Krypton gas, we are able to deliver low U-Values conforming to current British Standards, the lower the U-Value the more thermally efficient the window, door or glazing unit. This along with the use of warm edge spacer bars and soft coat low E glass coating, our units are designed to keep your home warm and thermally efficient.

Double Glazed Units

Being made up of two separate glass units, our standard double glazing is a maximum thickness of 24mm which leave us with the optimal 16mm size cavity for use with Argon gas, recommended by most glazing suppliers. The use of double-glazed units is, our more common option, being specified as standard in our estimates, these units achieve a typical U-Value of 1.2W/m²k

Triple Glazed Units

When specified, mainly for soundproofing and ultra-energy efficiency, triple glazed units are able to achieve a much lower U-Value, which can be beneficial in New Buildings, which set out to achieve lower SAP calculations. Our standard triple glazed units are made up to 36mm overall, with 2, 16mm cavities, our triple glazed units achieve U-Values of 0.65W/m2k.

Slim Lite Heritage Units

Our introduction of heritage slim units has helped achieve better thermal efficiencies in historic listed properties, while upholding the aesthetic standards expected by conservation authorities. By having an overall thickness of 12mm and having a historical slight ripple effect to the face, the slim lite units, are an ideal upgrade from single glazing, and are seen to be accepted in most conservation areas across the country. By filling the cavity with Krypton gas, as opposed to the standard Argon, we are able to achieve a Low U-Value of 1.23Wm²k.

Hardware

Our hardware suppliers are well known within the industry as exceptional quality ironmongers. Providing us with, tried, tested and accredited, hinges, locks, handles and much more, by sourcing from well-known suppliers, we can assure all of our customers that the quality workmanship that goes into our products is matched equally from our hardware.

We have designed our windows and doors to feature advanced sealing systems, with a double storm seal on casement windows, both storm-proof and flush, along with single seals on all door sets. Sash windows feature brush & compression seals, designed to be airtight when the fitch fasteners are in the locked position.

In order to meet the building regulation for security (Part Q), we have sourced high security multi point locks on both our casement windows and door sets, with corresponding routered rebated keep sets, we are able to assure that complete security is delivered on all of our products.

Door locks feature two dual locking shoot bolts, which are located at the top and bottom of the lock, along with a solid dead lock in the centre, below the handle latch. Our door locks are secured by design from the manufacturer and allow us to meet Appendix B from Part Q for bespoke door sets. We then incorporate a 3* high security locking cylinder with a horizontal key slot, to provide dead locking on the multi-point locks, our cylinders are: Anti-Drill, Anti-Bump, Anti-Snap, featuring a crumple zone and are grip resistant; providing maximum security for our door sets.

Window locks feature a multi cam locking system, with moving ‘mushroom’ heads, these interlock with the corresponding two stage keeps which allows you to have complete airtight security, along with a 2-stage night vent lock, which leaves a 1cm air gap around the casement for background room ventilation.

All window & door handles from our chosen suppliers are fully lockable, which meets all insurance company standards, this in line with our multi-point locking systems, completes the ethos for a high security product.

We also have the requirement to meet the building regulation for ventilation (Part F). For habitable rooms, such as bedrooms and living areas, you are required by law to have background ventilation, with an airflow of a minimum of 8400m² and bathrooms require a minimum of 4500m², our trickle ventilators, which are inconspicuous from the outside, by the use of a dropped 40mm head drip, are located within the head of the window or door frame, finished with a stainless steel insect mesh fitted from the head, allowing secure background ventilation without the fear of a ‘critter infestation’. The internal ventilators come in some standard RAL finishes, however we are also able to spray finish to your chosen internal colour, by the use of a plastics primer from our paint supplier, resulting in the ventilators being less obvious.

By using fire egress pivot hinges, we achieve the building regulation for fire escape (Part B1), these hinges allow our casements to pivot on the corner of each frame, maximising the overall opening space, the regulation states that there must be a minimum of 450mm in width and height, to achieve a fire escape. Where this isn’t possible, for smaller opening areas, we can introduce a floating mullion, designed to be opened using flush fitting finger bolts, hidden from both the outside and inside, these allow the mullion to give the effect of ‘floating’ out of its position, creating a greater opening area of the casement window, allowing us an alternative method to achieve the regulation. We then offer a low aluminium mobility threshold, which stands at only 15mm tall from the ground, shaped as a slight ramp incline, allowing wheelchair or push chair use over any door threshold.

Our Bi-folding doors are available with either a top hung sliding system or bottom roller system depending on location and weight capacities. At a maximum of 1m per door, we can add multiple doors onto your frame to achieve your desired bi-fold requirement.

Sash windows are available either as a spiral balance system, which replaces the traditional lead weights and pulleys with a modern spring-loaded mechanism, this allows the windows jambs to be thinner and are suited to a traditional looking new build. Or alternatively we also offer a traditional weights & pulleys sash window, complete with traditional lead weights, and an option of finishes for the pulleys, rings, sash lifts and fitch fasteners.

Paint & Finishing

Our Paint is sourced from an industry leading supplier, Anker Stuy Coatings. We apply a three-coat paint system, which evenly layers a micro-porous paint finish, over each individual component, this is before any glass, hardware or seals are introduced to the products.

The finish is flexible and durable, allowing the timber elements to breathe underneath the finish, but placing a barrier to potential incoming moisture. We apply our paint finish under controlled factory conditions to achieve the best results possible.

Anker Stuy coating systems, provide extended service life in both translucent and opaque finishes, protecting against weathering, UV degradation, mould, and fungal attack. We can offer both translucent (wood grain appearance) and opaque (coloured paint appearance) finishes, in a wide selection of colour pallets, featuring, but not limited to matching of Farrow & Ball, Mylands of London, Zoffany and RAL. We also offer a split colour service if required, where we are able to give you the choice of a different internal finishing colour to the exterior.

Our window and door profiles are designed to enable water to be shed quickly, our three key stages in the coating process are:

Application of end grain sealer, giving joints much better protection.
A polymer-based primer ensuring maximum penetration of the wood for lasting performance.
A thick water-based mid and topcoat is applied at two separate stages, to each individual component, maximising complete longevity of the finish and leaving even surface finish.