# Inside opening windows?



## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

Just doing some renovations to our house and we've narrowed down our choice of windows to two types:

1. All wood - open outwards as normal
2. Composite Alloy/Wood - open inwards and tilt

Pros and cons to both!

The wood ones are my favourite, but the maintenance is what puts me off with them needing a repaint in say 5 years time.

The composite ones are very nice from a maintenance point of view, but they open inwards and I'm just not sure how we'll get on with them compared to what we're used to.

I wondered if anyone had made the change from open outward to inward, and how you were getting on with them?

Thanks


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Tilt and turn windows ? Absolutely not not in a million years

Horrible to live with, break and leak for a past time and can be dangerous


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## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

Clancy said:


> Tilt and turn windows ? Absolutely not not in a million years
> 
> Horrible to live with, break and leak for a past time and can be dangerous


Can you expand on the above at all? What brands have you experience with?

Thanks


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Annoying to live with as they are generally large openers which cause massive draughts due to the way the opening works. Also means you can't use the internal window boards and if you have blinds or curtains etc etc can be very irritating 

Mechanisms get worked hard and have tendency to stress the handles and eventually break either them or the gearbox, not the cheapest to replace or easiest 

When on the tilt, part of the mechanism holds it in place obviously, depending on the exact mechanism design that can break and cause the entire opening leaf to fall inward. Bigger the unit then more stress in the mechanism. I have replaced loads of tilt and turn windows that have broken that way. One of which was a tilt and turn door that if it had collapsed 30 seconds earlier would of killed the chaps grand daughter

Obviously these broken ones are in the 10 year old sort of bracket not new by any means. New ones are better but there are far too many draw backs in my opinion to choose them over anything else 

I have dealt with just about every brand, the issue is the concept of a tilt and turn windows more than the manufacturer. If it where me I'd look at timber windows if you want something special, new timber windows are brilliant and the maintenence really isn't that bad 

Could also look at aluminium frames if it would suit your house?


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## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

The timber ones we've looked at (and we've looked at a lot of windows :lol are indeed very nice, but our house is quite exposed and we've been told realistically they would need repainting within 5 years.

I've painted windows before and they never look at good as the sprayed finish when new, not to mention there are quite a few high up. 

Interesting on what you say about the mechanism, I wondered if the ones we're looking at would go the same way (we've looked at loads of these too lol). They give a 10 yr guarantee on the windows. 

Know what you're saying about blinds/curtains and window ledges.

I think we discounted all aluminium windows due to the thermal efficiency.


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Yeah that is the only issue is never looking as good once they've been retouched, with the exposure and awkward access might not be the best option then 

The exposure and elevation would be another tick in the no box for tilt and turn in my opinion as well, if it's liable to high wind and heavy driving rain they are not best suited 

Probably have if you done a lot of looking around, but, looked at full composit frames ? Sounds like they are best suited to you. Not cheap, but they are brilliant and look spot on, the oak ones etc just look like timber frames 

Don't get composit frames confused with foiled or sprayed frames though. They look very similar but are not the same thing. Dark coloured foiled or sprayed frames can look good but can bring there own issues as well


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