We talk to Nick Rudd, Director at Spectral Windows, about how Deceuninck Aluminium’s modern design is proving to be a winner with installers and homeowners.
Spectral Windows was established during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 by Jason Wilder and fellow directors Nick Rudd, Phil Redfern and Scott McQueen, after being contacted by old customers who said they needed a premium product range from a local supplier.
After getting operations underway with two Deceuninck PVC-U lines – one welded and one fully mechanical – the team turned their attention to aluminium. Nick explained that Deceuninck Aluminium was an obvious fit because it was modular, robust and thermally efficient.
“The Decalu88 Bi-folding Door was new, and we started making it as soon as we could,” he said. “And it’s been a real hit with our installer database.
“For example, Deceuninck Aluminium was one of the first aluminium systems companies to launch a pre-gasket system, which means there are no time-consuming feeding gaskets on-site.
“Also, you don’t get the problem with the gasket shrinkage, and you are literally knocking hours off installation time because there’s no gasket to manually insert.”
Uniform appearance
Deceuninck Aluminium is committed to developing a modular range of windows and doors, which share many of the same components. On the one hand, this is good for installers, because it is easy to create a uniform appearance across all glazing elements if you don’t have multiple beads on site, for example.
And on the other hand, fabricators only need to stock four separate products. The complexity to stock more component parts for a similar style aluminium system takes up more space requires more detailed logistics and ties up money in stock.
“As a modular system, it is great for stockholding,” Nick said. “There are far fewer parts to stock than other systems on the market, and the colour range is excellent.
“We also like the fact that most of the colours are the same price, whereas you tend to pay a big premium for non-standard colours with other systems companies.”
Spectral Windows also discovered a significant pull-through in demand from homeowners who were focusing more on the energy efficiency of their home improvements, with window companies looking for thermal performance built-in, not accommodated as an afterthought.
“It’s an 88mm front-to-back system, so it’s got a bigger thermal break than a lot of the other systems on the market, and it can take up to a 60mm triple-glazed sealed unit,” Nick said. “So, it’s a real winner when it comes to U-values.
“And the other reason installers like it is because it’s a slimmer sightline – 10mm slimmer than some other bi-folds on the market.
“Yet, it is still a heavy-duty door, so you can do much bigger, much wider and much taller panes.”
Bigger panes
Nick explained that a common bifold size is 3.6m wide, which means you would be looking at a four-pane door with most bifold systems.
“And the downside with a four-pane door is that you can’t have all the doors stacking the same way with a master door,” he said. “And because a four-pane door costs more than a three-pane door, the beauty with the Decalu88 at 3.6m is that you can comfortably do a three-pane door, which is cheaper.
“And you’ve not got the problem of having one door going one way and three doors going to the other.”
Many of these advantages, Nick points out, rest (quite literally) on the heavy-duty roller system.
“It was one of the first aluminium bifold doors that I know of to meet the new regulations,” Nick said. “And you can put triple glazing in without having to worry about the extra weight, which means you can get it down to under a U-value of 1.0W/m2K with a 60mm triple glazed unit and not have to worry about the door dropping.
“And the fact that they’ve got a full suite of Decalu products now is a big winner, because if a homeowner wants a bifold door in aluminium, then the chances are they might want a flush casement or a casement window to match, and the Decalu88 range is constantly evolving to meet this need.”
For more information call 01249 816 969, email deceuninck.ltd@deceuninck.com or visit www.deceuninck.co.uk
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