Selection Process

When choosing a door, think about what is important to you and what you require. You may want to consider energy efficiency, sound reduction, ventilation, safety, security or all of the fore mentioned.

Where will this door be located in your home? For example, bi-folding doors are ideal for the entertainment area, or would a sliding stacking door be a better solution to save space? Or perhaps you want to go ‘all French’, with doors that swing open to your beautifully landscaped gardens?

There are several styles of windows and the one that is most appropriate can depend on the factors most important to you.

Consider the amount of space available for the window and it’s location in the home. What is the wind classification of your home? – Ask your builder or council. What level of security do you require? All our windows are fitted with key fasteners as standard and we can screen any style of window or door.

How do you want your window to operate – manually sliding up or down, left or right, or mechanically wind out? For example, louvre windows, or double hung windows may be ideal for your bathroom or kitchen, or you may choose bi-fold windows ideal for a kitchen servery, breakfast bar or entertainment area.

Do you require maximum ventilation or do you want to open your windows during inclement weather without bringing it inside? You may be concerned about which window looks best on the outside when opened. You may also want to consider the 2013 child safety laws on restricted openings – our consultants are happy to assist with these requirements.

You can choose from the most popular of our designs, or if you are feeling really inspired why not just design your own? There isn’t anything that we can’t do. Give us your idea in any form you like, and we will make it a reality.

Choose from stock timbers including: New Guinea Rosewood, Surian Red Cedar, Amoora, Kwila, Spotted Gum and Accoya timber. Or you can request timber types providing they are durable and available such as premium Australian timbers and ‘good wood’ sourced from an environmentally friendly and socially beneficial schemes.

Your hardware selection is an important part of the appearance and functionality of your timber doors and windows. When it comes to hardware, particularly handles we understand that everyone has a different taste, and that’s why we offer you the choice from a range of quality products. However, if you don’t have a style in mind our experienced Design Consultants can showcase a range of options and can assist with making the best selection for your doors or windows.

Selecting the correct glass for your doors and windows is important. The right glass can improve the appearance, thermal performance, comfort and the overall energy efficiency of your home.

For most homes reducing heat gain is essential and you can achieve this without compromising daylight, comfort or energy efficiency by selecting the correct glass.

Our consultants can help you to chose the best and most cost effective glass for your particular application or your energy certifier will nominate the performance requirement for the whole of house by specifying the SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) and UV (U Value) to meet the relevant Australian council building requirement.

Our products are glazed to comply with Australian Standard 1288/2006 as required by the BCA (Building Code of Australia). Different glasses offer a variety of benefits such as safety, reducing heat and or glare, blocking UV radiation, transmitting visible light, insulation benefits and there is even a self-cleaning glass available.

Detailed below are some of the common glass options available. When it comes to selecting your glass, talk to us about your particular needs and we will help you to make the best selection.

Clear and Tinted Float Glass

The float glass process is the most common method of flat glass production in the world. Clear float glass is colourless and transparent when viewed face on. When viewed on edge, it displays a slight green tinge. Clear float glass offers a very high level of natural daylight or visible light transmission to pass through it. Tinted float glass is produced by adding colourant during a clear float production run.

The most common colours are grey, bronze, green and blue. Float glass can be supplied from 4mm to 25mm thick.

Toughened Glass

Toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal treatments to increase the glass strength. Tempering creates balanced internal stresses which cause the glass to increase its strength by 4–5 times, compared to that of regular glass of equal thickness. When broken, toughened glass crumbles into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.

Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is a safety glass produced by placing a flexible plastic interlayer between two or more sheets of glass. The interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken, and its high strength prevents the glass from breaking up into large sharp pieces. This laminated design also increases the security level of the glass as more effort is required to destroy it.

The interlayer of laminated glass is available as a clear film or the appearance of the glass can be altered with a variety of different colours and designs.

Thicker laminated glass, such as VLam Hush, is suited for sound reduction applications.

Double Glazed Units

Double glazed units or insulated glass units (IGU’s) are an energy efficient glazing system, controlling heat loss and heat gain better than single glazed applications. Double glazed units consist of two or more layers of glass separated by a void normally filled by air or argon gas. The combination of airspace and glass panes act as an additional barrier, making the transfer of heat by convection, conduction and radiation more difficult.

Double glazed units are also well suited to applications where sound reduction is required. The air barrier that reduces heat transfer also limits the transfer of sound waves.

Speciality Glasses

Low E – Low E glass is a low rate of emission glass that has a special metal coating applied to the surface of the glass. This coating offers a lower rate of emission over clear float glass, increasing the energy efficiency of windows by reducing the transfer of heat or cold through glass. The end result is a reduction in heat loss over winter and a reduction in heat gain over summer.

Patterned – Patterned glass involves embossing a pattern into the glass during manufacture. The pattern is embossed by passing the semi molten glass through a set of rollers prior to setting. One side of the glass remains smooth, while the other side is embossed with the selected pattern.

Acid Etched & Sand-blasted – Sand-blasted and acid-etched glass are types of float glass that have undergone post-production chemical or physical treatments to alter their appearance. These decorative glasses are often selected for their frosted pattern appearance.

Other glass options – There are a number of other unique glass options available. These include self cleaning glass, security glass, screen printed glass and coloured glass that comes in multiple vibrant colours.

We can provide screening options for almost all of our products, including bi-fold windows and doors. Screens are available in standard fly wire mesh, stainless steel fly wire mesh, and SupaScreen mesh.

Screening for doors, windows and gates are custom made to your specifications. For an unobtrusive screening option, door openings as wide as 7.6m can be effectively screened with retractable screens. This type of screen completely retracts into the door jamb when not in use. The mesh is sheer, and there are no grills or horizontal bars to detract from the view. The screen is barely noticeable when in use, and disappears when you don’t need it.

Retractable screens are also available for windows, with the screen housed at the top of the window frame. Operation is easy, unwinding smoothly when required and retracting back to the top when not.

Not sure how to screen your opening? Talk to one of our Design Consultants for expert advice on the most effective screening solution.

As timber is a natural product it needs to be sealed to protect it from the environment. This ideally needs to be done within 24 hours of delivery. A quality finish, from leading timber finishing brands such as Sikkens, Intergrain, Cabot, Dulux etc. is recommended to enhance and protect your timber window and door investment.

As a service to our clients we can apply the first coat of finish in our factory, requiring only two additional coats once delivered. Following the recommended procedures for finishing and maintenance will ensure your timber windows and doors provide you with years of lasting beauty.