Wooden windows – practical, cozy and eco-friendly
Whatever we think, whether we choose plastic or wooden windows – Moscow has enough companies whose main activity is the production of both plastic windows and wooden structures. Which type of window to choose?
As is known, a company praises the products it makes, and finds flaws and shortcomings in competitors' products. Manufacturers of plastic windows claim that wood is a material of the past, that it is no longer relevant today. As an argument, they cite Soviet-era wooden frames, dried out and with peeling paint.
It should be remembered that from Soviet times to the present day, there has been modernization of equipment and improvement of production technology. Today's wooden windows are no worse than PVC windows, so it is too early to talk about obsolescence and irrelevance of wood.
Let's consider what shortcomings wooden windows of past decades had, and what wooden windows have become today. In the past, the production of wooden windows was carried out on special equipment that allowed uneven connections of window parts. To give the window structure greater strength, muscle power and ordinary wood glue were used. Today, special presses – clamps – serve these purposes. Such equipment guarantees a strong connection of parts and complete absence of cracks and gaps in the fastened elements. Such a tight connection of window parts contributes to increased reliability of the structure and service life. Modern wooden windows reliably protect living spaces from drafts.
Wooden windows, whose cost is greatly overpriced, have a short service life associated with the use of low-quality materials during production. That was the case before, because the wooden window structure was protected from adverse environmental influences by several layers of paint. The appearance of cracks on the frame led to swelling of the structure during rain and drying out in summer, which, in turn, led to reduced service life and even rotting of the wood.
Today, plastic and wooden windows are approximately the same in price, the same can be said about their quality. Special compounds that increase resistance to moisture, improve fire resistance and resistance to mold and fungi are used today for impregnating wood. Thanks to the use of special compounds, the frame does not lose its original appearance and color brightness for a long time. Multi-layer laminated timber, on the basis of which the window structure is made, prevents window deformation and increases its strength.
Soviet wooden windows did not have sufficient sound insulation and let drafts into the living space. Modern wooden windows use the same double-glazed windows as plastic windows. The installation processes are also identical, using special insulation materials that prevent noise and drafts from entering the apartment.
So why should you choose wooden windows if they have similar characteristics to plastic ones? First of all, the environmental friendliness of wood and its inability to release toxic compounds into the atmosphere deserve attention, as well as the possibility of using wooden windows in any interior. In addition, wooden windows have the property of creating home comfort in a living space, which cannot be achieved with plastic.