Aftercare Guidelines | Preserve Your Custom-Made Joinery

Post-installation care

After installation, you must do a few simple things to keep your windows and doors working as they should:

• Be sure to open your windows and doors daily in the first few weeks after installation. You can then gradually decrease this to every other day, followed by at least once a week as time progresses.  This gradual decrease is essential as it allows the timber, a natural product that can expand and contract with the weather, to settle into its new environment.   Regularly moving your windows and doors is crucial to prevent them from sticking and becoming difficult to open. In most instances, our joinery is installed fully finished as per our client’s requirements. This means that once the joinery is installed, it is unnecessary to repaint or apply a topcoat to the joinery itself. However, if you have requested your joinery to be installed primed only (or bare), you must use a topcoat or stain immediately.

Where products are supplied/installed with a base coat stain or a paint primer, it must be understood that these are not an adequate seal on their own. It is recommended that the final finishes should be applied well within the recommended three months, depending on the prevailing weather conditions and the season. This is important to ensure the longevity and protection of your windows and doors.

Ongoing maintenance and care for your windows and doors

• Inspect surface coatings, glazing and ironmongery annually (at least) dependent on the prevailing weather conditions.
• Maintain the decorative finish applied to our products with regular servicing to ensure moisture is unable to penetrate into the timber at any time during its life – a vital factor for optimum preservation.
• The paint finish of your custom-made joinery must be looked after and must be regularly maintained. We recommend painting according to the following schedule for our standard white paints:

For any other paints that are not our standard, we advise following the manufacturers guidelines.

• General cleaning should be carried out regularly (minimum twice a year) using a non-abrasive cloth with mild detergent and warm water to remove any contaminates, whilst frequently changing the water. After cleaning, rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove all residues but do not use hosepipes or pressure cleaning equipment. During cleaning, if any damage is noticed, you should repair immediately. Areas of general wear and tear such as window and door sills, and door edges, should be made good and touched up, as necessary.

Maintaining Hardware

General maintenance should include:

• Regularly wiping away dirt and debris, especially on moving parts.
• Check all screws are tight.
• Wipe handles with a damp cloth, do not lubricate.
• Apply petroleum jelly to all locking bolts, guide slots and striker plates on the window locking system.
• Add the minimum amount necessary of light machine oil to all hinge pivots and wipe away the excess.

Maintaining windows and doors

To ensure that your sliding sash windows operate smoothly, regularly apply silicon spray or candle wax to the pulley stiles. Treat your windows and doors carefully, and avoid slamming them shut or forcing them open. To open a window or door, ensure that you use the furniture provided, as utilising the glazing bars or rails will weaken the joints over time. To avoid damage, ensure that all fasteners are opened fully before use.

Whether you are at the research stage of your project or your installation is complete, considering and supporting a British manufacturing firm like ours, enables us to continue to pass down the centuries-old joinery traditions that were passed down from the generations before us. These traditions are at the heart of what we do, and your support helps us keep them alive.  If you have any questions or queries about any of our aftercare guidance, or in the unlikely event that there are any issues with your installation, we are just a phone call or an email away.