FAQs

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What's so different about windows from the Wood Window Alliance?

There are many companies manufacturing wood windows to a variety of designs and standards. When you buy a window carrying the Wood Window Alliance brandmark you know it is a high quality product.

Members have to earn the right to use the quality mark. For example, by achieving independently audited standards in manufacturing (BS 644) and weather performance (BS 6375).

I thought that using wood for windows was bad for the environment. Doesn't it mean chopping down trees?

No. It's good for the environment. And it leads to more trees being planted.

Wood is the only naturally renewable material used in window manufacture. All windows carrying the Wood Window Alliance quality mark use timber that is independently certified to come from sustainably managed forests, where harvested trees are more than replaced by new trees. So using wood from sustainable forests encourages forest growth. Europe's forests are growing by an area of roughly 3,500 square miles a year – equivalent to almost 100 football pitches an hour! (Source: MCPFE/UNECE-FAO State of Europe's Forests 2003).

How can wood windows be 'low carbon'?

Wood products store carbon. Other materials use carbon.

It takes energy to produce materials – except for wood. Wood grows naturally, absorbing CO₂ from the atmosphere, (almost 1 tonne of CO₂ for every cubic metre of growth). That's why forests are important to the earth's climate and the environment, providing a natural 'carbon sink'. Sustainable forestry means the trees used for the wood are replaced, so the wood window is acting as an additional carbon store, keeping CO₂ out of the atmosphere. At the end of its life, the window can be used to produce energy as a substitute for fossil fuels.

Don't plastic windows last longer?

No. Wood windows can last a lifetime. Plastic becomes discoloured and brittle as a result of exposure to the sun.

Windows carrying the Wood Window Alliance quality mark come with durability warranties – typically for 30 years – but, properly cared for, will last much longer. They can also be repaired simply and inexpensively, whereas when a fitting on a plastic window breaks, often the whole window has to be replaced.

Don't wood windows need lots of difficult and expensive maintenance?

No. Modern wood windows are now low maintenance.

Factory finished windows come pre-painted to such a high standard that many members offer warranties of 8 years or more on the paint finish. Furthermore re-finishing is down to a rub down and a single coat of paint, with no need for time-consuming sanding-down, burning off, or chemical stripping.

Can I get double-glazed wood windows?

Yes. All windows carrying the Wood Window Alliance quality mark come pre-glazed with double or even triple glazing.

Wood windows are insecure, plastic windows are reinforced with steel. That makes them burglar proof doesn't it?

No more than wood windows.

All windows are subject to the same British Standard Security test (BS 7950:1997), carried out by an independent accredited test house. When a manufacturer offers this standard, or windows for 'Secured-by-Design' requirements, the wood windows are subjected to, and must pass, the same rigorous test as all other window materials.

I read that by having wood windows, I can add value to my property. How?

By maintaining the character of your property.

Most homes in the UK were built using wood windows. Plastic and metal windows generally don't or can't replicate those styles, changing the whole appearance of the building. Many commentators suggest this 'modernising' devalues the property. If the windows need replacing, you can upgrade to double glazed, factory finished wood windows without damaging the character of the property. You'll probably get more for it than a neighbour's house that has unsuitable windows.

All plastic windows are energy efficient, wood windows aren't.

Not true. Wood is an excellent insulator and good thermally efficient wood windows are widely available.

Many Wood Window Alliance window manufacturers are able to supply a range of glazing and energy saving options, some of which carry BFRC (British Fenestration Rating Council) window energy labels or are tested under equivalent European rating schemes. Energy efficient double or even triple glazing can be supplied via many WWA Members. The choice is yours.