Colour & Finish Choices.

Apologies to everyone for taking so long to get this next instalment out to you guys, literally haven’t had a moment spare to get anything written for a couple of weeks now with work being so busy, but don’t worry I’m back now!

This will be a much shorter one this week, but it’s still a very important part of the ordering process.

Firstly the finish. This should not just to be left to the customer’s discretion. The simple choice of Matte, Semi-Gloss or Gloss seems like such an easy choice but there are a few considerations to be taken into account. Firstly not every RAL colour is stocked in each finish and therefore some combinations can incur a painting surcharge. This can be anything up to £500.00 for standard paints and up to £750 for specials and metallic. So make every precaution to get the correct colour/finish agreed with your client and supplier at the earliest point.

The next consideration is the durability of the paint finish. As we discussed last time, a matte finish in my experience is more resistant to damage and scratching then a gloss finish. From a fabricators point of view, we would always offer matte where possible, and advise installers to do the same, as handling and installation is much easier when you are not excessively worrying about damaging your products.

Now when it comes to colours the list of choices is nearly endless. Including RAL and BS colours there are hundreds to choose from. Most systems companies and fabricators will generally offer a shade of white as their main stock colour. White aluminium is generally available in a standard lead in time as it doesn’t have to be powder coated prior to manufacture as it is usually stock piled. The main benefit of this are that damages and mistakes can be rectified very quickly and that multiple jobs can be fabricated from the same stock holding decreasing wastage and ultimately the price you pay for your windows and doors.

Larger fabricators will also offer a selection of “house colours”. These are usually their best-selling colours for obvious reasons. You will generally find these to be a shade of Dark Grey, the norm being RAL7016 known as Anthracite Grey, Black – RAL9005, and a brown RAL8014 or RAL8017. It is best to find out what your fabricator offers and try to offer these to your customers. Some fabricators will also off their house colours at a reduced rate compared to standard RAL finishes. At Legacy we offer the Smarts KL Range at the same meterage price as White, this in turn means you and your client get more for their money.

The next option is Silver or Bronze anodised. These are a slightly out dated finish, but still can be popular with shop-fronts, ground floor treatments (GFT) and commercial entrances. We try to stay away from anodised products as the finish is only 25microns thick and therefore prone to scratching/damage. It is also a very expensive and time consuming procedure with extended lead in times.