I don’t know about you guys, but I am selling a lot of flush windows right now. Comfortably more than during the same period last year. Literally, every job I am selling and pricing up right now is in flush. Whether it’s White or foiled.

At the start of the year, we had an internal conversation where we discussed what we needed to sell more of in a year that was going to be more tricky than the previous two. Flush windows came up as an example, and it looks like we were spot on.

Flush windows forging forwards

I mean it when I say every job I have signed up recently, and every contract I am working on now for clients involves flush windows. I wouldn’t say we are pushing flush windows more than other options with our clients. When we get people into the showroom we show them all the frame options available but we are finding more and more are gravitating towards the flush option unpromoted.

We always get the same comments and they always tend to focus around the smooth edge to the outside, that they look less chunky, it’s a look they haven’t seen before, they love the timber-look joints etc. Essentially, they don’t look like normal PVCu and that grabs people’s attention.

On a personal front, I love the flush finish more than any other option. The flat front with timber-look joints is one of the best ways to produce a PVCu window in my opinion. It’s been one of the biggest innovations in the world of PVCu in the last decade and has breathed some life back into that part of the sector.

Flush windows inspire clients in my experience. They’re a world apart from the usual Chamfered or Sculptured options which have been around for a long time. They transform the appearance of a house. For the first time in a very long time, clients can get excited about their windows being replaced. The entrance door market went through a similar evolution when the composite door landed. Now, new front doors are a sexy purchase that people can get excited about. Windows didn’t really have that. Windows were just windows. Yes, there has been a lot of colour choices for a while, but the frame options were limited. Until flush windows became an option that was tangibly different from anything else on the market. I have found that flush windows allow clients to get excited about their purchase, which if you can achieve that as an installer means you have a much higher chance of winning the order.

Flush windows are a driver of sales and will continue to grow in volume in the years to come.

Standard welds and timber-look joints

Flush window with timber-look joint

When it comes to flush windows there are two ways to do it. The standard 45-degree angle using either the super-neat graf weld or the regular one. Or, the one I prefer, the timber-look weld using Timberweld® technology.

The latter of the two does cost more per sash, however, but really completes the look flush windows are trying to achieve. There has been great debate about how to go about achieving the timber-look joints. It’s basically been a battle of weld versus mechanical butt joints. That was a few years ago but it does seem that the Timberweld® way of doing it has settled to become the more preferred way to do it.

I would say that half of flush window orders we win at our place are with Timberweld® joints. It used to be less than half but it does appear that clients are becoming more comfortable in spending that little bit more to achieve the best possible look for their new windows. I anticipate that this year that ratio may tip beyond half.

Flush windows also allow us to command a better profit margin. Clients see flush windows as a more premium option, and with it expect to pay a higher price than standard casement windows.

I have also found that flush windows can breathe life into old, less fashionable colours. Rosewood and Golden Oak are very good examples. In a normal casement window these colours can look very dated. But, do them in flush and use timber-look joints, you can transform how it looks. Rosewood and Golden Oak simply look far better in flush than anything else. I also think White looks better as well. Some have commented that they don’t like the black gasket line that you see around the sashes with lighter colours, but in my experience, this hasn’t been enough to sway clients away from it. White does look better in flush in my opinion.

Flush windows are going to be a huge driver of sales in the coming years. As we move away from the pandemic and other parts of the economy recover, coupled with a cost of living crisis and inflation that will steal attention away from home improvement work, the industry needs to use “hot” products like flush windows to retain high interest and inspire people to continue to spend their hard-earned money on their homes.

Do I think they will overtake sales of standard casements? No, that part of the market remains massive and would take a serious overhaul in order to do so. But, I think some companies who focus more on the higher end of the market could find themselves selling flush more than anything else in a few years’ time. Even some housebuilders I am seeing are beginning to work the product into their developments. A housebuilder on a site near me have installed flush windows on their entire estate in a nice wood grain effect and they look fantastic!

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