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FAQs
Below is a list of frequently asked questions. If you can't find the answers you need or you would like to know more, please call us on +44 (0)1773 852311 or complete our contact form here.
How can Sheerframe windows help to create low and zero-carbon schools?
How environmentally 'safe' are Sheerframe windows?
What lifespan can I expect from Sheerframe windows?
How can Sheerframe windows be part of contemporary building designs?
What colours and finishes can I have with Sheerframe windows?
Who fabricates and installs Sheerframe windows?
Who are L.B. Plastics and The Litchfield Group?
How can Sheerframe windows help to create low and zero-carbon schools?
Sheerframe windows are designed to make an important contribution to a well insulated building envelope with minimal heat loss.
We offer Sheerframe windows with ultra low U-values that match the advances made by manufacturers of wall, flooring and roofing systems.
With the combination of a number of design innovations and new fabrication technology, L.B. Plastics offers Sheerframe HED. It delivers a U-value as low as 0.8W/m2K, is UK-made and available now – with all traditional British window styles possible.
Sheerframe window systems have always been at the forefront of design innovation. The system was one of the first to offer co-extruded gaskets for enhanced weather performance and four and five chamber profiles to reduce heat loss through the frame.
More recently, a thermally enhanced frame reinforcement, Thermlock, was developed by L.B. Plastics which reduces the problem of heat conduction when using standard steel and aluminium.
How environmentally 'safe' are Sheerframe windows?
All Sheerframe window systems are manufactured in resource-efficient processes within factories registered under the globally recognised EN 14001 standard.
Sheerframe PVC systems were the first UK-made profiles to be calcium organic stabilised, removing heavy metals from the formulation. This step was taken to reduce any risk to the health and welfare of personnel handling Sheerframe PVC products.
Excellent thermal performance in-use helps keep energy consumption low and PVC windows offer a long low maintenance lifespan. Sheerframe profiles are also fully recyclable at the end of their service life.
What lifespan can I expect from Sheerframe windows?
The BRE has independently certified that PVC windows should offer a service life of at least 35 years.
Real life evidence from window installations completed in the 1970s and 80s suggests that Sheerframe windows will significantly outlast 35 years. Windows installed by local authorities over 20 years ago have retained their modern looks and are still performing in line with today's energy efficiency requirements.
How can Sheerframe windows be part of contemporary building designs?
In addition to their widespread use in both private and social housing, Sheerframe PVC windows are widely used in commercial buildings including schools, universities, hospitals, leisure facilities and office developments.
Sheerframe windows and curtain walling offer excellent visual appeal thanks to slim profiles which were designed from the outset with British buildings in mind. All popular window styles are available, including
- Casements
- Tilt and turns
- Reversibles
- Vertically and horizontally sliding sashes
High performance colour finishes can be applied to any Sheerframe window – the colour options are vast to suit any architectural concept.
How do Sheeframe windows compare with the sustainability credentials of timber, aluminium and composite windows?
The issue of what's best amongst the different window frame materials remains hotly debated but the benefits that Sheerframe systems offer cannot be disputed:
- PVC windows in general are now 'A+' rated for commercial applications overall in the 2008 BRE Green Guide to Specification which offers an independent assessment of the 'green' credentials of numerous building products.
- In 2006, the BRE completed a review of evidence of how PVC windows had performed since their widespread introduction into the UK in the 1970s and it concluded that they offer a life expectancy of at least 35 years.
- Sheerframe is the only major UK-made profile system to be manufactured using calcium organic stabilisers instead of heavy metals.
- At the end of their long and virtually maintenance-free service life, Sheerframe windows offer a high degree of recyclability. Once separated, Sheerframe PVC profiles can be recycled and re-used to manufacture other building products.
- Sheerframe windows are designed and fabricated to offer excellent thermal performance in-use and make an important contribution to the energy efficiency and comfort of buildings and homes. With windows which can offer U-values as low as 0.8W/m2K, we believe Sheerframe windows are a vital component in the design and build of sustainable buildings.
What colours and finishes can I have with Sheerframe windows?
Sheerframe windows can be fabricated in virtually any colour to match traditional or contemporary architectural styles. Durable, lasting coloured finishes are achieved through advanced window frame painting technology.
Traditional colours (and some contemporary colours too) are achieved using foils which are applied to the surface of the profile. This delivers an extremely hard-wearing surface for woodgrain effects and colours such as cream. Combining the woodgrain foil with painting achieves a surface finish which replicates painted timber extremely well, but with the added benefit of being virtually maintenance-free over its long lifespan.
Who fabricates and installs Sheerframe windows?
L.B. Plastics operates a network of Sheerframe fabricators and installers covering the whole of the UK and Ireland, including the Channel Islands, the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland Isles.
These independent companies operate with the total support of L.B. Plastics to ensure consistently high product and installation quality.
We also provide comprehensive training and technical backing to our windowmakers so they can deliver a local service, which can draw on the expertise and resources of a global window systems manufacturer at any time.
Who are L.B. Plastics and The Litchfield Group?
L.B. Plastics is part of the internationally renowned Litchfield Group of Companies. It has become first choice for a range of high-performance PVC products which deliver quality solutions and peace of mind for homeowners, housebuilders and professional specifiers worldwide.
With its headquarters in Derbyshire, and over 80 years' successful trading, the Litchfield Group operates across Europe and the USA. Its Sheerframe window ranges are the most specified product in the UK amongst homeowners, housebuilders and professional specifiers including architects, social housing organisations and local authorities.
In addition to Sheerframe window systems, The Litchfield Group's other leading product ranges include:
- High performance Masterdor doorsets, manufactured in North Yorkshire, which have rapidly established themselves as brand leader in the composite doors market.
- The Sheerlite conservatory roof system which meets the growing demand for quality conservatories and home extensions, and delivers stylish design solutions for homeowners and housebuilders, which perfectly complement the Sheerframe window and door solutions.
- The superb range of Sheerline decking and fencing product, manufactured from high performance low-maintenance thermoplastics, which has made major inroads into the UK and North American home-improvement and remodelling markets and is ideal for providing low-maintenance, high quality verandahs for park homes and holiday caravans.
- The Sheerline ramps systems, which offers slip-resistance ramps and walkways in an infinite range of designs and sizes, together with matching balustrades and handrails, helps meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.
The Group also manufactures structural curtain walling systems, and a range of low-maintenance building products including cladding, and roofline ranges such as soffits, fascias and bargeboards, under the Hometrim brand. PVC clad curtain walling and structural grid systems offer architects, designers and specifiers a new range of high performance, stylish options for residential and commercial buildings including schools and hospitals.
ICF Tech Ltd is part of the Litchfield Group of companies. After many years of research and high levels of investment in time, money and technical expertise, ICF Tech has designed and developed the only Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) system specifically for the UK market. It is a complete supply and fit ICF system, which is designed to dramatically reduce the time and cost of building walls.
It is the Litchfield Group's track record in design, manufacturing, quality and service that has established it as one of the UK's most successful privately owned companies, delivering high-performance, low-maintenance building related products both direct to the customer and via a network of carefully selected distributors, manufacturers and installers nationwide.
