No longer robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Can a flush casement window with authentic detailing be a true timber window alternative? Deceuninck’s MD Rob McGlennon believes that frontier has already been crossed.
As PVC-U window designs have evolved over the last 40-45 years, the general assumption has been that the sector’s reinventions have been about maintaining relevance, and that new ranges replace older dated ones.
Anecdotal evidence is starting to challenge this idea. According to Rob McGlennon, Deceuninck’s MD, the PVC-U window market is actually expanding; rather than old windows being replaced like-for-like, windows made from other profile materials are losing out to new PVC-U alternatives.
“The PVC-U window industry has always been about reinvention,” Rob says. “Old single-glazed timber and aluminium windows and doors were replaced by energy efficient PVC-U double-glazed alternatives very early on, so sales of PVC-U windows and doors today are focused on replacing the replacements – primarily by focusing on energy efficiency, but gaining serious ground with opportunities presented by colour, security, aesthetics and sustainability.”
Rob argues that while profile design and foils can go a long way to mimicking timber and aluminium, it was always assumed that sales were effectively a PVC-U upgrade rather than standing toe-to-toe with those higher value alternatives.
“When a window company presents a homeowner who is replacing their PVC-U windows with a selection of designs including aluminium and timber alternatives, they are still likely to buy PVC-U, even if they choose a high-end product,” Rob says.
“And if that homeowner were to have timber windows already installed, they would have been looking at new timber windows, and not PVC-U windows that are designed to look like them.
“Or, at least that’s what we thought.”
Sales of Deceuninck’s all flush products, according to Rob, continue to rise – now accounting for more than 40% of all products sold – while sales of standard casements are either holding their own, or are rising also.
“We had to ask ourselves: where are those sales coming from?” he says. “We are now working on the basis that our flush casements are being sold into properties where the alternative would have been a timber window.”
Consumer research commissioned by Deceuninck and conducted by YouGov supports the popularity of flush windows: when presented with a choice of either a flush or storm casement, 62% of homeowners expressed a preference for the former.
The YouGov survey found that while flush casements had universal appeal regardless of age, they were most popular among those in the 35-44 age group – the preferred choice of 69% of respondents in this age grouping.
“If you look at people aged 35-54 – a key demographic for the window industry going forward – everything points to continuing growth in flush casement sales,” Rob continues.
“Combined with colour options it shifts the conversation with the end user away from one driven by price, to one driven by aesthetics and design.
“And now that we are convinced that the potential market has expanded to beyond PVC-U replacements to include timber window replacements, the opportunities to add value and increase margin has never been greater.”
Deceuninck launched its Heritage flush sash window in 2016 and added a dedicated open-out flush door sash alongside its flush window offer at the end of 2019. Fully suited with the system leader’s Heritage 2800 system, it achieves U-values as low as 1.0W/m2K and DER A rating.
It’s also PAS24 approved and can be welded or mechanically jointed.
YouGov also found that more than 50% of respondents expressed a preference for a colour option: greys, including Anthracite Grey, Agate Grey, and Grey, accounted for a combined 17%; Irish Oak and Rosewood polled 7% and 6% respectively; greens, including Chartwell and Sage Green, recorded 4% and 1%; and Black and Cream each recorded 4%.
At a headline level, three-quarters of all respondents said that colour of windows was ‘very important’ in influencing their purchasing decisions.
“Colour is a big part of what we do,” Rob says. “Deceuninck offers 30+ colourways in stock and 20 additional colours in just 15 working days, while on average Deceuninck fabricators sell twice as much colour as their competitors.
“If you take that and combine it with a flush finish, you have a very strong proposition. Especially now that the appeal for timber-effect flush sash windows extends to beyond the PVC-U market, and now as a genuine alternative to timber.”