Aluminium alternative

Costello Windows has praised Aluplast’s class-leading Smart-Slide system as the best PVC patio door it has ever fitted.

The Limerick based firm, which has been manufacturing and supplying to customers on the west coast of Ireland for over 40 years, has been an Aluplast customer for three years and introduced Smart-Slide into its portfolio at the start of 2020.

“The response to Smart-Slide has been outstanding,” Barclay Costello, managing director of Costello Windows, said. “We have a 2.5m-tall Smart-Slide installed in our showroom and the quality of the system speaks for itself. We can spend as little as five minutes with a customer and they’ve bought it.

“It’s very easy to install. With standard sliding PVC patio doors, the biggest problem that we used to have was ensuring that the installation was airtight. With bigger sashes, and in coastal locations where the weather is more extreme, it was a real issue. In the past the solution was to compress the door as tight as it would go, but then it could be a struggle to operate it.

“With Smart-Slide, we can just fit and forget because it is so much more secure. We’ve not had a single call for remedial work and that speaks volumes about the standard of fit and finish.”

Tested to PAS24, Smart-Slide meets BS6375 for weather tightness and a DER of A+ depending on glass specification.

Capable of spanning 4.5m x 2.5m with just a sliding sash and a fixed panel, the use of advanced hardware means that it can be operated with the lightest of touches, even with individual sash weights of up to 200kg, the company said. The sash also features locking points on all four sides, enabling it to be left part open for ventilation while remaining secure.

Smart-Slide is also available in Aluplast’s full range of 40 finishes, including its new aludec and woodec foils that have been designed to look and feel almost exactly like real aluminium and timber.

“The size at which Smart-Slide can be manufactured, its quality, and the range of finishes from Aluplast allow us to sell into projects that would normally be reserved for aluminium,” Barclay said. “90% of the orders we take for Smart-Slide include a foil finish, the majority of which are for a grey and 15% of installs are over 3m wide with an average height of 2,150mm.”