Better quality window furniture - UPVC windows

[HughF]

Due to the 5 cats that my Wife has, and the fact she won't have a catflap (for perfectly valid reasons), we use the front door and one of the downstairs windows to allow entry/egress of the four legged furballs as required during the day/night.

 

As such, the window hinges and furniture are all knackered after 10 years. I've replaced the hinges with ones from Screwfix, but they're not the perfect fit into the corner of the frame and as such the window is now not as accurately hinging as it was before. That's a minor inconvenience, more annoying is the gearbox in the espag has worn, and the die-cast alloy strikers have all worn out too. 

 

Prior to ordering new windows for the extension, are  better quality hinges/espag/strikers available so we get a bit more longevity out of this stuff? The welded plastic bits are fine, as are the sealed units, it's just the mechanical stuff that is all worn out.

[dpmiller]

were the previous parts ever cleaned and lubricated in the ten years?

[HughF]

36 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

were the previous parts ever cleaned and lubricated in the ten years?

Yep, I greased and de-burred the latch parts and cleaned/oiled the sliders regularly - it’s just they aren’t rated for being opened and closed 20 times/day. It simply the wear and tear on the parts I think. Especially the latches, die cast zinc, vs steel on the espag, and when adjusted up so that they nip the seals in with a bit of compression, it’s bound to wear out.

 

On the hinges, the nylon sliders wore to the point where the weight of the window caused it to not slip inside when you tried to close it.

 

I doubt there is really anything to be done apart from just throw new ones in every 10 years, or get rid of the cats. Good job bog standard UPVC is pretty cheap.

Edited January 21, 2023 by HughF

[ProDave]

A short term solution might be to swap the parts on the worn out window with ones from a seldom used window.  Then it does not matter is the seldom used window is less than perfect.

[HughF]

15 minutes ago, ProDave said:

A short term solution might be to swap the parts on the worn out window with ones from a seldom used window.  Then it does not matter is the seldom used window is less than perfect.

Yes, this is indeed an option for the hinges. I’ve already done it with the latch plates though. I should try and buy some exact replacements really.