Self build exhibition

[saveasteading]

I see there is a selfbuild exhibition in Farnborough in January. Free tickets being Facebooked at me, but I won't be going because of distance.

Any of you experienced lot thinking of going and reporting back? I'd do it for the team and the greater good, if it was close...  might have to have a cover story to get taken seriously as a potential newbie I suppose. 

[miike]

Been to similar before and I found exhibitions with a b2c focus aren't of much value - they're basically just a way for businesses to source customer leads who are willing to pay £££. B2B exhibitions tend to be more useful as you can source direct from manufacturers at better prices. 

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, miike said:

exhibitions with a b2c focus aren't of much value 

That's what I was wondering. The exhibitors must do well enough out of them  with the £££ leads.

Are they mostly kit builders? Plus planning agents,  architects?

I'd love to overhear the sales pitches.

 

2 hours ago, miike said:

B2B exhibitions tend to be more useful

 

Yes, but the one I went to recently, was very strict on business only. Quite rightly so as otherwise you wouldn't get near the exhibitors for public wanting free advice.  I got lots of good contacts and info, and a year's worth of pens.

 

Sometimes there are in-between exhibitions.... that's where I've encountered lying, ignorant agents for rubbish products.... no names here. 

[torre]

We found one of the majors expos at the NEC (Homebuilding & Renovating) helpful in a couple of ways:

1/ it was a great opportunity to look at and get hands on with quite a few window and door manufacturers at the same time.

2/ it helped inject a bit of enthusiasm and energy after set backs and delays

There's also a chance you'll encounter new or different materials and products that you might want to use, overall worth a day trip if the travel isn't too far

 

Free expo tickets but around £15 parking.

[saveasteading]

32 minutes ago, torre said:

hands on with quite a few window and door manufacturers at the same time.

Did you find that the differences were fairly clear?

Would they talk cost, even in general terms?

[torre]

5 hours ago, saveasteading said:

differences were fairly clear?

Yeah, enough to rule out Velfac sliders even though we're using their windows elsewhere.

 

5 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Would they talk cost, even in general terms?

Not really, as others said, it's a sales lead opportunity for exhibitors

[-rick-]

6 hours ago, torre said:

1/ it was a great opportunity to look at and get hands on with quite a few window and door manufacturers at the same time.

 

Indeed, I found I wasn't that keen on some big brands that people use here that I expected to like. There were some nice elements but the overall packages seemed flawed in one way or another. Ended up liking others that I'd never heard of before. All a bit to early for me though (when I went I thought I'd be in a position to move sooner rather than later but that now seems to be significantly delayed).

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, -rick- said:

Ended up liking others

Names please?

[-rick-]

12 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Names please?

 

It was more than a year ago now and my memory is hazy as it was more a scoping trip rather than a detailled specific look with note taking (went to the Homebuilding and Renovating Show at Excel in London on a whim as it was nearby).

 

I know I wasn't particularly impressed with Internorm and Rationel. One that did seem to tick boxes was something like Polish Windows but not sure the name. They were really flogging the sound reduction properties of their windows (though I guess that is the same for any good triple glazed unit) but they felt right to the touch/look to me. The Internorm/Rationel ones either felt a bit clunky, had wierd locking mechanisms/handles, had fake plasticy wood film frames or engineered wood which in theory I don't mind but didn't seem well done. A lot of these things are options so maybe theres a good combination that I missed/wasn't displayed but for all the talk on here and elsewhere about how premium those brands feel, I couldn't help walking away thinking that I wouldn't want to pay a premium for anything I saw at their stands.

 

I guess I'm picky.

[LSB]

We've been to a few shows, but found all windows / build kits and nothing really useful for physical self builders.

At the time we wanted to talk foundations, drainage, build systems except timber frame & ICF.

A bit of MVHR, but really just sales.

 

[-rick-]

11 hours ago, -rick- said:

One that did seem to tick boxes was something like Polish Windows but not sure the name.

 

I did a bit of digging trying to remember who this was. Theres a company called Polish Interiors that does windows but it's definitely not them, their range isn't even close. I came across fenbro.com which seems familar and is Polish. Looking at their site some of their windows look very much like the one I saw and liked but can't say for sure it's the same, and they seem like a reseller anyway so I guess maybe it was another reseller selling the same product?

 

https://fenbro.com/products/aluminium-window-mb-104-passive-si/