Useful tips for installing new windows and front doors

In order to cut down on heat­ing costs, it is neces­sary to replace the win­dows and front doors in many older build­ings. Good to know: This replace­ment is sub­sid­ized by gov­ern­ment grants. Mod­ern win­dows and doors make the build­ing envel­ope much tight­er, not least thanks to the insu­la­tion and seal­ing mater­i­als used for their install­a­tion. This brings the issue of indoor air qual­ity into focus. Our expert explains what you need to keep in mind when choos­ing mater­i­als for win­dow and door replace­ment so as to ensure a healthy indoor cli­mate.

Many house­own­ers are faced with the ques­tion of wheth­er to invest in a new heat­ing sys­tem. First and fore­most, how­ever, it makes sense to upgrade the energy effi­ciency of the build­ing envel­ope. By repla­cing win­dows and front doors, an enorm­ous effi­ciency increase can be achieved. The work should, how­ever, be car­ried out by a spe­cial­ist com­pany.

Mod­ern win­dows and front doors are highly com­plex sys­tems: triple glaz­ing, frames made of multi-cham­ber pro­files, vari­ous seals, dif­fer­ent frame mater­i­als and mater­i­al com­bin­a­tions, mul­tiple lock­ing sys­tems – all these com­pon­ents must be care­fully matched to cre­ate high-qual­ity win­dows and entrance doors. Valu­able assist­ance for product selec­tion and install­a­tion is provided by the RAL qual­ity marks. They are awar­ded by the Ger­man Qual­ity Asso­ci­ation for Win­dows, Facades and Entrance Doors in cooper­a­tion with the ift Rosen­heim test­ing and cer­ti­fic­a­tion body.

Even the best qual­ity products are use­less if mis­takes are made dur­ing install­a­tion. To ensure expert work­man­ship, the new com­pon­ents should be built in by a pro­fes­sion­al win­dow and door fit­ter. Only then can they reli­ably ful­fill their func­tions: pro­tec­tion against burg­lars, insu­la­tion against heat and cold in sum­mer and winter, as well as pro­tec­tion against noise emis­sions, e.g. caused by traffic. When fit­ting the new com­pon­ents, a wide vari­ety of insu­la­tion and seal­ing mater­i­als are used, such as joint seal­ants and com­pressed seal­ing tapes. These must be expertly installed in order to pre­vent thermal bridges and thus pos­sible mois­ture dam­age. It is highly advis­able to hire a com­pany that is entitled to use the RAL qual­ity mark for the install­a­tion of win­dows, facades and front doors.