It’s one of those things that if you’re in the industry it becomes second nature and often you don’t even realise your bombarding your client with terminology that might not mean anything at all to them ! Whilst easy to do and rectify when you’re the client in this situation it can become frustrating not knowing what your advisor is talking about and having to repeatedly ask them to explain the terminology … Well, not anymore ! In this quick and easy reference guide you’ll find the basic explanation of what all that window jargon really means (you can thank us later) !
Head – The highest part of the window frame.
Jamb – The vertical sides of the window frame
Cill – The cill is the lowest horizontal element of the product – be it a window or door. It’s a really important part of the product as it allows water to drain away from the building and stops it entering your home! There’s plenty of different cill depths as well to ensure you can achieve the most atheistically pleasing finish whatever your build style !
Face Drained – If your building doesn’t allow for a cill the other option is to face drain the products, the windows and doors have drainage holes allowing water to escape on the front face of the frame and drain outwards and away from the building.
Mullion – this simply refers to a vertical bar between the panes of glass in a window.
And you guessed it …
Transom – refers to the horizontal bar between the panes of glass in a window.
Threshold – The strip of material that forms the bottom of the doorway and is crossed when entering a house or room
Trays (Cavity Tray) – Your tray refers to the piece of material (generally lead) that sits underneath the window or door frame and prevents water or air ingress; essentially a damp-proof course (DPC) that crosses the cavity of a cavity wall in order to prevent dampness from permeating the internal skin of a wall. . At Green Circle we always recommend these as they further improve the weather proofing of your products.
Compriband Tape – is a joint sealing tape for use in a wide variety of movement joints and other applications. Weather tight against the most severe combinations of wind and rain, it satisfies most expectations as an external weather seal in building and civil engineering applications. At Green Circle we often use this product to prevent any draughts around doors.
Pressings – A pressing is basically a piece of material that’s designed to go around a steel or structural detail to finish it. All of our products can be matched with bespoke aluminium pressing details allowing you to create a seamless finish between the products.
Pane – A single sheet of glass.
Sash – The moving part of the window or door.
Low-E Glass – Low-emissivity glass is specifically coated to reflect thermal radiation.
That’s a start, if there’s anymore terminology that you want to know what it means why not drop us a message and we can try and help you !