Looking for a timber type for windows

[glasse]

We are renovating a barn which has some oak lintles on the outside. We want to use natural (unpainted) hard wood for the windows, but have been told by our supplier (Ventrolla) that using oak would be a bad idea - it warps, cracks etc. They recommend only Sapele, but it is very red (like mahogany). Does anyone have experience of hardwood casement windows which work long term, that is a good match to oak?
many thanks.

 

[Nemesis]

Wot rubbish!

Ask Biff vernon, who makes oak windows...

http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/oak_windows.htm


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A Biff oak window. Pic courtesy of Biff global enterprises PLC (well, maybe not quite so world domineering... yet...)

Eventually oak weathers to a lovely grey, as at Sissinghurst:


[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

 

[skier-hughes]

If you want unpainted windows then Oak is a must.
As Nemesis says, contact Biff, he'll chat to you all day long about the benefits of Oak, and the pitfalls of sapele.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

I agree with the previous posters that the advice you have been given is utter rubbish.

What Ventrolla mean is "we've used sapele in the past 'cos that's what we could get cheaply from the builders merchant, and it's, like, hardwood, innit, so it must be good. Oak - don't know anyfink about that, guv..."

If I were you I'd spend time seeking out a woodworker with some real knowledge and expertise, not some company looking to make a fast buck from their customer's lack of experience. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, it's becoming harder for such operators to get away with the confident spouting of nonsense.

 

[Nemesis]

Ventrolla is a franchise operation which repairs and draughtproofs windows. It may be that the franchise in this case is operated by a company which additionally makes windows, or has a company it relies on for making windows which it fits.

I'd enquire further...

 

[glasse]

thanks everyone. I'm glad to hear that OAK is OK. I guess it cant be green oak but seasoned wood.

 

[Nemesis]

Yes seasoned not green.

 

[biffvernon]

Thankyou fans

The advantage of sapele is that it is a very uninteresting timber with little character. This means you can feed a tree into one end of a big machine, switch on and watch the windows pop out the other end without a human being actually having to look at the timber. With oak you have to pick up each piece, look where the grain is going, the knots and shakes, and cut the pieces you need accordingly. Sapele can also be slightly cheaper.

Of course sapele is a tropical hardwood and should on no account be brought to England. The monkeys and parrots need it far more than we do and any certificates saying it was 'sustainably' produced can easily be forged and officials bribed. Even if genuine it just ups the market for an evil trade. There are plenty of oak trees in Europe that could do with harvesting and the carbon they contain sequestered for the lifespan of the new joinery.

 

[Nemesis]

Fans? Just making sure you owe us. In beer. Lots of it.