Steel suited to manufacture of low-cost housing window frames

12th July 2013

  

Font size: - +

Manufacturer and supplier of steel windows, doors, doorframes and garage doors Duro Pressings says the advantages of using steel in the manufacture of its products, specifically its inner and outer South African Bureau of Standards- (SABS-) approved Cliscoe windows, is significant.

In light of the rising demand for high-quality and efficient products in the low-cost housing market, the SABS-approved steel Cliscoe windows provide a suitable form of fenestration in the affordable-housing sector, given both its strength and aesthetic qualities.

Owing to the design of the Cliscoe window, no sill, lintel or plastering is required when installing the window. The window also does not require skilled labour as it is easy to position and install. It can also be manufactured to suit any brick size as its wraps around the brick work, leaving no reveals to be plastered.


Using steel as the material of construction of the window requires lower maintenance, as it does not crack or bow, is less expensive, more energy efficient and secure, which makes it a durable and sustainable material of construction.


Duro Pressings chief marketing and sales officer John Lamb says using steel will, no doubt, reduce the company’s carbon footprint by saving on forestry and timber use. Steel can also be recycled.


An important property of steel is its strength and flexibility, making it ideal for building houses in areas experiencing windy and unfavourable weather conditions. Owing to its strength and flexibility, steel structures can maintain their strength and do not deteriorate, age or warp in the same way as timber and concrete.

Although building with steel is not always the most cost effective, it is somewhat cheaper to maintain throughout its life span. Owing to its reduced risk of fire, steel is also a popular choice in the affordable-housing market, notes Lamb.

The South African Cliscoe window first appeared on the market during the early 1970s, and is manufactured in two formats, namely, the outer and inner Cliscoe.
  
These steel windows proved to be so successful that in 1980, the SABS tested the product and established a specification for the inner Cliscoe to be used as the national standard, which is now known the SABS 1311 standard for the manufacture of metal Cliscoe windows.


The inner Cliscoe is more aesthetically pleasing than the outer Cliscoe as it has three-dimensional depth, an external sill and a recessed sash.

When manufacturing an inner Cliscoe, most manufacturers, for ease of manufacture, produce a flat sill, but Duro Pressings has tooled up to mass produce an inner Cliscoe with an ‘all the way around’ sloping sill as described in SABS 1311 standard.

“We believe that by mass producing the Cliscoe, the economies of scale will result in the superior Cliscoe at a price similar to the cheaper outer Cliscoe, which is good news for the industry,” says Duro Pressings national contracts manager Barry Sacks.

The Cliscoe surround is manufactured from either 0.8 mm; 1.0 mm and 1.2 mm steel. Its coding, glasing dimensions and configuration are the same as standard windows.

The Cliscoes can also be manufactured to suit the entire range of wall thickness and plaster
conditions, with the most popular being the 140 mm no plaster wall.

Lamb says the majority of Duro Pressings’ business is supplying the affordable housing sector with high-quality affordable products or catering for those that fall into levels 1 to 3 of the living standards measurement.

Duro Pressings’ pressed-metal factory produces a range of light- and heavy-gauge doorframes to suit any wall thickness. It also produces clip-lock doorframes, conventional steel windows, steel combination doors and frames (commonly known as Chawl doors) and light-gauge steel roof trusses.

Combination doors are also available in a barn door – two doors that open in the middle. Transformer room doors and prison-cell doors also form part of Duro Pressing’s product offering.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION