Building a bathroom extension on your property can be a great way to give your family an extra bathroom without going to the time, trouble and expense of relocating. However, for your bathroom extension to function as well as your existing bathroom(s), it must be built to the same exacting standards, and choosing the right windows for your bathroom extension is particularly important.
Sliding windows are a popular choice for bathrooms and bathroom extensions, and sliding windows made from aluminium are both attractive and extremely practical. Here are three reasons to choose aluminium sliding windows when choosing windows for your new bathroom extension.
Resistant to moisture and humidity
Unless your bathroom extension is particularly spacious and well-ventilated, it will probably become pretty humid inside when you take a hot bath or shower. Ambient humidity and airborne water vapour in bathroom extensions can cause serious problems with your windows if they are made from the wrong materials.
For example, timber windows are vulnerable to warping and surface damage caused by frequent changes in humidity and can fall victim to mould and dry rot. Steel windows are vulnerable to rust and corrosion caused by excessive humidity, and while most steel windows are fitted with rustproof coatings, these protective coatings do not last forever.
Aluminium is a naturally rustproof metal and is completely invulnerable to warping, mould and other forms of fungal growth. This makes aluminium sliding windows ideal for use in small bathroom extensions that don't receive much ventilation.
Require minimal space to operate
Many types of window, such as pivoting and tilt-and-turn windows, take up a significant amount of interior space when they are in the open position. This is hardly ideal in the compact environs of the average bathroom extension and may prevent you from fitting wall cabinets, shower nozzles and other wall-mounted fittings.
Sliding windows are always a good choice for the smallest rooms in a home because they require very little space to operate. As the window opens, the sliding portion of the window moves parallel to the static portion, so most types of sliding window do not have any parts that project beyond the interior edges of their frames.
Reliable and low-maintenance
Despite their sleek, sophisticated looks, most aluminium sliding windows function using very simple mechanisms. Sliding windows have far fewer moving parts than most other types of windows and are therefore much more likely to suffer from mechanical malfunctions. If sliding windows do become stiff or get jammed in their tracks, they can usually be repaired as a DIY project using simple tools.
The mechanical simplicity of sliding windows, combined with the durability and humidity resistance of aluminium, creates windows that require very little maintenance over their long working lives.