KAT UK

Vertical sliding sash windows

The sliding sash window is often referred to as a vertical slider (VS), sash and case window or a Georgian window, as this is the historic period in which this window reached its peak of popularity.

This classic window design was created for highly practical reasons as it is one of the few window styles that can be opened for ventilation without intruding into a room or obstructing the exterior of a building.

Modern materials have allowed us to recreate the traditional aesthetics of original timber sash windows whilst bringing in the benefits of improved thermal efficiency, enhanced functionality including ‘easy clean’ facility and minimal maintenance.

Cleaning and Maintenance

KAT UK’s range of high quality PVCu sash windows require the absolute minimum of ongoing maintenance to keep them looking great and operating perfectly for many years.

The pre-tensioned spiral spring balances have been tested to over 15,000 operational cycles and should last much longer than this, allowing smooth opening and closing of your windows for a guaranteed period of 10 years and an estimated minimum lifespan of 25 years.

To ensure continued smooth operation simply ensure that sash channels are kept clean and free from any debris, do not apply any oils or lubricant to sash channels. Any dirty marks or build up of grime on external faces of windows can be easily removed using a clean cloth and warm soapy water, using a mild household detergent such as washing up liquid.

For very stubborn stains or marks a mild, non-scouring household cleansing cream applied neat should be applied to remove the stain.

On no account should solvent cleaners, scouring creams or abrasive cleaning pads be used as these could damage the PVCu profiles permanently.

Polish can be used to buff up gold or chrome window furniture if required but again never use abrasive cleaning pads or solvents. Glass cleaner or water and vinegar solution can be used to clean your glass, inside and out, but always take care never to use a glass cleaner or any solvent or silicone based products on self cleaning glass (outside face) if this has been fitted in your windows.

Operation

To slide sashes simply unlock the cam catches and turn to release, once window has been unlocked and opened use hook style sash lifts on bottom sash to lift up and use pole ring to slide top sash down, sashes should stay in the open position when left.

Never use decorative glazing features such as authentic, face mounted Georgian bars to open and close windows. To operate tilt facility (if fitted) slide bottom up by approx 50mm to clear upstand, pull both tilt latch knobs inwards towards centre of window to release spring loaded catches from sash channel and tilt bottom sash inwards towards you.

If tilt facility has been fitted the sashes will always be held on tilt restrictor arms which will hold the sash at approximately 45 degrees to allow easy cleaning of the external face.

When bottom sash has been tilted in reach over and slide top sash down, then tilt inwards following the same procedure as above (please note it is only possible to tilt top sash inwards when bottom sash is fully open in tilted position) then carry out procedure in reverse to close sashes, always ensuring that tilt latches locate correctly into sash channel.

If the tilt latches are not fully located in sash channel then sashes could drop back into tilted position and this may cause permanent damage to the window.

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KAT Sliding Sash Windows Operation & Maintenance 737kb