Posted on 17th Jan 2012 @ 4:02 PM

Hinges for UPVC Windows

There are many kinds & sizes of hinges available for upvc windows so please do make sure that you purchase the correct ones before you take your window off. Below is a short story about measuring window hinges incorrectly and the consequences.

Many years ago I worked for a upvc window company that used to have a surveyor who drove around pricing up for jobs and write a mats list (materials list) for the items required to do the job. In his pocket he carried an elastic tape measure and a "guesstimate" pad. We use to call it the "guesstimate" pad because most of what he gave us was an outside guess. He would walk up to a window, look at it and then ( a bit God like) announce what size hinges would be needed for the window, write them down and give the customer a price; at no time would you see the tape measure leave his pocket. Now unless I am mistaken the point of a tape measure is to take it out of your pocket and measure the size of the window hinge. Many time I would ask him about measuring it correctly but he assured me that he had been working with tapes measures for such a long time that he had a mental one in his head. The other lads who used to work for him found this very frustrating as if they measured wrong the boss in question would ask them "What have you done that for?" and there would be a full post mortem and enquiry.

Anyway, one particular day our "God" of a boss sent us all the way from Bolton (North West England) to replace some hinges on a Hotel which was situated just outside of Windsor (round journey of approx 400 miles). The hotel had a lot of draughty windows and the old, worn out window hinges were the cause. The maintenance team decided that 2 lads would go and prep the windows by removing the sashes (openers) in each room, taking off the hinges and leave the window sashes for the fitting team to come and put the new hinges on. At this point I would just like to point out that because of our boss' "always right" status none of us checked the new hinges sent against the old hinges.... I don't think I really need to carry on the tale but by the time that day was done there were many choice words, much overtime and wet carpets.

 So when measuring hinges for uPVC windows remember the old saying.. Measure twice. Cut once.

Check out our measuring guide in this link  to make sure you have the correct hinges for the day you decide to replace your window hinges.