Our windows arrived on Monday morning at 8am, the artic truck made it to the bottom of the road, but it was too big to turn up. This was our ‘Grand Designs’ moment, where heads were scratched and questions asked on why such a big truck was sent. I left site, having been informed that the truck would return to base and smaller trucks would deliver on Tuesday. Unbeknown to us, a smaller truck was sent and they offloaded our windows at Gaelic football grounds and made two runs up to site.
When I got back to site in the evening, I was amazed to see that the windows had been delivered, like large books stacked in a library. Over the next couple of days, the Rationel Installers; Shane, Ciaran and Breen did mighty work, lifting and rolling our windows into place. This work required a big physical team effort, but it also needed to be very precise, especially working with an exacting client like myself. I’m not sure they loved me hanging around watching the installation, but in fairness to the them, they were responsive to my concerns and tried to rectify most of the issues.
Once all the windows were installed and everyone had left site, the biggest difference was the SILENCE. I could hear almost nothing from outside and that’s with uninsulated walls. The windows and doors feel solid and strong, the timber finish internally is warm and natural and it’s really nice to see the character of the wood. There’s a lovely clunk from the sliding doors and they move smoothly. Externally the windows are clad in aluminium, Ral colour 7043. The good thing about Rationel was there was no extra charge for non-standard colours. Overall, I’m very happy with the product, although we did have challenges getting the window construction details agreed. But if you want precision, you need to dedicate lots of time to getting this right.
The next job on the list is to get the windows weather taped externally and install the rest of the timber battens for the ventilated façade. When you’re finished one big job, there is still a massive list of things to do.
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