What Is UPVC And Why Is It So Good?

Our entire product range at Bon Accord Glass features several UPVC-crafted offerings, a building material originally developed commercially in 1935 and first used in UK window and door manufacturing during the double glazing boom of the 1980’s, a period dramatised in the current BBC comedy series ‘White Gold’.

Almost 40 years on from UPVC really taking off in this country, installers like us continue to use the material and the pull of UPVC products is as strong as it’s ever been amongst homeowners.

Why is that? We’ll begin by telling you more about UPVC and then go on to tell you why it’s so good.

Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride

Now you know what the UPVC stands for.

Shortened to UPVC, PVCu or PVC, Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride is a low-maintenance, low-cost building material and popular substitute for painted wooden window frames and window cills. Manufactured using vinyl polymer, it is also used to craft doors, conservatories and roofline (guttering, drainpipes etc.) and is incredibly tough.

The toughness of UPVC is a big selling-point as is the inexpensiveness of UPVC products as they’re generally cheaper than hardwood timber and aluminium equivalents.

A quality UPVC product also offers outstanding thermal efficiency due to the low thermal conductivity of the constituents used to make it. This restricts potential heat loss, something that several alternative materials are incapable of doing, so it can be considered to be environmentally-friendly thanks to it saving huge volumes of energy.

Maintenance of UPVC couldn’t be simpler as it doesn’t need repainting and all you have to do to remove any dirt that builds up on a UPVC frame is wipe it away with a wet, soapy cloth.

Previously only available in white, UPVC products now come in a wide array of coloured finishes and they can last for a decade or more.  

Find out if UPVC is as good as we say it is at our Aberdeen showroom where we have one of Scotland’s best UPVC showcases. You won’t leave disappointed!