And I used to think a Georgian Bar was a coffee shop!

When I joined Hazlemere Window Company, I came from outside of the double glazing industry, so had no idea about the different fenestration types, and as far as I was concerned a Georgian Bar was a term for a quaint old coffee shop in a rustic village with exposed wooden beams.

I had no idea how much high tech technology now goes into producing thermally efficient, energy saving windows, nor how much there was to learn about replacement windows and doors. No longer are high quality windows, something that can be quickly knocked up and shoved into an existing or new builders opening, but well designed, technologically advanced energy rated products (or should be!) that save energy, as well as adding security and value to a property.

Three years on, I now know a Georgian bar is a horizontal and/or vertical bar (usually made of aluminium, PVC-U or timber) that goes across windows and doors to give a “Georgian” appearance. The most common Georgian bar window style in the UK are windows with bars that “divide” up the glass area into small squares. This architectural style and design originated in Britain in the Georgian period, which lasted from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, when panes of glass in vertical sliding sash windows were traditionally divided by thin, delicate wooden glazing bars.

Nowadays Georgian window bars can be integrated into a double glazed window’s sealed unit or mounted onto the front and back of the glass. This “raised Georgian” window bar style is sometimes also referred to as “applied Georgian” or “astrical bars”. In the case of replacement aluminium and UPVC double glazed windows, aiming to replicate the traditional timber framed look, the sealed units contain an “interbar” in between the two panes of glass to make the product aesthetically pleasing, giving the effect of small individual window panes.

The majority of customers who opt for Georgian style double glazed windows tend to choose “integral Georgian”, whereby the Georgian window bars (usually PVC-U) are fitted within the sealed unit between the two panes of glass to replicate the same look as the existing wooden windows. These come in 18mm and 25mm wide as standard. Both have the massive advantage of being able to easily clean both the inside and outside of the window glass and economic to purchase. The particular advantage of say the 18mm wide integral Georgian double glazing bars is that customers properties benefit from more glass and light, resulting in clearer and better views out of each window or say French doors.

Many customers still decide to have astrical bars to match the look of their existing wooden (often rotten) timber Georgian windows and doors, despite the fact that aluminium raised Georgian costs more to manufacture and apply than UPVC raised Georgian, as aluminium is a stronger more durable and higher specification material. As a general rule, astrical bars cost about 3-4 times as much as integral Georgian, as not only do raised Georgian bars have to be fitted to the outside of both panes of glass, but also an interbar that exactly matches the dimensions of the applied Georgian bars. Another applied option on glass for windows is square or diamond leaded windows, which come as standard in either 9mm wide lead or 12mm lead.

The great thing about Georgian bars is that they can be made to order to dovetail in with the rest of the property, whether they are made out of timber, UPVC or aluminium. Georgian bar(s) can come as a grid (squares) or as a crucifix or as a single vertical bar or as a single horizontal bar or even an arched bar. And to think I used to believe a Georgian bar was just a coffee shop!
Tweet