First Impression: Entrance Doors

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Your entrance door is like your business card: when visitors come to your home the entrance door will give a first impression. In today’s market there are many designs available from modern to traditional, from blending in to making a statement. The design should suit the house so that ‘curb appeal’ works as a whole and makes your home inviting. But your entrance door should not only look good but work well. After choosing the right design, sealing and security are the main issues for front doors. Seals equal no drafts Sealing well could mean that your door is double

Burglaries - protect what's dear to you

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

During 2012/13 there have been 28,915 residential burglaries in Victoria alone with 2,716 of aggravated burglaries. (Source: Victoria Police Crime Statistics, 28 Aug 2013) 15 seconds – that’s how long a professional burglar needs on average to get through a door or window into a house. The consequences of a burglary are high financial damage of all sorts: next to the stolen goods which have to be replaced, often burglars leave behind wilfully damage and damage to property which might need costly repairs. Also emotionally burglaries can be damaging, especially the lost feeling of security and missing personal items are

Back to Timber

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

For numerous reasons wood is making a come-back as building material of choice. Led by the famous award winning ‘Forte’ – the tallest apartment building made of cross laminated timber in the Southern Hemisphere, more and more architects are using timber in a major way. Michael Green and his firm in Canada developed North Americas tallest timber building with a height of 27.5metre, the new home of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. In Australia, Peter Maddison, award winning architect and presenter of Grand Design Australia, says in a commercial by ‘Wood Naturally Better’ that “wood stores carbon and carbon

Glass Matters Explained

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Glass is an important factor for the performance of windows and doors. Here are some terms and explanations and how glass can be used: Annealed Glass the common flat glass often used in double glazing. It tends to break into large jagged shards. Toughened Glass annealed glass is heated to above 600 °C and the surface then rapidly cooled, resulting in increased resistance to breakage. If it does break it breaks into small regular, mostly square fragments. Laminated glass this is made of two or more layers of glass with an interlayer bonded in between, providing safety and security. In

U-value of 0.8

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Hot off the press! The latest energy efficiency test for Paarhammer achieved a very low 0.8 U-value. Testing is performed for the whole window system which includes the frame, glass, seals and spacers. All components make a difference to the energy used in your home. A lower U-value number indicates better energy efficiency. Tested by Ian Bennie & Associates, an Australian Fenestration Rating Council - AFRC – accredited organisation, the results are: PAR-009 Fir Timber Fixed Window rated with SuperSpacer – TG ID Name Glazing Name Glazing ID Uw SHGCw Tvisw 2 PAR-009-001-01-4-12Ar-3-12Ar-4 4-12Ar-3-12Ar-4 10400 1.7 0.52 0.56 3 PAR-009-002-01-4PThrm-12Ar-3PThrm-12Ar-4PThrm

Energy Rating Certificate

Friday, August 09, 2013

When you talk about the energy efficiency of windows, it is not just the glass but the whole window system, which includes the frame, glass, seals and spacers. All components make a difference to the energy used in your home. Tested window products receive a rating called the U-value. A lower number indicates more energy efficiency. The U-value can be as high as 7.5 in some windows and doors and as low as 0.8 for extremely energy efficient products (0.8 is Paarhammer’s latest and best rating). The testing of energy efficiency must be performed by a rating organisation which is

Renovations on the Rise

Monday, June 24, 2013

Australia's love affair with renovating is expected to continue with property equity levels beginning to improve. In Victoria, current levels of housing starts remain higher than anywhere else and renovation investments are at record levels. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal that in 2012 building approvals for home renovations totalled $6.35 billion or around $500 million every month. This trend of growing renovations is likely to continue not only because Australians love to renovate, but also as households increasingly prefer to direct excessive property transaction costs towards improving their existing homes, rather than trading up.

What is Good Wood and FSC

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Good Wood Good Wood comes from ethical and ecologically sustainable sources. When you choose Good Wood, you support a solution to deforestation and related climate change, you protect unique biodiversity and you help local forest communities find alternatives to poverty and loss of livelihood. FSC® FSC - Forest Stewardship Council - promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. Paarhammer has been FSC Chain-of-Custody accredited since 2005 as the first window and door manufacturer in Victoria. Chain of Custody Certification provides a guarantee about the production and source of FSC® -certified products. The main objective

BDAV's 10-Star Challenge

Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Building Designers Association of Victoria's now famous 10-Star Challenge is in it's third year. Ambassador this year is James O'Loughlin of 'The New Inventors' fame who officially launched the Challenge on Wednesday night. Paarhammer is a proud sponsor. The 10-Star Challenge is for conceptual projects that combine admirable architecture with energy efficient planning solutions and materials utilisation. There is increased interest and commitment by consumers to reducing their carbon footprint and minimise ever-increasing energy bills. The campaign helps the design community to focus on the benefits of sustainable design for dwellings. Last years winner of the 10-Star Challenge for

Life Cycle Analysis - LCA

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

What is LCA? Life cycle analysis or LCA is a method of measuring the environmental impacts of building products over their whole life. The aim of a life cycle analysis is to identify, quantify and assess the impact of the energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment throughout the life of a building product. There are many life cycle analysis methodologies and all vary in their range and complexity but it all comes back to sustainability. The life cycle analysis of timber follows the piece of wood from harvesting, manufacture, construction and product life to recycling and

Sustainability - Carbon Store

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, emit oxygen and store carbon. About half the dry weight of a tree or wood product is carbon; one ton of carbon represents 3.67 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Australia's native forests, timber plantations and wood products are all net absorbers of greenhouse gases. In 2005, they sequestered (or stored) 56.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, reducing Australia's overall greenhouse gas emissions by almost 10%. The combination of carbon sequestration in growing trees and the long term carbon storage in wood products represents a significant net sink and store of carbon for Australia.

Are your windows child safe?

Monday, February 18, 2013

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in NSW reported that from 1998 to 2011 there have been 113 young children admitted after falling from windows. To reduce such incidents the National Construction Code now requires window barriers to openable windows where the sill is less than 1.7m above floor level and the floor below the window is more than 2m above the surface beneath, effective from May 2013. These new rules apply for all windows in early childhood centres and in habitable rooms in residential buildings. Windows are to be either fitted with a screen or have the window opening limited