When it comes to colour, aluminium doors, bifolding doors and windows come with many options.
The polyester powder coating process used on aluminium bifolding doors and windows provides virtually unlimited colour choice. The colour and finish of handles can also be chosen, and colours can even be mixed and matched.
With so much colour choice available on aluminium windows, why are the glazing gaskets and seals still black? Study closely most of the aluminium products on the market and black gaskets are nearly always used.
Homeowners, however, tend to focus much more on the gasket colour. We have had some enquiries asking “what doors and windows are available with white gaskets?”
Are white gaskets available for windows and doors?
Some windows and doors are available with white gaskets. These systems are few and far between, and it depends on the material used.
Most rubber glazing gaskets will be black. These are made from materials such as EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer (M-class) rubber), TPR (Thermoplastic Rubber) and PVC (Polyvinyl chloride).
Origin offers a selection of coloured gaskets in their bifolding doors, but these are made from Q-Lon. Q-Lon is a foam weather seal, widely used in aluminium, PVCu and timber doors or windows.
Q-Lon is marketed as being resistant to paints and stains, provides good sealing and energy performance properties and products such as the Schlegel Q-Lon used in Origin bifolding doors has a lifetime guarantee. Q-Lon is a foam gasket coated with a polyethylene film. The advantage of Q-Lon over other materials is colour choice.
Potential problems with white rubber gaskets.
The feedback from the professional door and window installers is that they do not like white gaskets. It is important to stress that we are referring to rubber gaskets and not Q-Lon.
Potential problems with white rubber gaskets include:
- Discolouration of the white gasket.
- Mould gathers on the gasket if moisture is not quickly wiped off.
- White can quickly look dirty next to the white powder coated finish.
- White gaskets can perish or degrade faster.
So while white gaskets can appear aesthetically better, black is regarded as the better colour and the better performing gasket.
Homeowners may prefer a white gasket on a white window or door, but the professional installers and indeed the systems companies themselves prefer black. It is rare to see an aluminium system as standard with anything other than black rubber gaskets.
Update April 2017.
Since we wrote this article, we can update you on two different products offering white and colour matched gaskets.
The Origin bifolding door offers a selection of coloured gaskets, designed to work with the many different colours Origin doors are available in. So for example, you can choose a white, brown, grey or another colour to blend in with the RAL colour of an Origin bifold.
The Aluhaus Alufold Warmcore bifolding door goes a step further. Alufold Warmcore bifold doors offer RAL matched gaskets. The advantage of this is the same RAL colour bifold can have the same RAL colour on the gaskets. Our understanding is that most of the available RAL colours for bifolding doors can be found on the Alufold Warmcore door gaskets as well.
