Cornish housing develops faster with KitFix

Published by mandygunn for Sidey Ltd in Housing and also in Communities

Frame UK, the Redruth structural timber frame manufacturer, has been able to erect 57 houses for Devon & Cornwall Housing Association far faster and safely through he deployment of KitFix, a patented fenestration mounting system developed by Sidey – one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and installers of energy efficient windows and doors.

 KitFix is a revolutionary bracket that enables timber frame kit manufacturers to install fully glazed, fully finished windows and doors into their panels as part of the production cycle which can then be stacked, stored and transported as normal. In this way buildings can be made wind and watertight in one day without any need for scaffolding adjustment – step-ups, for instance. In this case further savings were made by using clip-on 120mm cills, whereby the cill noses can be clipped on later in the build.

The faster build improves security by reducing the opportunity for theft, arson and vandalism; as well as benefiting health and safety as these items no longer have to be handled manually or delivered or stored on site.

Frame UK erected the homes at three sites in Cornwall – St Keverne, St Stephen and Trencreek – as part of the West Cornwall Build Partnership schemes involving Devon & Cornwall Housing Association, Taylor Lewis (Project Managers), Trewin Design Partnership (Architects), MBA (Consulting Engineers).

In the factory, KitFix brackets are twist-fitted to the window or door frames at pre-determined centres. Air tightness, thermal and acoustic seals can also be integrated. The window or door is then lowered into the opening and the bracket screwed to the external face of the panel, securing the fenestration in its transportation position so panels can be stacked, banded and loaded normally.

KitFix works in conjunction with another Sidey innovation – Scratchguard, a factory applied coating that not only protects expensive high performance glass units but also provides a translucent glass coating that increases site security. It also protects the glass from splatter – such as solvent or paint overspray, or careless handling of mortars and renders – and also cleans the pane as it is peeled off. This operation takes just seconds, far faster than window cleaning, and so speeds up the handover process