Which windows and doors are recommended?

Hello everyone,

we are about to start our second attempt to build our dream house, or rather, we have already started and are currently waiting for a detailed offer with a building description.

So I now have to gradually deal with several topics, namely:

- windows and doors
- central ventilation system with heat recovery
- heating
- possible own contribution
- fireplace

The starting point shall be windows and doors. Our supplier usually works here with windows and exterior doors from Schüco and CePal interior doors from Garant.

What concerns me now is whether these manufacturers are a good choice according to my requirements or whether it would be sensible to tender this position based on another manufacturer.

My requirements are as follows:

Interior doors: Here I was thinking of white hollow core doors with a robust and easy-to-clean surface.

Front door: A normal front door with a sidelight and decent thermal insulation as well as burglary resistance (RC2). As a special feature, which I am very enthusiastic about, I discovered the "SCHÜCO 211 853 4 latch deadbolt lock 'SafeMatic' with anti-panic function" at Schüco, which I find extremely sensible. Furthermore, I am still undecided whether an intercom system with or without video or an integrated door chain would be sensible, although I do not know if Schüco offers the latter. Is Schüco even a good choice or are there providers with a better price/performance ratio? Is such an automatic locking system useful? Can you generally save yourself the trouble of locking the front door with it, or are there serious weaknesses so that the extra cost is not worth it?

Windows: The requirements are a bit more complex, so I list them in bullet points:

- white
- ground floor: RC 2 N
- upper floor: RC 1 N
- electric exterior roller shutters
- 200 NM handle lever (I have often read that 100 NM is too little)
- triple glazed

The following questions come to my mind regarding the windows:

- push button or lockable? (Lockable is ugly and who actually locks the windows in practice? Is a locked window with an inserted key safer than a window with a push button handle?)
- Schüco or another manufacturer
- which U-value is economically most reasonable? (does the extra cost pay off through energy savings eventually?)
- plastic or aluminum?
- rather invest in better glass or better frame? Where is the golden mean?
- Does anyone know the window construction company Morlok from Rötha near Leipzig? Is it recommended?

Garage: The garage will receive a large filled Hörmann sectional door with electric drive, as well as a window, a door to the garden and a door to the house, since it will be built directly onto the house. The way to the garage then leads through the utility room, so the door does not have to meet aesthetic requirements.

Is it enough if the exterior door of the garage is executed in RC 2 or should the door to the house also meet this standard? As far as I have read, the door to the house must be at least a T30 door – on another construction site of the builder, this was implemented as a metal door, although I would have concerns regarding thermal insulation.

Which door should meet which standards here? Are there alternatives to the Hörmann sectional door?

What interests me regardless of the individual sub-item is whether the price/performance ratio of the individual products is right. Of course, I want the best for my money and use as little of it as possible to get a sensible and long-term satisfying solution. That means I am open to all manufacturers. It does not have to be a well-known brand if money can be saved or I get better performance for the same money. I do not want to pay unnecessarily much but am quite willing to add a bit more for meaningful upgrades within the possible scope. What should be paid attention to with the respective products and which features are worth the money?

Many questions to start with, but so much is really running through my mind. Every decision in building a house is one you have to live with for many years, if not forever, which is why I am naturally afraid of making the wrong choice or wasting money uselessly somewhere that I could have used much more sensibly elsewhere.

I thank you in advance for your help and hope you do not tear me apart immediately.

Best regards, Markus

Maybe you should ask your questions separately and rephrase them - I don't really know what exactly you want. No one is making you an offer here, and expensive means expensive: there are no limits upwards.

(Lockable is ugly and who actually locks the windows in practice?

I don’t find it ugly, and I do lock them!

Is a locked window with a key inserted safer than a window with a push-button handle?)

A window with an inserted key is as safe as a window without a lock.

You should get a consultation appointment with the police before you start thinking about Swedish curtains

that’s Yvonne’s advice

Yes, as soon as I saw my finished work, I already thought that it would come down to "tldr" and that I would get few or no meaningful answers.

Is an appointment at the police really useful? I can't imagine that the guys there get more than a half-day seminar on the topic before they are sent out to deal with people.

In short, my main concern is whether Schüco and Garant are recommendable or if there are manufacturers with a better price/performance ratio that should be considered instead.

Secondly, I want to know which extras and features are sensible and worth the money. We want to build in a quiet village and have a streetlight right in front of the house - so I will not need a front door with RC 4 certification, but the windows should at least be RC 2 N, although I have no desire to pay huge sums for safety glass when the pane is broken in very rare cases anyway. Just a question of cost and benefit.

The main problem is still the handle olive, prices range from under 10 euros for a very simple one to 60€ for a lockable one with 200 NM - the question is which level of expansion makes sense. I will hardly be able to persuade my wife to always fish out a key every time she wants to open a window, so it is questionable whether the extra cost for lockable handle olives is at all reasonable.

And of course the question of where the golden cost/benefit balance lies for the insulation value of the windows. If I spend 50€ more for a window with which I then save 1.50€ per year, but already pay 1€ interest per year on that 50€, I reconsider whether it is worth it, with a payback period of 40 years.

Push button or lockable?

The 200 Nm handle is only worth the money if it can also be locked. For an RC2 window, push olives are IMHO nonsense. Lockable!

Is it enough if the outer door of the garage is executed in RC 2 or should the door to the house also have this standard? As far as I have read, the door to the house must be at least a T30 door

Is the gate also RC2? Maybe it makes more sense to execute the door between the house and the garage in RC2. The garage itself is basically outside the "secure" shell (a pity about the good tools, but securing the garage to RC2 would probably be much more expensive than just the house). Of course, you can also get fire-resistant doors in RC2 design (for an additional charge). And as far as I know, these even come with good thermal insulation (extra charge).

Is an appointment with the police really useful? I can't imagine that the guys there get more than a half-day seminar on the topic before they are sent out to deal with people.

The fact is that every trained and actively employed police officer has more in-depth knowledge than, for example, a commercial employee or IT learner (unless they work in the security industry).

What I mean, however, is a consultation at your next prevention office (in a central police station such as a directorate or inspectorate). You make an appointment there, and they are also familiar with individual providers. As already said: there are hardly any limits upwards.

Sometimes it is the simple things that you can do for burglary protection. You have planned windows with RC1N on the upper floor. Then you should make sure not to store your ladder unsecured in the carport or that other climbing aids like trash cans are standing around. It would not be the first time that burglars choose the way over the garage roof or balcony to break into the upper floor. This is, for example, also a tip from a police lecture. A potential burglar usually chooses the weakest spot to get into the house. So it is no use to secure individual points well but neglect others. After the first burglary, you also lock your windows when you leave the house, even if it is annoying.