Can another aluminium bi-fold be fitted faster than Alumina?

Industry-leading systems house Liniar recently announced the addition of a ‘flexible bead’ to its Alumina door system.

While a flexible bead isn’t new to the PVCu industry, Liniar has taken the concept a step further on its aluminium door system - and the results have installers rejoicing. Sore fingers, long installation times and scratched paint are commonplace challenges when fitting aluminium bi-folds, due to difficulties with inflexible aluminium beading.

Liniar knew a solution for these issues was long overdue, having already received overwhelmingly positive feedback when PVCu beads were supplied with foiled versions of Alumina doors. Now the flexible bead can be supplied with white and grey RAL powder-coated doors, the most popular internal finishes for homeowners, it’s put Alumina doors in a class all of its own – and fitters are raving about the change.

Stand-out solution

Liniar’s Design and Development Director Chris Armes explains what makes this bead stand out from the rest – including other flexible beads – and why it’s changing installations forever:

“Flexible beads are few and far between in the aluminium industry, but we’ve taken Alumina a step further. Other flexible bead solutions still require the use of a wedge gasket, which is the most time consuming part of the installation.

“As with other Liniar fenestration products, the flexible bead arrives with a co-extruded bubble gasket, removing the need for wedge gaskets. Instead, installers simply need to use a rubber mallet to quickly tap the flexible bead into place with Alumina doors. The feedback we’re receiving from Liniar fabricators and installers is excellent.”

A perfect match

Chris continues, “We wanted to make sure the finish on the bead is identical to the RAL used on the Alumina doors, so we worked closely with some of the industry’s PVCu painting specialists to develop a colour matched flexible beading solution.

The specialist paint used creates a chemical bond between itself and the PVCu bead used as the substrate so there is no worry about flexing and bending the bead during installation. And installers can be sure of a perfect match every time.”

No more sore fingers

“The feedback we’ve had from fitters who’ve installed Alumina with the new bead has been outstanding,” comments Chris. “One of the first installers to use it was delighted, saying, ‘No more sore fingers!’ – And favourable comments continue to fly in.

“While Liniar is well known for product innovation, it’s also important to us to continue to develop upgrades and enhancements to existing products in order to make both fabricators’ and installers’

The Alumina challenge

“We’ve created a time lapse video showing the time saving using the flexible bead against a traditional aluminium bead – you can see it at www.liniar.co.uk/videos/ “So we already know the new flexible bead makes installation incredibly fast, but we’d like to find out just how much time it can save overall – so we’re throwing down a challenge!” says Chris.

“We believe an Alumina bi-folding door can be fitted in around half the time of a different brand – so send us your comments, videos and evidence of experience with other systems and we’ll declare a public winner!”

Feedback

Have feedback on your own Alumina door installation? Send your views to marketing@liniar.co.uk.

For more information about the Alumina door range including its flexible bead, visit the Alumina website at alumina.liniar.com.