What slopes are better for plastic windows: 4 ways, expert advice

The final stage of the installation process of modern windows is the decoration of slopes. The thick profile, multi-chamber double-glazed windows and reliable fittings provide excellent thermal insulation, but the pairing of the window frame and the wall of the apartment remains a cold and not beautiful place. If proper attention is not given to this area, condensation, mold and wall damage may occur. Therefore, let's find out which slopes are better suited for plastic windows.

What requirements should the slopes meet?

Before considering the window framing options, their advantages and disadvantages, we will determine what is required of these elements.

Slopes should:

• Not inferior in the durability of the window design. Modern double-glazed windows are designed for a minimum of 15–20 years of operation. Slopes are required to withstand no less time without loss of basic qualities. Few people will like to redo them every two to three years.
• Corresponding to the general style of the window, make up with it a whole.
• Maintain or even improve the performance of plastic windows.
• To withstand mechanical loads and impacts of the wings.
• If possible, be maintainable.

Slope trim options

When repairing an apartment in a new building or when replacing windows, you will have to choose what to finish the openings after installing modern structures with double-glazed windows.

You can finish window slopes with the following materials:

• plaster;
• drywall (GCR);
• gypsum fiber (GVL);
• plastic panels.

Plaster slopes

Manufacturing technology consists of installing beacons, plaster corners and applying plaster. After drying, the slopes are putty, polished and painted. It is extremely difficult to make high-quality insulation, since the connection of the solution with the wall is lost.

Stucco finishing the window opening has the following advantages:

• Universality. This material is used in rooms with various indicators of humidity and temperature.
• Affordable price. Plastering is an inexpensive material, besides it is possible to save money by doing the work yourself.
• Strength. Plaster slopes are more resistant to mechanical stress compared to other types of finishes.
• Lack of seams. Perhaps the main argument of the supporters of such coverage: there is no need to further process the joints and junctions of the opening planes.
• Possibility of updating and repair.

But a number of serious shortcomings led to the fact that plaster is less and less used in this kind of work:

• The duration and complexity of the process. Finishing takes considerable time: each layer of plaster mix needs to dry.
• A large amount of dust and dirt, the risk of scratching the window.
• Low thermal insulation properties of plaster. Such slopes are prone to freezing in winter, the appearance of condensate. In addition, during their installation, it is necessary to cut the foam one or two centimeters inward, loosening the heat-insulating seam.
• Peeling from the frame. It is not possible to firmly connect the plaster and the PVC frame. There are no sealants with equally good adhesion to both materials. This leads to the formation of cracks between the window block and the plaster layer.

The last two drawbacks can be eliminated by warming the opening with foam in front of the plaster and using the adjoining window profile with a reinforcing mesh.

Plasterboard slopes

For their manufacture, GKL pieces of the right size are used, which are screwed to the frame from the profile or glued to the sides of the opening. Then the surface of the drywall is primed, putty and painted. In the case of laminated GCR, no further finishing is required. The space between the wall and the new slopes is insulated with polyurethane foam and insulation.

It is easier and faster to fasten GKL than to bring out an even plane with plaster. But do not forget that after installation requires finishing, which will take several days. If you use laminated GCR, then the installation of slopes is done in one day.

Advantages of using drywall:

• Low cost.
• Easy installation. The most basic skills in construction are required.
• The ability to easily create perfectly flat surfaces.
• Additional insulation.
• If preparation was done for painting and painting, then a simple repair is suitable for repeated repainting.
• If you use a good semi-gloss and gloss paint, you can repeatedly wash the slopes.
• When finishing and painting, does not require the installation of plastic corners.

Disadvantages:

• The inability to firmly bond the slope material and the PVC frame (as with the plaster version). This leads to the appearance of cracks in the joints.
• Fear of moisture. If the windows “cry”, under the action of condensate the drywall, even moisture-resistant, gradually collapses, swells near the frame. Regardless of the GCR, laminated or painted. Judging by the reviews, this is the main reason for refusing to use gypsum plaster in the manufacture of slopes.
• Risk of sagging, denting, and punching. Still, drywall is a rather fragile material.

To avoid the finishing stage, you can take a laminated GCR instead of the usual one. But in this case, you will have to use special corners to close the ends of the sheets.

Plaster slopes (GVL)

The technology for mounting slopes made of gypsum-fiber sheets practically does not differ from the fastening of drywall, the advantages will be the same. At the same time, GVL lacks the disadvantages of GCR: it is much stronger and tougher, and its moisture-resistant variety is completely not afraid of a wet environment.

Mr. Build believes that with proper installation, the slopes from the HVL are superior to other options in terms of performance and appearance.

Advantages of gypsum slopes:

• Simple enough installation.
• High strength and rigidity.
• The possibility of quality insulation.
• Ideal design geometry.
• Long service life - more than 10 years.
• Maintainability: the damaged element can be easily putty and tinted.
• Moisture resistance.
• Paint is easy to clean.
• On the GVL, you can mount any decorative coverings: from wallpaper to tile.

Disadvantages:

• Relatively high price (compared to GCR and plastic).
• The need for finishing.
• Cutting gypsum fiber is slightly more difficult than drywall.

If after priming and puttying you paint the slopes from GVL with high-quality latex paint, then they can be washed fearlessly. And re-painting will be required no sooner than after 5-8 years.

Repair of slopes from GVL

In this case, the slopes were mounted more than 8 years ago. In the process of redecorating (with the division of the room into two parts), the slopes were partially plastered, sanded and painted. The work on the slopes took 2 days, the cost of the work is insignificant (in comparison with the installation of new slopes - even when compared with the budget plastic ones). The walls were also painted, so no corners were required.

Plastic slopes

Another way to get aesthetic and reliable slopes is to sheathe the opening with double-sided sandwich panels. They have not only good thermal insulation properties, but also sufficient rigidity.

It is not recommended to use one-sided sandwich panels and decorative wall panels made of thin cellular plastic for finishing a window opening. They do not have the necessary strength, wear resistance and thermal insulation qualities.

It is plastic trim that is gaining more and more popularity. The material of the slopes is not only harmoniously visually combined with a window frame made of PVC, but is also securely fastened to it by means of special sealants. This method of finishing the opening has other advantages:

• Low price.
• A flat surface that retains properties for many years and does not require additional finishing and regular maintenance.
• The absence of gaps and temperature differences due to the use of the same material from which the frame is made.
• Additional thermal insulation reinforcing the weak point of the window opening - the seam between the frame and the wall of the room.

• Quick installation. Plastic slopes are mounted faster than drywall and especially plaster.
• The minimum amount of dirt and dust when faced with plastic.
• 100% moisture resistance.
• Possible replacement of part of the slope in case of damage.
• The frame covering the outer contour reliably protects the junction of wallpaper and window opening.

Minuses:

• Exposure to mechanical damage.
• The impossibility of local repair. In the event of a breakdown, the whole panel will have to be changed.
• Low quality additional elements such as corners. Often these small parts are made of recycled plastic, which eventually turns yellow and ugly stands out against the background of snow-white slopes.

• Incompatibility with the interior. Glossy plastic will look unnatural in a room decorated in a classic style, as well as in any other design direction that uses natural materials.

In order to not add others to these drawbacks of plastic slopes, you need to correctly select the material, guided by two main rules:

1. Panels should be made of primary plastic. Only such products are absolutely harmless even when heated in the sun and will not turn yellow after a year.
2. The PVC layer should be thick enough. This will help to avoid damage to the slopes.

Choosing between matte and glossy plastic, you need to consider that on a glossy surface, smudges and fingerprints are better visible. Frosted panels look more natural and look like classic painted slopes.

What slopes are better for plastic windows?

Pros and cons of all options for finishing slopes. There is no ideal material that would be better than the rest for each parameter. Therefore, when choosing, you need to decide which properties and characteristics are more important in a particular case.

Slope Requirements	Most suitable material
Speed ​​and ease of installation	Plastic
Durability	Stucco, gypsum fiber
Strength	Stucco, gypsum fiber
Moisture resistance	Plastic, gypsum fiber
Naturalness of the material, natural look	Stucco, drywall, gypsum fiber
Design tightness	Plastic
Practicality, no need for maintenance and care	Plastic
Best maintainability	Stucco, gypsum fiber
Low price	Plastic
Original finishes (decorative plaster, tile, mosaic)	Stucco, drywall, gypsum fiber
Lack of corners, visible elements of the frame	Stucco, drywall, gypsum fiber
Ability to change design	Stucco, drywall, gypsum fiber

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Dear readers! And what slopes did you choose?