Wicklow is a tougher brief for windows than most of the country. The coastal stretch from Bray and Greystones down through Wicklow Town and Arklow sees regular salt-laden Atlantic spray on west and south-westerly storms, and the period seafront terraces - the Edwardian and Victorian houses on the Esplanade in Bray, the Killiney-style villas in Greystones, the Georgian sashes around the harbour in Wicklow - are exposed to weather that would chew through a budget window in five years.
That is why our standard recommendation along the East Wicklow coast is an Aluclad uPVC profile rather than plain white uPVC. The uPVC inner gives you the warm, low-maintenance interior; the powder-coated aluminium outer takes the salt and the wind-driven rain without fading, chalking or pitting. The aluminium colour is RAL-coded and locked-in for life.
Inland is a different story. The villages and estates around Blessington, Newtownmountkennedy, Rathdrum and Kilmacanogue are sheltered by the Wicklow Mountains and standard A-rated uPVC performs every bit as well as it does in Dublin or Kildare. There the priority is U-value (heating costs are the driver), so we recommend triple glazing as a first upgrade rather than aluminium cladding.
We have been fitting windows across Bray, Greystones, Wicklow Town, Arklow, Delgany, Blessington, Newtownmountkennedy, Rathnew, Kilmacanogue and the rural villages between them since 2003.