Aluminium Windows & Doors in South Africa: Your Questions Answered

This aluminium windows and doors FAQ answers the questions we are asked most often before an order is placed.

Aluminium is now the default choice for windows and doors on most new South African homes and renovations — it’s strong, it doesn’t rust, it carries big spans of glass, and it barely needs looking after. But when you’re actually pricing and ordering, the questions stack up fast.

Your aluminium windows and doors questions, answered

Buying aluminium windows and doors raises plenty of questions — about cost, styles, glass, colours and how supply-only works. This guide answers the aluminium windows and doors questions we hear most, so you can plan and order aluminium windows and doors with confidence across South Africa.

Below are the questions we’re asked most often by homeowners, builders and developers buying aluminium windows and doors direct from us across South Africa.

How much do aluminium windows and doors cost in South Africa?

There’s no single price — it depends on the size of the opening, the configuration (a fixed window costs a fraction of a four-panel folding door), the glass specification and the colour. What we can say is that because Coetz is supply-only and factory-direct, our prices sit well below the traditional supply-and-install model, where installation and a middleman’s margin are baked in.

For worked examples and price ranges by product, see our guide to aluminium door prices in South Africa, or send us your sizes for an exact quote.

Do you supply only, or do you install as well?

For aluminium windows and doors we are supply-only — we manufacture to your sizes and deliver, and you (or your builder) fit them. That’s deliberate: cutting out installation is exactly how we keep prices down. Fitting standard aluminium windows and doors is well within the ability of any competent builder or handyman.

The one exception is automatic doors, which we supply and install through our sister company MC Automations (installation included in Gauteng).

What glass comes standard on Coetz aluminium windows and doors?

Every standard Coetz window and door is glazed with 6.38mm Clear Laminated Safety Glass as standard — not ordinary float glass. Laminated safety glass holds together if it breaks (like a car windscreen), which is both safer and better for security. Other specifications — tinted, obscure, tempered, double-glazed — are available on request.

Is aluminium better than steel or wood for windows and doors?

For most modern applications, yes. Aluminium doesn’t rust like steel or rot, warp and need re-sealing like timber. It’s light but strong, so it carries large glass panels on slim sightlines, and a powder-coated finish lasts years with almost no maintenance.

We’ve set out the full comparison — cost, lifespan, maintenance and looks — in aluminium vs steel windows.

What types of aluminium doors can I choose from?

The main options:

• Sliding doors — glide sideways on a track; the go-to for patios and big openings where you don’t want a door swinging into the room.
• Folding (stacking) doors — concertina fully open to connect inside and out; the premium indoor-outdoor look.
• Hinged doors — a classic single or double swing door, for entrances and smaller openings.
• French doors — a double hinged door that opens from the centre.
• Pivot doors — a dramatic, oversized entrance door on a pivot hinge.

What types of aluminium windows are available?

• Side-hung (casement) windows — open outward on side hinges; great ventilation.
• Top-hung windows — hinged at the top, open outward; good for rain because they shed water.
• Sliding windows — panels slide horizontally, no projection into or out of the room.
• Fixed (picture) windows — a sealed pane for maximum light and view where you don’t need opening.
• Combination windows — fixed and opening sections combined in one frame.

What colours do aluminium windows and doors come in?

Powder-coating means almost any colour is possible, but the popular standards are natural (mill) aluminium, white, bronze, and charcoal/matt black. White and bronze are our two most-requested finishes and are shown on their own pages with typical applications.

Do aluminium window and door frames rust or corrode?

No — aluminium doesn’t rust the way steel does. The frames are powder-coated, which seals the metal and gives a tough, colour-fast finish. In coastal areas a marine-grade coating is recommended for extra protection against salt air, but even standard powder-coated aluminium far outlasts untreated steel.

Are aluminium windows and doors energy efficient?

The frames are slim, so you get more glass and more natural light. For thermal performance the glass does most of the work — laminated safety glass as standard, with double-glazing available where you want to cut heat loss and gain. Well-sealed aluminium units also reduce draughts and noise.

How secure are aluminium doors and windows?

Aluminium frames are rigid and hard to force, sliding and folding doors run on multi-point locking systems, and the standard 6.38mm laminated safety glass resists smash-and-grab because it holds together rather than shattering. For high-security openings we can specify heavier locking and thicker laminated glass.

Can I order custom sizes?

Yes. We manufacture to your exact sizes — that’s the point of ordering factory-direct. We also carry a wide range of standard sizes if your opening fits one, which are the quickest and most economical to supply. Send us your width and height (and the configuration you want) and we’ll quote.

Do you deliver nationwide, and how do I order?

We deliver aluminium windows and doors across South Africa. Ordering is simple: send us your sizes and the type of window or door you want, we quote, you approve and pay, we manufacture and deliver. For a firm quote, get in touch with your sizes — a rough sketch with widths and heights is enough to start.

How long do aluminium windows and doors last, and what maintenance do they need?

A powder-coated aluminium window or door will comfortably last decades. Maintenance is minimal: wipe the frames down occasionally, keep sliding tracks clear of grit, and give moving parts a light service now and then. There’s no rust to treat, no timber to sand and re-seal, and no repainting.

We have split this aluminium windows and doors FAQ into two halves. The first half above answers the product questions — cost, glass, colours, security and the differences between window and door types. The second half below answers the ordering questions. If you are scanning rather than reading, the aluminium windows and doors FAQ headings are written as the questions themselves, so you can jump straight to the one you need.

Aluminium windows and doors FAQ: ordering, pricing and delivery

This second half of the aluminium windows and doors FAQ covers the commercial side of an order — sizes held as standard, trade pricing, VAT, payment, collection and lead times — alongside the measuring and glass questions we field most often. These were previously answered on a separate FAQ page, and have been consolidated here so the whole aluminium windows and doors FAQ sits on one URL.

How to use this aluminium windows and doors FAQ before you order

Because Coetz™ is supply-only on aluminium windows and doors, the order you place is manufactured to the sizes you give us. That makes the few minutes spent working through this aluminium windows and doors FAQ before checkout genuinely worth it — almost every problem we see afterwards traces back to a detail that was assumed rather than confirmed. Work through the five steps below in order.

1. Measure the structural opening, not the old frame. The structural opening is the brickwork or timber opening the frame sits into. Measuring an existing frame gives you the frame size, not the opening size, and the two are never the same.
2. Decide the configuration before the size. A fixed pane, a top hung window and a sliding door of identical width are three different products at three different prices. Settle what opens, and which way, first.
3. Confirm the opening direction. On hinged and swing doors we ask you to specify Open In or Open Out. This cannot be changed after manufacture, so confirm it against the room, the furniture and the direction of escape.
4. Check the glass specification. Standard glazing on Coetz™ aluminium windows and doors is 6.38 mm clear laminated safety glass. If your project or your local authority requires something different, tell us before you order.
5. Choose delivery or collection. Delivery runs nationwide; collection is free from our Laser Park premises by arrangement. Both are set at checkout.

If any step raises a question this aluminium windows and doors FAQ has not answered, stop and ask before you place the order. A question costs nothing; a remanufactured unit costs a great deal more.

What to send us when you ask for a quotation

The fastest quotations are the ones that arrive complete. Readers of this aluminium windows and doors FAQ who send the following five things usually have a price back the same working day.

• Width and height of each opening in millimetres — width first, then height, which is the convention used throughout this aluminium windows and doors FAQ and across the shop.
• The quantity of each size. Repeat sizes are quicker and cheaper to produce than a set of one-offs.
• The configuration you want — fixed, top hung, side hung, sliding, folding, hinged or pivot.
• The colour. Tell us the finish you are after and we will confirm what is available in that profile.
• A photograph of the existing opening. One photograph resolves more questions than a paragraph of description, particularly where a lintel, a sill or an existing frame is involved.

Send those five items through the quote form and you have effectively answered the questions this aluminium windows and doors FAQ would otherwise have to ask you.

Aluminium windows and doors FAQ: the terms we use

Suppliers use trade shorthand without thinking about it, and it is a common reason a specification is misread. These are the terms that appear most often in this aluminium windows and doors FAQ and on the product pages.

• Structural opening — the opening in the wall that the frame is fitted into. Every size on the shop refers to the product, so allow fitting clearance against the structural opening.
• Fixed pane — a glazed panel that does not open. The cheapest way to buy light and the most common element in a large window.
• Top hung — a sash hinged along its top edge that opens outward from the bottom. The most popular opening window in South Africa, largely because it sheds rain while open.
• Side hung — a sash hinged along one vertical edge, opening like a small casement door.
• Sliding — sashes that run horizontally on a track, taking no space into the room.
• Folding — panels hinged to each other that concertina back against the reveal, opening most of the width.
• Sidelight — a narrow fixed panel alongside a door, used to widen an entrance visually without widening the door leaf.
• Toplight — a panel above a door or window, used to carry extra height in a tall opening.
• Reveal — the internal face of the structural opening, against which folding panels stack.
• Glazing bead — the removable strip that retains the glass in the frame.

Where a product page and this aluminium windows and doors FAQ appear to disagree, the product page governs, because it describes the specific unit you are buying. If the two genuinely conflict, tell us and we will correct the aluminium windows and doors FAQ.

Ready for a quote?

Coetz™ Glazing supplies standard and custom aluminium windows and doors direct to homeowners, builders and developers across South Africa — glazed with certified 6.38mm laminated safety glass, at factory-direct prices. Send us your sizes for a no-obligation quote, or browse our aluminium doors and aluminium windows ranges.