How To Select The Correct Window Handle Before Purchasing

WINDOW HANDLE REPLACEMENT

HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR WINDOW HANDLE TYPE

PLASTIC upvc windows

Plastic (upvc) windows have two main types of window handle, very early upvc windows used a handle system called a “cockspur”

More modern upvc windows use a handle system called espagnolette or “espag” for short.

What we’ve learnt here are “cockspur” and “espag” and this is where we need to look when purchasing a new window handle.

These terms “cockspur” and “espag” are a reference to how the window is locked.

What are the visual differences? Glad you asked,

Cockspur as the name suggest has a spur or nose indicated by the red arrows and this part is what does the locking on your window

This spur or nose can be either on the right side of the handle or on the left side of the handle, the cockspur handle in our picture is a left hand, this is because you would use your left hand to use it and vice versa.

This spur or nose also has different “step heights” to suit different upvc profiles, below you can see how this nose interacts with the frame to keep the window locked and why the step heights matter.

Common sizes are 13mm, 17mm and 21mm with the exception of handles suited to aluminum windows with a step height of 9mm.

As you can see in the above images the spur or nose rides upon a plastic wedge simply known as a strike wedge.

To make things even more complex this strike wedge also comes in different thicknesses, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm and 8mm.

The strike wedge often has two little prongs on the back which locate into holes that have been drilled into your frame that is if strikes wedges have been fitted at all, a dab of silicone or adhesive is also used to keep it in place.

So to summaries cockspur handles:

• Left of right handed
• 13mm, 17mm or 21mm stack height
• Strike wedge size

Oh and to make matters much worse the majority of cockspur handles have been discontinued and so we only stock a universal handle that most cases can work in place of the original, you can find these handles in our Window Hardware section.

Cockspur handles here - Cockspur Window Handles - Sash Hardware

If you have more modern type pvc windows you will likely have the espagnolette handle with the square spindle bar like the below image

For this you will need to shop the "espag" type window handles

Espag handles here - Espagnolette Window Handles - Sash Hardware

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