Another place that is tough to tell the quality of the hardware online is those decorative tips on top of the picket called finials.  Many places charge a hefty upgrade fee per panel to add finials to the fence panel.  The worst part is these are often cheap die-cast, aluminum or plastic that ship loose and you have to glue or press them on.  The difference between the fence panel material and finial material will be come apparent over time when the dissimilar metal coatings (or materials like plastic) fade at a different rate and really start to look like a cheap add-on.  Be sure to check what those finial tips are made from and how they are attached.  Our Stronghold Iron uses solid cast-iron finial tips that are welded directly to the picket like the image below.

The long and short of all this is that homeowners have two options when they’re choosing fencing that looks like wrought iron: a steel fence with decorative wrought and cast iron elements, or an all-steel fence. Here’s the rundown of these options:

The bottom line here is that modern aluminium profiles are absolutely no worse insulated than wooden or, even more so, plastic ones. On the contrary, modern aluminium window profiles are distinguished by the best thermal performance and are often used in the construction of passive houses. As a result, the price of aluminium windows and doors has risen considerably in recent years, and we currently have to pay more for them than for wooden windows!

This is very simple to answer. Virtually all current aluminium windows use nearly identical aluminium quality and type. Aluminium profiles have, for years, met long-established British, European and other standards for thickness, quality, suitability for use as a window material and type.