When looking at buying new friction stay hinges, it’s vital to ensure that you’re measuring your window hinges correctly.

Types of Friction Stay Hinges

At Security Hardware, we offer four main types of friction stay hinges to suit your windows. All of our friction stay hinges are BBA-approved and are suitable for new build applications.

• Standard: our standard friction stay hinges allow UPVC windows to open with no limitations.
• Egress: these hinges are designed to open at 90° to allow the maximum opening area for fire escape. These are also available in ‘Easy Clean’ variations. Our 10.3” and 16” egress friction stay hinges are fully compliant with British Standard 8213 (Part 1, 1991) to allow them for use on fire escape windows.
• Restricted: the restricted friction stay hinge limits how far a window can open. These are often used for safety reasons, including compliance with building regulations or simply to help keep your home secure. For extra security, see our full range of additional security for windows.
• Heavy duty: heavy duty friction stays are designed for heavier window sets and can support side-hung sash weights of 30-40kg.

Measuring Window Hinges

When measuring window hinges, you will need to know these three things about your window:

• Hang type - is the window top hung or side hung?
• Hinge length - this should be measured across the hinge as seen in the image, and should be measured to the nearest whole inch (so 11.9” would be 12”).
• Stack height - friction stays are available in 13mm or 17mm stacks heights. The stack height can be difficult to measure accurately without removing the hinge from the window.

If you are unable to measure the stack height of your friction stay hinge, you can purchase some stack-packer caps, which clip onto the hinge and can convert it from 13mm to 17mm. We recommend fitting three packers per hinge, so a pair of hinges would require six packer caps.

If you would like any further assistance with measuring your friction stay hinges, please get in touch with our friendly, expert team today. For more guidance, check out our help guides to measuring window handles or browse our full range of window hardware.