Every respectful company should have its Ambassador – someone who represents it in a positive light and makes it widely recognised among present and future customers. It is not a secret that the best ambassadors are company employees and co-partners. The people who know the company and its products better than anyone else and are passionate about what they’re doing. When their support for the company comes naturally from their heart, they are the company’s best advertisement!
Among all the fantastic Fenbro Team members, there is one person who is immediately associated with our brand. It’s Marcin Wojtyczko, the head of our fitting team and one of the most recognisable and valued window and door fitters all over Ireland. Marcin is the direct connection between our company and our customers and the best proof that we don’t make empty promises! He is a real joinery expert and a great professional – each of his team’s Realizations makes us really proud! Our customers highly value his work and are impressed by how well organised and easygoing he is. If you want to know what they really say about our window and door fitting team, make sure to check our Reviews!
There’s no doubt that Marcin Wojtyczko and his fitting team are among the best ones in joinery business in Ireland. It’s high time to get to know our windows and door fitter better – that’s why we have recently asked him a few interesting questions. Want to know his answers? Read on!
Where are you from?
I come from a small village in the mountainous Podhale region in southern Poland. It is located only 30 km away from Zakopane, the well-known capital of the Polish Tatra Mountains. So you could say I’m a native Highlander (“goral” in Polish).
How long have you lived in Ireland?
I came to Ireland at the very beginning of 2005. Right after New Year’s Day, I packed up and came here, like everyone else did back then (ed. Poland entered the EU in 2004). It was supposed to be for a while, but I stayed “a bit” longer. Today it’s been 19 years since I arrived in Ireland and I’m not going anywhere for now. To be honest, I really like it here. Of course, the weather could be a bit better – but you can’t have everything, right?
How long have you been working in the window and door industry?
I am a carpenter by profession. In Poland I studied and worked as a furniture carpenter. Later on, after coming to Ireland, I worked in a company dealing with the renovation and manufacture of church furniture, such as pew benches, chairs and church pulpits. Their services also included the assembly of this furniture in churches throughout Ireland, England and Scotland. So these were my professional beginnings in Ireland. Then I started looking for another job because I was a bit tired of all these church-related tasks. I found a job in an Irish company that manufactured and installed windows and doors. At the beginning I was a production worker in a factory for a year, but I felt that it was not a job for me. When I was about to quit, the company management suggested that I join their window and door fitting team. I tried it and, you could say, I liked it. So I started dealing with windows and doors installation and replacement for good. I worked there as a window and door fitter for the next 7 years. Then I felt it was time to go my own way and start my own business. And that’s how I officially started installing windows from Poland. Why from Poland? Well, after a few years of working in the joinery field, I realised that Polish windows and doors are far better than the Irish ones in terms of quality and effectiveness. There’s no comparison, to be honest. So I completely gave up installing Irish joinery and focused only on installing Polish windows and doors.
Why do you like working as a window and door fitter?
What I like about my job is that almost every day I’m in a different place working on a different project. I really enjoy the moment when newly installed windows and doors work well and people are happy with them. I like the window fitter job even more than working in carpentry. You could say I’m lucky because I found what I like to do in life. And I’m very happy with it!
What advice do you have for people ordering window and door installation services?
I have one general piece of advice that relates not only to window and door installation, but also to the process of ordering windows. I always tell people that if they don’t know which windows to choose, because there are so many of them, they should always take into account the heat transfer coefficient (or U-value). This coefficient should always be below 1 W/m2K. With such a value, we can be sure that we have chosen a window of good and satisfying quality. Moreover, I would always advise to choose a triple-glazed unit without hesitation. Firstly, because it provides better thermal insulation, and secondly, because it provides great soundproofing, too. In my opinion, by choosing a triple-glazed unit and a U-value below 1 W/m2K, you get an S-class Mercedes among windows. The same rule applies to the door purchasing process.
Generally, the choice of product alone determines 50% of the window installation success. The other 50% is the expert window fitting service. In order for the window to function properly for 25-30 years to come, appropriate verticals and horizontals of each plane must be maintained during the installation. If the window is installed crookedly, it will not function properly. Additionally, the window has to be properly sealed and installed. By proper installation, I mean the anchoring method and not the so-called Irish style of window installation through the window frame. The latter type of installation is a controversial issue. Obviously, there are situations in which it is not possible to mount an anchor and then it is ok to install a window through the frame-provided of course that the whole installation process is conducted wisely and aesthetically. However, in general, I am in favour of the anchoring method as it provides structural strength and securely attaches the window to the building.
Can you share an example of a project that you consider particularly special or successful?
Generally, each project is special, because each one is different and unique. But if I had to select just one Fenbro project that stayed with me, I would choose the one with aluminium windows of non-standard shapes: triangles and rectangles. It was quite an unusual project, because there was a very modern house extension where we had to install such extraordinary windows on three sides of the construction. In order for the whole project to be successful, it was necessary to start with the most important thing, i.e. correct measurements – otherwise it could have been a disaster ;). The next step was to properly fit the windows to the openings so that everything worked and looked good. And finally, we had to install all the windows in an expert and flawless way. So yes, it was definitely one of the more interesting and demanding realization projects at Fenbro.
What challenges do you encounter in your work and how do you deal with them?
I encounter challenges in my work every day. They are smaller and larger, but they are usually manageable. The biggest challenge so far was the project that included the window and door replacement in the entire house together with the so-called sunroom, i.e. a room almost entirely made of windows and French doors. It turned out that during the measurements I did not realise there were posts located in the sunroom structure and I assumed that the structure was mounted on window connectors. After taking out two old windows, it turned out that although the posts were very thin, they supported the entire structure. The problem was that I had measured the old windows together with the posts as a whole – so the new windows were in incorrect size. To fit them together, we had to redo the entire sunroom structure. It required quick action, renting a welding machine and, so to speak, welding the entire structure. We simply had to prepare the structure for the new windows and do it all in the right order so that the whole thing wouldn’t collapse. Each post was individually modified and welded and then new windows were installed. As a result, the whole project took a bit longer, but in the end everything turned out well. Now the entire sunroom looks like the original, the only difference is that it is built with new windows.
What are the most common mistakes made by other window and door fitters in Ireland?
Sometimes, when the project is partly done by another fitting team and partly by us, I notice that most of the other installers do not use anchors for window and door installation. They simply open the window or door and drill screws centrally through the frame. The fact that they drill through the frame is one problem, but the other is that they do it in a sloppy and uneven way. Thirdly, the screws sometimes stick out, get stuck, or even bend the frame because they are not drilled properly. Customers need to know that damage done to the frame by such a method of window and door installation has an impact on the window parameters, especially insulation. A customer pays for specific parameters and a high-quality product free of any defects. When fitters drill holes in the frame, they basically destroy the product and put the customer at risk of window tightness issues.
There are also other mistakes frequently made by local installers. During installation, fitters generally use wedges to level and stabilise the window. We use plastic wedges, which will remain untouched throughout the whole window or door lifespan. Local installers, on the other hand, use wooden wedges. If we leave such wedges for, let’s say, 10 years in the structure of the house, i.e. under a door or a window, they will physically rot and stop fulfilling their intended function. The windows or doors will drop, start to stick out and will work incorrectly and you will not be able to adjust them because the verticals and horizontals will automatically change. Wooden wedges are, in my opinion, the biggest mistake that local installers do not pay attention to. Plastic wedges cause no such problems, they last throughout the whole lifespan of windows and doors and there is no possibility of anything moving or dropping there.
What do you expect from your customers before starting the project?
Customers are very different and I can’t really have any special expectations from them. I just want every customer to be extremely satisfied with my service after the project is completed. This is my only expectation. If the customer is 100% satisfied with my work, I am happy as well.
Thank you for the conversation. I wish you more interesting projects and only satisfied and happy customers!
Interested in Fenbro windows and door fitting services? Learn more HERE.
