When you make the decision to update your New Jersey or New York home’s windows, you’ll probably start the process by doing some research about the various brands and window styles available on the market. Homeowners often visit online review sites and forums about replacement windows early in their decision-making journey. One of the common topics on the online resources is comparing frame materials, such as vinyl, wood, aluminum, fiberglass and composites. We recommend Fibrex composite frames as the best frame in almost every situation – unless you are restoring a historic home on the national registry of landmarks. If you’re straddling the fence between buying vinyl replacements and a composite – like Fibrex – we’d hope the following information will help you make a wise decision for today and tomorrow.
Many vinyl replacement windows manufacturers claim their window frames are good for the environment because they “last for decades,” resulting in fewer windows being manufactured, which reduces energy consumption in factories that build replacement windows. While that is technically true, vinyl is not biodegradable. If those windows fail, more solid waste finds its way to local landfills, an increasing problem all across the United States. By contrast, Fibrex is built with pre-consumer, natural wood and vinyl scraps reclaimed from our manufacturing process – resulting in a product manufactured with recycled resources that reduces the harmful impact on natural resources and limits landfill wastes significantly. While it is possible to recycle vinyl, post-consumer window and door recycling isn’t readily available in all areas of the United States.
Consumers with a desire to limit their carbon footprint and their negative impact on the environment must consider the whole product life cycle from manufacturing to shipping and installation through future replacement. Fibrex windows are scientifically proven to perform as designed 20 years after installation as the day they were delivered – barring intentional misuse, modification or damage due to fire or other natural disasters. As we continue to move away from the dependence on fossil fuels, it is important to recognize that vinyl is 50 percent carbon – derived from natural gas or crude oil – and 50 percent chlorine. While we are not able to create a carbon neutral product, aiming for the lowest carbon producing replacement products is desirable. Learn more about the Renewal by Andersen commitment to our environment by downloading our brochure.
Choosing Fibrex to frame your double-hung and casement windows means you get the best that vinyl has to offer – like durability – with the strengthen of wood. In fact, Fibrex composite is two times as durable as vinyl, which means you won’t have to worry about replacing your windows again for as long as you live in your home. Vinyl also expands between 4.4 and 8.8 times more than glass during extreme heat, which puts more strain on the sealants and joints that hold glass panels in place and prevent the glass from separating from the frame. Unlike, vinyl window frames, Fibrex window frames have thermal expansion rates similar to the wood in your building envelope, so you won’t have to worry about gaps developing over time that allow air and moisture to penetrate inside your home. Plus, dark colors won’t fade and white won’t yellow in the harsh summer sun, problems often seen in low-budget vinyl replacement windows.
Not all vinyl window applications are horrible. We offer some beautiful, Energy-Star approved energy-efficient patio doors that are built with a rigid vinyl wrap surrounding a wood core. And, our low-maintenance Fibrex frames are manufactured with wood and vinyl. When you choose to order Renewal by Andersen replacement windows, we guaranteed both the installation and the windows and patio doors, and we’ve been in the neighborhood for decades, so you can have total peace of mind we won’t disappear as soon as your check clears. We have heard many sad stories about New Jersey & New York Metro homeowners who chose to buy vinyl windows who couldn’t reach the window company or the installation contractor when problems developed later.
Whether you’re thinking of changing out a couple of windows in your New Jersey or New York home, or you want to update your whole house, we invite you to give us a call at (866) 609-5033 or fill in the short form on this page to schedule a private in home consultation.
Check out this post for more information on about window frames.
Learn Everything You Need to Know BEFORE Buying Replacement Windows
