There are four main pillars that make up a great replacement window experience. Like a chair with a broken leg, missing just one of these will adversely affect your happiness with your new windows. In this multi-part series, we will discuss the first of these pillars: the window frame material. This post will refer to some of the first window frame materials: Wood, Steel and Aluminum. In our next post we will discuss Vinyl and Composite replacement window frames.
Over time, many materials have been used for the window frames: wood, metal, plastics and composites.
One of the first materials to frame window glass, wood window frames have been around for centuries and are still used by many manufacturers today. Among Wood Windows’ appeal to many are the classic warm appearance of wood, its relative energy efficiency, and its flexibility to match many architectural styles and decors through staining or painting. Among Wood Windows’ less appealing attributes are the regular maintenance requirements of scraping, painting and sealing, proclivity to rot and insect damage and limited species availability.
Stronger than wood so it is able to be used in much thinner profiles to expose more window glass and less frame, steel is used infrequently in residential windows today. While steel window frames are strong, they have a number of drawbacks that have caused them to fall out of favor, most notably, their efficient conduction of heat and cold. Steel window frames can get dangerously hot in summer and frigidly cold in winter, bringing outside temperatures inside and driving up heating and cooling costs. In fact, it was not uncommon for steel window frames to build up inches of ice on the inside of the frame as the moisture in the home’s air condensed and froze on the window frames. Steel also requires a great deal of annual maintenance. To keep the steel from rusting, it has to be scraped, sanded and repainted nearly every year.
Another metal, aluminum, has some of steel’s strength and somewhat less of its conductive properties, but is still is not as energy efficient as wood or other materials used today. As a semi-strong metal, aluminum window frames can be made in thin profiles to maximize the window’s glass area. Advances in glazing techniques developed something known as a “thermal break” that helped reduce the transfer of exterior temperatures to the interior, but aluminum window frames are still very cold in winter and very warm in summer. Because aluminum is not as corrosive as steel, aluminum window frames tend to be left their natural silver color, which many people find objectionable as it does not match their home’s architectural style or their personal taste in decor. Aluminum window frames are also available in a limited number of paint colors.
There are four main pillars that make up a great replacement window experience. Like a chair with a broken leg, missing just one of these will adversely affect your happiness with your new windows. In this multi-part series, we continue our discussion of the first of these pillars: the window frame material.
In our last post, we discussed some of the pros and cons of window frame materials, including wood, steel and aluminum. In this post, we will discuss the features and benefits of some of the newest and most popular window frame materials available today, namely vinyl and composite window frames.
Perhaps one of the most popular replacement window framing materials in recent years, vinyl has a number of advantages over other framing materials like wood, steel and aluminum, but also has a number of disadvantages inherent in the material itself.
Vinyl is far less conductive than steel or aluminum and does not corrode or rot like steel or wood. Vinyl, particularly in its most common color, white, has color throughout, so scratches and scuffs are not as visible as they are on painted surfaces. Vinyl window frames are most commonly available in white although other colors and painted extrusions are available as well. Painted vinyl will expose the white underbelly should it receive a scratch or other wear.
One of vinyl’s biggest weaknesses, and one that is infrequently mentioned by vinyl replacement window sales personnel, is its tendency to expand in warm weather and shrink in cold. This is a well-known property of vinyl and the reason vinyl siding is never nailed tightly to the side of a house, but “hung” on partially sunk roofing nails. Because vinyl moves so much, it often requires re-caulking and sealing as the movement exceeds the flexibility of the caulk and allows wind and moisture to enter the window cavity. This movement also tends to break the seal of the glass to the frame, exposing the glass edges to moisture which will deteriorate its seals and allow drafts to enter the home.
Often called the best of all worlds, composite window frames combine the strength of wood with the energy efficiency and low maintenance of vinyl. Renewal by Andersen’s composite window frames are made with its patented Fibrex material. Fibrex contains up to 40 percent wood fibers, giving it the strength of wood and the durability, rot resistance and low maintenance of vinyl. Further, the addition of the wood makes Fibrex more than twice as stable as vinyl, eliminating the concerns of seal failure so common with vinyl window frames.
•No need to scrape or paint again and warranted not to rot, flake, blister, peel, crack, pit or corrode.
•Excellent insulator: prevents heat or cold transfer into or out of your home.
•Strength of Fibrex material makes narrower frames, allowing for more glass area
•Available in 22 standard color combinations
•Stainable wood interiors available, including oak, maple and engineered pine.
•Fibrex material contains over 40% reclaimed wood fiber, reducing the impact on the environment
•Resistant to changes in temperature – doesn’t expand and contract like some materials
As a major pillar in your satisfaction with your Replacement Windows, your choice of window frame material will have one of the largest impacts on your long-term happiness with your new windows. Be sure to consider all the features and benefits of your replacement window frame material choices before making your final selection.
For more information about the window frame options available to you, give us a call at (866) 609-5033 or fill out the short form on this page and we’ll get right back to you.
Check out this post for more information on Fibrex composite window frames.
