Long Island homeowners looking for ways to improve energy-efficiency and the appearance of their homes may consider adding high-quality replacement windows. The right style and brand can dramatically transform an older home into a real show place, especially if you’re replacing worn out fixtures that allow wind and rain to flow into your interior spaces. Installing modern replacement windows can open up your view, add natural light indoors and enhance comfort and convenience on many levels. It is natural to want to find out how different brands measure up before you invest your hard earned money in any home improvement. If you are wondering how much vinyl replacement windows cost compared to other windows, you’ve come to the right place.
While there are many different frame materials on the market today – wood, aluminum, fiberglass and other composites – it is difficult to make a head-to-head comparison of vinyl replacement windows to Fibrex replacement windows because vinyl windows come in a variety of price ranges and quality. You may be able to find a “cheap” vinyl window constructed with hollow-extrusion technology that on the surface looks like a “better deal” compared to high-quality Fibrex, but the trade off will most likely be energy efficiency, less resistance to heat transfer and lower-quality weather-stripping and operational hardware, resulting in poor performance and durability in the long run. Low-budget vinyl replacement windows may not have glazing options that include factory applied coatings to manage heat and light transfer effectively, which also reduces the positive benefits modern replacement windows offer homeowners.
Vinyl does have some qualities we really like – it is lightweight, doesn’t require painting and resists damage associated with moisture. If you are willing to pay more, you can find some replacement windows with a metal bar to stabilize the frame, so you have fewer problems with sagging or drooping. If you decide to shop around, you may find some, but fewer, color options, compared to Fibrex frames, You’ll want to look for heat-welded joints because window units manufactured with screws can develop air and moisture leaks due to excessive expansion and contraction of vinyl during extreme temperature variations as our Long Island seasons change. Low-end vinyl windows typically cost about half as much as high-quality wood windows on the market today.
Fibrex – a composite frame material made from wood and vinyl – has all of the benefits of both, without any of the negative problems. You never need to resurface Fibrex frames to maintain a beautiful appearance, and the thermal expansion rate is similar to wood — the material used to build your home, so you won’t have to worry about and gaps that allow air and moisture inside your home as you do with vinyl windows. Plus, we only use high performance glazing, weather-stripping and operational hardware, so whether you choose double-hung windows, casements or a bay configuration, every window is guaranteed to seal out the elements, resulting in higher energy-savings compared to low-budget vinyl replacement options. Although heat-welded joints improve the overall value of vinyl windows, the truth is that vinyl and glass and wood are all very dissimilar when it comes to heat expansion and contraction – this can cause seals to fail over time because the difference in thermal performance puts extra stress on the “seams.” With Fibrex frames you won’t have this worry.
You may be wondering how high-end vinyl replacement windows compare to Fibrex. Vinyl-clad wood windows are closer to Fibrex quality, but you may still notice that dark colors tend to fade quicker and white may yellow with direct sunlight. The darker color also tends to absorb more heat, so they move more in temperature variations.
We understand that your budget helps guide your decisions,. But, if you’re planning to make the investment to upgrade your home with replacement windows, you need to buy the best you can afford, or you may find yourself repeating the process in a few years, which will cost you more than making the right investment the first time. A high quality window will outlast and out perform and poorly made cheap alternative. Need more information about Fibrex replacement windows? Take a minute to fill in the short form on this page or give us a call at (866) 609-5033.
Check out this post for more information on Fibrex composite window frames.
Learn Everything You Need to Know BEFORE Buying Replacement Windows
