Vinyl Replacement Windows vs. Wood Replacement Windows
So how does vinyl vs wood windows compare? Let's begin by saying that vinyl replacement windows are not for everyone, and neither are wood replacement windows.
Wood Replacement Windows
Wood replacement windows are beautiful when well maintained. Just look at the interior of a high end luxury car with the elegantly finished wood accents. Wood also requires the highest maintenance when exposed to the elements: it can rot, crack, fade, and become structurally unstable. The longevity of wood is less than vinyl, judging by the warranties of the largest wood window manufacturers.
A typical wood frame warranty is ten years, twenty on the glass. Owners of high end homes are the prime market for high end wood windows because they maintain their properties and are used to upkeep. They are rewarded for their efforts with the beauty of wood windows. Wood replacement windows are often vinyl clad on the outside to aid their resistance to the elements, and it definitely helps.
It is a nice upgrade for many homeowners. The grid patterns on wood framed windows are often real grids, meaning the window is actually made of smaller panes. The problem with wood windows is that they are natural wood. While this makes them beautiful, it also makes them uniquely individual. Some woods are tight grained and some are wavy or made up of pieces of finger jointed wood. Some frames are made of oak, cedar, or Douglas fir, while some are made of pine or spruce.
Each of these woods has unique characteristics. For instance, oak, pine and spruce are quite prone to rot. Spruce has the highest strength to weight ratio of the group, while Douglas fir is probably the best choice structurally. The rail seals on wood windows will generally not be as good as those on vinyl replacement windows because the vinyl window manufacturer can build an interlocking system into the extrusion for maximum energy savings.
There are many wood window manufacturers in the marketplace and their products vary widely. It would be good to see an older job with the product you are looking to purchase to see if there was a major design flaw such as the wrong glue used on scissor joints or twisting or expansion problems. At their best, wood windows are wonderful to behold and prettier than the best vinyl window.
Vinyl Replacement Windows
Vinyl replacement windows dominate the replacement window market because of price, availability, and performance. At their best, they will feature a beautiful beveled exterior design, an equal sight line, screens that are removable to the inside, and provide tremendous energy performance. At their worst, they will be made of thin walled, box frame extrusions, with screens removed to the outside, ugly welds, cheap glass with metal spacers, and a warranty riddled with loop holes (fine print).
Vinyl replacement windows that are specifically built for that application will generally be much stronger, more durable, have high performance glass units with super spacers, high quality hardware and a 50 year (lifetime) warranty without a lot of fine print. Some vinyl windows have a wood grain on the inside (cap stock) to make them appear like a wood window from inside the home. In my experience, these faux woods just do not look like the real thing.
Wood looks like wood, faux wood looks like faux wood. If you reside in an area with a lot of rain, vinyl replacement windows have a distinct performance advantage as well as a major advantage in terms of longevity. Water and wood do not get along well with each other. Vinyl replacement windows have tracks (horizontal sliders) that are designed to carry water into the frame on the bottom side of the window and then allow the water to drain out through weep holes.
Vinyl Replacement Window Systems
The best vinyl replacement windows may have sloped internal drainage systems combined with foam insulated chambers. The ability to engineer a window to do specific things is, perhaps, the greatest advantage of vinyl windows. The options are really only limited by an engineer's creativity. That said, most vinyl replacement windows are pretty basic.
In the end, the decision is made by you, the consumer. Somewhere out there is the product that will do exactly what you are looking for. In this internet age, your knowledge is far greater than that of a consumer only a few years ago. This growing awareness will only make window companies improve as the expectations of them increase.
By Tom Gion
