Wood Vs. Vinyl

dgjk70

I posted previously regarding the Great Lakes Uniframe vs. Simonton Prism. I thought I had decided to go with the Great Lakes, however I went to the company building where they had installed the same casements I was going to buy and they use a piece of quarter-round to cover the area between the existing frame or sill and the new window. Is this normal? I thought it looked very cheap. I then went to look at some Loewen wood windows. They looked so rich. I still have concerns about the wood getting wet with wood windows. I'm looking for advice on wood vs. vinyl and also for any information on the quality of Loewen windows. They are made from douglas fir and you can get double or triple-pane. Thanks for all the input.

Grumpy

Never heard of Loewen. Wood vs vinyl... Typicall vinyl is a "replacement" window and wood is a "new construction" window. Keep in mind two things: New construction doesn't mean new construction, it just means there is more labor involved in the installation. Also vinyl and wood are made in both replacement and new construction windows.

Now that I have thurougly confused you ...

I install Marvin wood windows all the time and the exterior wood is completely weather proofed with aluminum or fiberglass depending on type of window. There's no real chance of wood rot if you close your windows when it rains

Now if you get a wood window without the cladding, you better also install storm windows.

Paul Staub

Thats a tough call... Vinyl has less interior maintenance, and usually comes with a liftime guarantee. If made correctly the vinyl can insulate as well as wood, and can actually be a stronger material.

Wood is very attractive, but has interior maintenance and requires more labor to install which could make it expensive. However, if you were considering the great lakes window, expense doesnt seem to be that big of a concern for you. Also wood typically only has a 10 year guarantee on the wood and 20 years on the glass usually.

I guess it depends on the extent of the water damage on your existing window. If it is all messed up putting in an entire new window would be easiest to do in wood. If it is in good shape then a vinyl replacement could be installed right into it. Then you could bend trim coil around the outside to protect from water damage.

sidewaller

i install harvey windows . it is a fully welded vinyl window . it comes new construction and replacement styles. the new construction comes either with j channel built in on the outside or without . my opinon is you cant go wrong with these windows . very well built.

abelc

With wood windows comes more headaches. After a couple years they dont seem to work as well as a vinyl window.

go dart

does loewen offer a primed wood exterior? not clad? surely they offer a clad option. we went to clad wood only after a few vinyl jobs. we do the complete install including matching woodwork colors. in turn our jobs are higher end ,less competive, and contracts can run 30-40000.00 nice! 3 men crews average 5 wnds per day including complete frame replacments, casings, jamb extensions etc

washout9779

I go vinyl all the way. Replacements are such a breeze to install and then the old trim stays. New construction take a lot longer to install. I used to run a one man show and averaged 8 windows a day with full wraps, typically getting $6-700 per window. Now thats nice. As far as quarter round or a 1/2x3/4 shoe around a replacement. As far as I know that is very typical and is the method I use.

abelc

That kind of money is unheard of around here! I have myself and two others and we can get about 12-14 a day with wrap. If I could get that kind of money Id be in the bahamas right now!

naildriver

My my around here your lucky to get $75 a window. Thats not counting the price of material, just installation.

abelc

We get about 100. Subbing only pays about 60 with a trim.Its a rough life

washout9779

I have never actually subbed. Found my own leads, sold my own jobs. Took me a few years to get my premium pricing but well worth scraping along for a year to get to that point. And now I moved 7 hours away and gave my business to a friend. Funny how little money means when you want to get away from something like an ex wife.