We're going to get new windows for the house we bought last October. We live in California and so the windows currently installed are aluminum, construction is circa 1978 or so. I would say we have roughly a dozen windows, some small, some large... one sliding door in the master bedroom. We of course want to go double paned. The questions we have though are should we go Vinyl over Metal / Aluminum / Wood even? New construction or Retro? Any window specialists in the house? We have only one quote so far, it was about $6.5k for vinyl retro... thanks.
All have their advantages. A few about vinyl is that they are not as rigid and therefore actually "cushion" the glass to some extent. Another bad thing about Alum or Metal is condensation...and yes it will occur Best all around windows I ever installed are all wooden, and all are gonna cost a bundle. 3 brand names for wooden to look for are Pella Marvin Anderson Good luck and let me know which direction you go
i sub for a contractor and we are currently putting windows in the house we are building now. i put nothing but vinyl in anything i do. not only do they give better suction as one poster mentioned above but are specially designed to be more energy efficient but they also come j-channelled(all vinyl windows i've seen)which makes for easy installation. just slap them up and screw them in. of course if you install them yourself you want to ensure they are leveled properly and gapped properly as well(meaning you don't want 3 inches of daylight on one side and 1 inch on the other)before you screw them in. also makes having to change one a little easier if you ever have to for whatever reason. but it al depends on your budget. if you can afford you should go vinyl
I've heard bad things about Vinyl in that they don't last as long as wood/metal products. Perhaps this was in their early days and they have been improved??
nothing last forever even when garunteed. i've seen roofing shingles that were supposed to last 15 yrs that needed to be changed after 7 due to poor installation/upkeep and/or poorly made. wood can rot or be destroyed by termites..(point is you could probly find pro's/ cons for each). and this is just from my personal experiences and prefernces.
