Community Chat

[mousiegirl]

On 4/7/2014 occasional rain said:

I would choose wood because to me the others, like vinyl siding, look cheap.

I recently had windows replaced and the frames were aluminum but covered in wood, which is the best way to go, the best of both worlds.

[mousiegirl]

On 4/7/2014 Lila Belle said:

On 4/7/2014 beammeupscottie said:

On 4/7/2014 Vamp said:

We definitely don't live in a McMansion but not a cheap home either. I would call this an upper-middleclass neighborhood. Homes in our sub have both kinds of windows, and I honestly can't tell the difference at a glance. I only know that there are both kinds in the neighborhood from asking my neighbors what they put in. I'm sure there is a difference between Pella & Anderson and, say, Wallside Windows. I just wonder if spending $27,000 on Anderson windows (which my neighbor across the street did last summer) is worth it. That's an awful lot of $$.

I would say it's not worth it unless you know you are going to be there another 20 - 30 years.

It's worth it for resale no matter what the brand. We chose our home over another because it had energy efficient windows as well as the new HVAC. No one really wants single pane wooden windows anymore.

My windows work fine, so I will let the next owners replace them if they wish. The old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," is how I feel, lol. Whole house replacement windows around here is so high, no one would do it unless absolutely necessary. Two rooms have new windows due to recent remodeling, but when I heard the cost of replacing all windows, the issue became moot.

[Mom2Dogs]

When we replaced the windows in our house we went with vinyl, the house had wood frame windows originally. I will admit that I don't love the look of the vinyl but they are easy to clean they move up and down and the tilt in for cleaning ease. The old windows would swell and did not come out easily for cleaning.

[JustJazzmom]

We sold last year my MIL's house and the windows had been replaced only on the upstairs and this house has a lot of windows!! To sweeten the sale of the house, we ended up ordering the same replacement windows that were upstairs and changed the remaining windows on the main floor. All of the windows were at least 50 yrs old and many had the sash weights broken inside (so the windows would not go up or down). The new windows now had vinyl panels (no need for painting) around the glass and they could tilt in for easy cleaning which on a 2 story house is a big plus!

We got our asking price. One more thing, check with your town re: amount of windows that can be replaced at one time Certain municipalities have laws in place determining if you can replace all of the windows in the house at once or you may like us have to do part of it to avoid obtaining a building permit for this. We didn't replace attic windows as that would have made the amount of windows to be replace over half of the house windows (and incurring a need for a building permit!) Fortunately for us the previous upstairs windows were replaced long ago so they were not counted in the replacement of windows in the house at the current time.

[Tootie15]

Years ago, we replaced our old wooden windows with vinyl ones (we were having our house sided, so did the windows at this time) and I couldn't be happier!! I love the look and it is a breeze to wash them .... as someone else mentioned, they tilt it, so no more climbing up on a ladder, outside, to wash them!! They are also more energy efficient too. And they do not look cheap!!

The wooden ones will eventually have to be re-painted and re-glazed. IMO they require more maintenance.

[magicmoodz]

On 4/7/2014 Lila Belle said:

On 4/7/2014 beammeupscottie said:

On 4/7/2014 Vamp said:

We definitely don't live in a McMansion but not a cheap home either. I would call this an upper-middleclass neighborhood. Homes in our sub have both kinds of windows, and I honestly can't tell the difference at a glance. I only know that there are both kinds in the neighborhood from asking my neighbors what they put in. I'm sure there is a difference between Pella & Anderson and, say, Wallside Windows. I just wonder if spending $27,000 on Anderson windows (which my neighbor across the street did last summer) is worth it. That's an awful lot of $$.

I would say it's not worth it unless you know you are going to be there another 20 - 30 years.

It's worth it for resale no matter what the brand. We chose our home over another because it had energy efficient windows as well as the new HVAC. No one really wants single pane wooden windows anymore.

Two points:

First, it is worth it if you want to enjoy nice looking windows whether you stay in your home for 20-30 years or not.

Second, I do believe potential buyers view new, updated windows as a real plus when weighing the pros and cons of a home.