Replacement Windows

House Doctor | Gary Dymski

March 2, 2000

YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH. Not one more winter with those creaky, old, drafty windows. Not one more night wearing two pairs of socks, a wool sweater and long underwear-indoors, yet.

You're buying new windows. You'll squeeze the family budget -- if it's not already shot because of skyrocketing prices in home heating oil. So say goodbye to that Florida vacation, theater tickets and dinners at The Four Seasons.

But say hello to confusion. Because when you go window shopping you'll be bombarded with terms like vinyl-clad and low-E, style choices (double-hung or casement?) and an intimidating array of manufacturers like Pella, Marvin, Andersen, CertainTeed, Simonton, Crystal Windows and Door Systems.

You can see through this maze to choose a product that is durable, energy-efficient, easy to maintain, stylish and affordable if you have the right information and a good idea of what you want.

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"The big issue in all of this is that windows are among the major investments in a home," says Tom Sinning, a national sales manager for Marvin Windows & Doors in Warroad, Minn. "Unlike a paint job or a bathroom cabinet, windows are a much more permanent fixture. You want to live with them for a long time. As styles change in a room over a five- or 10-year period, you don't want to have to change the windows.

"A window has to stand up over time in style and performance."

My translation: For economy and a virtually maintenance-free window, consider vinyl. For style and color, look for wood and wood-clad products.

And to hedge your bets, only pick windows that are certified by independent testing organizations, such as the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC), the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA), and the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA). Look for the blue Energy Star seal on the glass. Choose reputable manufacturers that apply the latest technology and back their windows with warranties that exceed 20 years. Pick experienced installers.

"Most people shop price first," says Ron Boden of Jarro Building Industries, a contracting firm in East Meadow. "My advice is don't look for price; look for value. Know exactly what you want in a window."

But because that affordabilty requirement is the major homeowner concern, we'll start there.

First, a little context: Residential windows primarily are made of vinyl, wood and clad-wood (a window with a wood frame, a wood interior and a maintenance-free exterior coated with vinyl or polymer-coated aluminum).

In the replacement arena, vinyl windows dominate the market with 36 percent of sales. Built with vinyl frames and generally the easiest to install because they literally fit into the existing space, they are at the lower end of the price scale. The wood and clad-wood products are next (and share 46 percent of the replacement-new construction market).

Pella is widely considered the most upscale of the nation's window manufacturers. The company, based in Pella, Iowa, offers some of the most exotic features, including standard and custom exterior colors on its aluminum-clad wood windows, and blinds and shades between the panes of glass. Minnesota-based Andersen falls into the middle of the price curve, just ahead of most vinyl windows, and is popular in new-construction applications. In between these three manufacturing giants of wood and wood-clad windows, there are thousands of smaller manufacturers, many of them specializing in vinyl replacements, that offer a wide range of quality and price.

So what kind of prices are we talking? A standard size window in vinyl-2-foot, 8-inch by 4-foot, 2-inch double-hung-can run between $200 and $300, including installation. A similar-sized Andersen vinyl-clad window, installed, can run between $300 and $400. Installation of a similar Marvin window can run upward from $450, and reach $600 for a Pella model. For homeowners looking to replace eight to 10 windows, well, do the math. It adds up.

But if you're willing to look past short-term financial outlay and consider instead long-term value, you should know some window specifics.

MOST MANUFACTURERS, including the best in the vinyl industry, have at least three grades of windows (salespeople will call them "good, better and best"), so the price range can vary dramatically when a more inexpensive grade of one company is compared with an expensive grade of another.

Don't know if you should go with wood-frame windows or vinyl windows? Here's the difference. Wood tends to be stronger structurally and offer a little more insulation value. There is, of course, the natural and appealing look of wood. And windows with wood-frame interiors can be stained or painted. With wood you can match the moldings in a 100-year-old Victorian or the raised oak panel walls in a library. Tough to do that with vinyl.

"You can do much more with a wood window in terms of style and color," says Hubie van Muers, Long Island operations manager for the Robert Hunt Co., a regional distributor for Pella Windows. There's talk at Marvin that wood window frame interiors now made of pine will soon be available in finish woods such as mahogany, cherry and oak.

Upscale windows from Pella and Marvin have standard and custom colors for exteriors, and in most cases each company boasts it can match almost any exterior color. Plus, both companies manufacture windows for replacement applications or new construction. Marvin custom builds each window, Sinning says, and Pella offers a double-hung replacement window (from the Precision-Fit line) that, like vinyl, fits into the existing opening. "Andersen and many Pella windows are what we call prime windows," says Doug Dervin of Double D Contractors in West Hempstead. "When you use certain styles for replacement you run the chance for more work. These windows have their own frames and are limited to stock sizes. That means you have to use a size that will fit the opening or you have to alter the opening for the window."

Installation costs, then, can grow if a contractor has to saw through brick and replace siding to put in a prime window.