Windows, Part 11

To save the manufacturer the embarrassment of melted windows, the vinyl used for the window is blended with titanium dioxide and other materials to help reflect the heat and to keep the vinyl looking white for many years.

One problem people can experience is the catastrophe of buying some windows from one home improvement company and other windows from another home improvement company. The windows may fade at different rates and in a few years passersby will see this checkerboard of fading frames.

Some companies sell fiberglass windows. They are probably better. Some companies sell windows that are fiberglass outside and real wood inside. Be careful, there is one incredibly sleazy company that sells this type window product too. Find the manufacturer first, and then find your own qualified installer -- with the correct contractor’s license -- to install the product.

How long will it take to get your windows?

Windows take about three weeks to arrive from the factory. It takes one man a little over an hour to install the standard replacement window and that includes removing the old one and installing the new one. A two man crew can do a standard home in one day.

New Construction versus replacement windows.

New construction windows are designed to be installed in homes that don’t as yet have windows. Replacement windows are usually installed in homes to replace the old windows.

The real difference is that new construction windows require the entire old frame to be gone before they are installed. Further, they are designed to be stuccoed over at the edges. If you put new construction windows in an old home then you do face the problem of trying to fix the stucco. It will never match in color and / or texture. You will have a catastrophe. Unless the entire wall is re-stuccoed, you will see the ugly scar until your last days on earth.

Replacement windows allow part of the old window to remain. All the bits of old window that stick up are removed and the new window is stuffed in the hole and a flange or strip of plastic is used to cover the edges where the window meets the stucco.