Windows

Our Current Windows

OK, so at some point I have to talk about windows.

This is more of a design/decorating thing than a construction or reno topic – but windows have been frustrating me for the better part of a year. Well – it is not just windows that have been driving me crazy – it is a combination of windows, siding, trim, paint color.

The existing house does not have windows. It has ‘glass’. That is: single panes of sheet glass glazed directly into the posts. You can see this in the photo to the right. They don’t open and are cold and drafty. They have to go.

The Challenge

Here is the design challenge: replace these pieces of glass with functional windows that are efficient, affordable, and look nice. When I am inside looking out a window, I want to see wood window trim. From the street I want a window that ties in nicely with the paint/siding on the house.

What are the Choices?

The thing that everyone seems to be doing these days is installed super-energy-efficient “window systems”. These tend to be vinyl, typically in white or occasionally dark brown.

There are lots of benefits of these windows:

• very energy efficient
• no maintenance
• relatively inexpensive

But I don’t really like these windows. I have a motto: SAY NO TO VINYL. I just don’t think that plastic windows will look very nice in a house that has all wood trim.

So we need an alternative.

Some Basic Research

I figured that one way to decide what type of windows to get was to jump in the car and drive around, looking at other peoples windows. Call me the North Van Window Stalker! I have made quite a few excursions around North Van, West Van – even Whistler.

Here are some of the windows that we kinda liked.

Seems we kinda have a thing for wood windows.

Anyway, let’s investigate all the alternatives to vinyl windows…

When I started this project I knew about wood and aluminum windows, as well as aluminum clad wood. I like all of these and could work with any of them.

The modern aluminum windows are all thermally broken. This means that the inside sash and out side sash are separated by a strip of rubber or foam (or other) insulating material so that they do not conduct heat from inside to out through the frame. They look fancy, very contemporary and modern.

Wood windows look great (imo), are naturally insulating, and match the rest of the trim of the house. They can be painted any color – or stained etc.. The only real drawbacks of wood are (a) they need maintenance (re-finishing) every 5-10 years, and (b) they cost a lot.

One type of hybrid window is an aluminum clad wood window. Basically is is a wood window with aluminum flashing epoxied to the outside. The alum is anodized or painted and is low maintenance. Inside you get the natural wood window look. It seems like a good choice to get the look of wood windows with the durability and low-maintenance of vinyl or aluminum. However price again appears to be a problem (we had a quote a couple years ago from a Pella sales rep – and the windows were about the same as the all wood custom windows.

Wood Windows

After looking at lots of windows became pretty clear to us that we are biased towards wood windows. I made up a window package so that suppliers could quote prices, and sent it out to a couple of local Vancouver area companies that make custom wood windows.

Holy crap on a cracker (to quote my kids favorite TV show)! The quotes came back at almost exactly the same level – $50,000 to redo all the windows (and french doors) for the house. This was for stain grade VG Fir, finished with Sikkens or some such thing outside, and stain/varnish inside.

Aluminum Windows

We really want wood windows – but not at this price!

Aluminum Windows

Next I looked in to aluminum. These look real nice (nothing like the single pane aluminum windows I remember from when I was a kid). Also the aluminum will allow us to be a bit more contemporary with the overall design. There are lots of aluminum windows showing up on the multi-million dollar architecturally designed homes in our area, so I figured I should at least give them a look.

Well these are showing up predominantly on the high-end homes for a reason – they are more expensive than wood! Where do people get all their money??

OK – not going there!

Tilt-and-Turn Euro-style Windows

When we were in Whistler a couple years ago we stayed in a hotel called Nita Lake Lodge. It had some real nice windows and doors. They seemed to be aluminum, and had a foil wrap applied to them. They wrap was a simulated wood grain. It looked excellent – even up close. From the street one would be hard pressed to tell it was not real wood.

Nita Lake Lodge

I asked the manager who supplied the windows, and they told me Euroline. We made an appointment and went in to talk to them. The windows at Nita Lake were from their Tilt-and-turn line. These are giant single sash windows that hinge on two sides, the bottom and one of the vertical sides. You can either tilt them inwards (top tilts in) for ventilation, or unlock and swing them in like an inward opening door. They are very cool windows.

The only problem we had with them is that we have a need for windows that are approx 4′ by 4′ in size. To unlock and swing these inwards means that we need a clear path in each room in front of each opening window. Given our room size and window placement we figured that this may not be possible.

So we scrapped the tilt-and turn idea.

The Custom Window Approach

Center pane is a functional window. Other two panes are just glass.

Some wood – some glass.

The next idea I had was to only replace some of the windows with functional wood windows, and to leave others simply as panes of glass. I could use double pane sealed units, and glaze them in-place, and trim them out myself. Here is an example on a house I saw that does a similar thing. I think it looks OK, and it means we are only shelling out $$$ for one of every 3 or 4 windows – which should save us a bit.

On the right is a photo of a house that we stalked out in North van where they did exactly what I am talking about (some functioning windows, some just glass, glazed in place).

I re-did my window list, and sent it out again. Price is certainly lower – but we aren’t getting that many windows for the money. Still looking for alternatives.

Ask the Pros

About this same time I decided to ask someone that we had been working with early on in our renovation process for supplier recommendations. I asked him for contacts are places that supplied wood, as well as other types of windows. One of the places he recommended is called Westeck Windows. They make all types of windows – wood, alum, vinyl, alum clad etc..

Westeck Combo Window Cross Section

I had a meeting with the sales dude there, and he recommended their combo windows for my application. What these are is basically an up-scale vinyl window …. or maybe it is better said as “a vinyl window that is disguised as anything other than a vinyl window”.

On the inside the window is wood, and on the outside it is vinyl. To make it more appealing to fussy people like me, the outside of the window sashes can be painted any color (by them using their super-special-magic-gonna-cost-you-extra paint process). Here is a picture that I took of the window cross section. You can clearly see that it is simply an vinyl extrusions with wood veneer and molding fastened to the inside.

Westeck Combo Windows – Outside – In a Custom Color

This is great because I can finish the inside any way I like (stain/varnish) to match the window sills and wall trim that I will install. All of this can be done in VG Fir.

Outside I can paint any color I like – or use one of their standard designer colors.

I sent out my window package to Westeck as well as to another company that I found that makes a similar window. The quotes came back around $20,000. Now we are getting somewhere.

Note that the low-end price for standard white vinyl for this entire house is around $14,000.

So finally I have a plan, and despite all my SAY NO TO VINYL and EVIL OIL-BASED PRODUCTS rants, I am going to cave in to market and societal pressures and purchase vinyl windows for my house!

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