As an experienced replacement window and door consultant, the selection of a top quality replacement window is a simple one. But as a homeowner, the selection process is challenging. Most homeowners are uncertain as to just which characteristics are important when choosing a new replacement window, and their confusion is made even greater by competing claims from dozens of different window manufacturers, each claiming to be number one.
I’ll try to provide you with the basic information you’ll need to make a great choice. But before I begin, consider this. The best window, improperly installed, is no better than your worst choice.
Let’s assume then that installation is not an issue. So just why do windows fail?
Window quality is inherent in the manufacturing process. Certainly a quality window must be manufactured to stringent manufacturing standards and procedures, but it goes far beyond that. The number one characteristic in determining the quality of a window are the materials used to construct them. But perhaps not for the reasons you might think.
Windows are exposed to significant temperature variations called thermal expansion, and this thermal expansion causes the materials your windows are constructed from to expand and contract. Windows manufactured from different materials expand and contract at different rates, resulting in window seal failure that can cause clad wooded windows to rot. The reason being is that wood and aluminum expand and contract at different rates, causing it to separate at the corners and allowing water to come in contact with the wood. This causes the wood to rot, and the worst part about it is that it is hidden rot. The only time you realize you have a problem is when it rots completely through to the inside of your house. By this time the moisture entering your home may have caused some structural damage as well.
Marvin windows, one of the nation’s premier window and door manufacturing companies since 1912, is the pioneer in the development of Ultrex® fiberglass, a material so strong and durable that one of the country’s most respected consumer reporting agencies rated Marvin Windows number one. Ultrex® has less than half the thermal expansion of aluminum, one-third that of wood/vinyl composite, and one-sixth that of vinyl.
What does all this mean? Low thermal expansion means a stronger seal, reducing the risk of seal failure. In fact, as the number one Marvin window distributor in North America, we have never replaced a Marvin Infinity replacement window due to seal failure.
If you’re currently considering replacement windows or doors and would like to discover why Marvin windows manufactured from Ultrex® has been rated number one in the nation, and why CRS Exteriors has become the number one Marvin replacement window dealership in the country, I invite you to call me today.