Wood vs Wood grain finished

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bluechrism
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 1:42 am

Wood vs Wood grain finished

#1 Post by bluechrism »

My wife loves the wood frames on our current windows. They are nothing too special, but she's really into the feel of wood and likes that it's unpainted.

We are now looking for new replacement windows / inserts in the Minneapolis area and are trying to work out between a wood window, a window that uses real wood on the inside like Marvin Elevate, or wood grain laminates on vinyl. We have a couple of rowdy boys in the house, 3 and 5yo, and worry that some cheaper laminates might get pulled off or damaged easily.

What is the durability of those wood grain laminates lie and is there a meaningful difference in quality of that aspect of the window between manufacturers - especially Sunrise and Soft-Lite?
Do they, or other manufacturers, have real wood products that I'm not aware of (and I'm aware of very little) that we should consider instead of Marvin?

Thanks

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HomeSealed
Posts: 2996
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:46 pm
Location: Milwaukee, Madison, SE Wisconsin

Re: Wood vs Wood grain finished

#2 Post by HomeSealed »

Those laminates are SUPREMELY durable, and will stand up to abuse exponentially better than wood. There's no difference from one window to the next in that regard, provided that its a quality product... Can it get damaged? Sure, anything can, but it takes a lot more to scratch or gouge that material than a soft wood stained surface. Furthermore, if it does get scratched, a little factory supplied touch up paint makes that go away. That process would be a bit more involved in filling or sanding and then refinishing wood.

Ultimately a decision to go with real wood would need to see the appearance of real wood vs a laminate as holding tremendous weight, as appearance is only advantage. Warranty, durability, performance, maintenance, service life, cost (typically), etc all favor a woodgrain vinyl or composite.

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TheWindowNerd
Posts: 2218
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:05 pm
Location: SE PA & NJ; DFW/Metroplex

Re: Wood vs Wood grain finished

#3 Post by TheWindowNerd »

I mostly agree with Brandons advice.
But real wood looks better than faux wood anytime.
I my opinion here are the three main deficits to real wood:
Cost: normally double at minimum
Rot : they can and do rot
Arrogance: they used to think they were the only way, thus have never thought of the importance of draft and air leakage. Why would anyone want to pay twice as much for a unit that may rot and for sure is drafty?
I am a guy that loves wood window, but to many deficits for me to try and twist someones arm into buying.

wayne theWindownerd.com

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