Exterior color concerns, and need recommend in Louisville KY

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JFeino
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:05 am

Exterior color concerns, and need recommend in Louisville KY

#1 Post by JFeino »

One of my big concern with any of the new windows that I have seen is the exterior color. My house is dark gray cedar siding, and a white exterior will look horrible. (No offense to anyone out there that has this. I just don't like it.) I know that most of the vinyl windows have various exterior color options. But I know that they will begin to look "chalky" after a few years. I have thoroughly red the warranties for many vinyl windows, and no matter how long their warranties are, they ALL have clauses limiting or excluding exterior colors. I know that it is "possible" to paint vinyl, but it voids every warranty I've seen. For these reason, I have been looking at wood clad and Marvin Infinity Fiberglass windows, but they are so expensive.

Does anyone have a recommendation for what I should do? I'd love to know if there are any good values in the wood clad, or any options other than Infinity in fiberglass that are decent values. (Excluding Pella Imperia. I hear that they are crap.).

Also, any recommendations on contractors in Louisville, Ky?

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Windows on Washington
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Exterior color concerns, and need recommend in Louisville KY

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Most of the newer vinyl window with painted exterior options will come with a 10 year finish warranty.

It is possible to paint vinyl with the newer materials and technologies.

You will have to read the warranties to be sure you understand where the coverage starts and stops. There are some aspects of what is commonly referred to as "chalking" that are unavoidable and are the result of environmental contamination. The chalking that you see on the cheaper vinyl siding and windows are a result of the lesser materials and the cumulative lack of UV stabilizing agents.

The newer windows in the replacement market will come from much better stock and be much more resistant to this phenomenon.

JFeino
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:05 am

Re: Exterior color concerns, and need recommend in Louisville KY

#3 Post by JFeino »

Windows on Washington...
I understand everything that you posted. And I have thoroughly red the warranties on every window that I have looked at. 10 years is the most that any of them cover, and they all have clauses about exceptions for "acceptable industry standards" for the color loss, and/or are pro-rated. They all also have clauses voiding all warranties if they are painted. That is the problem I have with the colored vinyl windows in theory. The reason that I ave been considering wood-clad or fiberglass is that they should be able to be painted without voiding the warranty. Any other advice for me? Also, I saw in another post that you recommended someone named JScott in my area. How can I reach this person? This board does not allow me to search for users or direct message anyone.

Thank you for your quick response. I would love to give you some sort of recommendation for all of the great advice that I have seen here and on other posts. But again, I have not found a way to do is on this form site.

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Windows on Washington
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Exterior color concerns, and need recommend in Louisville KY

#4 Post by Windows on Washington »

JFeino,

The paints used in these applications are quite different from the standard paints that you and I are used to. They have a solar reflectivity to them that preserves the vinyl and keeps the surface temperatures down in the very comfortable range. The concerns with darker finishes and paints are the potentially high surface temperatures and instability of the vinyl above 160 degrees.

The paints are quite good at keeping the temps down and even in the case of the darker colors, they stay quite low and well within the happy range.

I haven't seen JScott on here in a while and I am not sure what he is up to at this point.

I am pretty sure you have good market representation by all the big brands in your area too.

Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day, if you are more comfortable with a clad window or a fiberglass window (i.e. different painting process) than I am happy to make recommendations inside of both of those materials.

In terms of leaving feedback, we are happy to get feedback via Yelp and Google if you use either.

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