Hello folks,
I am writing because we're getting very conflicting opinions about what to do and would like some objective opinions.
Our house is about 15 years old. We live in NJ. We have wood windows (two panes), and some of our windows have become quite rotted. We have had them repaired by handymen a couple of times but this does not seem to have helped. We have also had them painted quite regularly until a couple of years ago. The windows per se are functioning quite fine, there's just one that seems to have a little moisture accumulating between the two panes when we put the ac on in the summer.
At that time when when we noticed rot again, we decided to get professional opinions from windows people. We talked to Home Depot, Loews, and several individual window installers.
Half of them told us to get replacement windows and cover the trim with aluminum.
The other half said the windows were too rotted and they couldn't just replace the wood trim around it but would need to pull out the entire window and put in new construction windows. When we re-questioned the "replacement" group about this, they said new construction windows would cost twice as much as replacement windows and they were not necessary. Since we could not figure out what to do, we let it slide that year.
Same story next year with a new set of guys.
We also started to get the sense that that the ones advocating replacement windows only did replacement windows and not new construction windows.
So now, we're here two years later and really worried about how much more the rot and moisture has seeped through but no closer to figuring out what we really need to do.
Any advice/opinions on what needs to be done: (i) replacement windows (ii) new construction windows; or (iii) just replace the entire trim would be welcome. Also any suggestions as to whom to approach locally in NJ and which brand of replacement or new construction windows to get (if any) would also be appreciated.
Thanks.
New construction vs. Replacement vs. Just Repair
You need either a full replacement product or if you choose an insert product you would to need to have your frame rebuilt if it is not too late. Most people in the window industry will lead you towards insert because it is much easier money for them. If the sills/sub sills are rebuildable they should be rebuilt with either a cPVC product such that Marley/Royal mouldings products or a wood material with auralast wood treatment. Your home was built after 1985 and it has a masonary exterior. My best advise is a full replacement fiberglass Marvin product with Marvin BMC aluminum clad trim. This product costs slightly less than a good quality aluminum clad wood product and gets rid of the wood 100%. Good luck. I hope you find this information useful.
Jscott, thank you for your informative reply and suggestions.
By full replacement product , do you mean a new construction window?
We have 15 windows, but only about 5 that are in bad shape. There are two windows on which the bottom and sides have rotted and about 3 others on which the bottom sill is bad. I guess we would need to replace them all, to have a uniform look?
We're finding that there are not many people who do full construction windows (asuming that's what you meant).
Could you give me some idea of what the cost would be? Also, any advice on what we should be aware of with purchasing and having new construction windows installed would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
By full replacement product , do you mean a new construction window?
We have 15 windows, but only about 5 that are in bad shape. There are two windows on which the bottom and sides have rotted and about 3 others on which the bottom sill is bad. I guess we would need to replace them all, to have a uniform look?
We're finding that there are not many people who do full construction windows (asuming that's what you meant).
Could you give me some idea of what the cost would be? Also, any advice on what we should be aware of with purchasing and having new construction windows installed would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Reply
Datawiz
Jscott was correct with his terminology. Unless you are building a new house, it's a full replacement if you are tearing out the old jambs. "New Construction" windows are only in "New Construction" and refer to stock sizes with nailing fins. Any pre-existing window being changed is still a replacement window, whether it be full-frame or inserted into an existing jamb.
Jscott was correct with his terminology. Unless you are building a new house, it's a full replacement if you are tearing out the old jambs. "New Construction" windows are only in "New Construction" and refer to stock sizes with nailing fins. Any pre-existing window being changed is still a replacement window, whether it be full-frame or inserted into an existing jamb.
Thanks Fen,
Data,
Your new construction type units today traditionally do not use a trim piece around the frame. A full frame replacement is like a new construction window except it has a trim piece to be able to retro-fit the existing opening of the unit and maintain the orginal frame size.
Some people will put in a new contruction window then add a maintenance free trim such as a royal mouldings product and then they may or may not cap/or wrap the trim with a bendable aluminum.
Some replacement windows can be ordered with attached trim or shipped loose and then applied to the frame prior to installation. Depending on what part of the country you are in you could have any number of trim types. Common here is the WM180 profiled brick moulding which is 2" wide and 1-1/4" thick on the widest are of the fin profile. Some other common trim types could be a 1x6 flat piece of wood, etc...
What type of exterior trim do you have attached to the frame of your windows?
Data,
Your new construction type units today traditionally do not use a trim piece around the frame. A full frame replacement is like a new construction window except it has a trim piece to be able to retro-fit the existing opening of the unit and maintain the orginal frame size.
Some people will put in a new contruction window then add a maintenance free trim such as a royal mouldings product and then they may or may not cap/or wrap the trim with a bendable aluminum.
Some replacement windows can be ordered with attached trim or shipped loose and then applied to the frame prior to installation. Depending on what part of the country you are in you could have any number of trim types. Common here is the WM180 profiled brick moulding which is 2" wide and 1-1/4" thick on the widest are of the fin profile. Some other common trim types could be a 1x6 flat piece of wood, etc...
What type of exterior trim do you have attached to the frame of your windows?
Thanks FenEx and JScott for your replies and for clarifying the terminology. I am starting to understand this better now.
We have wood trims around the frame of the window now, but we'd definitely like a more maintenance free product. This takes way too much maintenance!
If I understand everything you've said so far, we will need to go with the full insert product. Is this b'cos there seems to be too much damage to repair? From your first post, a good choice for this would be the full replacement fiberglass Marvin product with Marvin BMC aluminum clad trim. I'll look into this.
Also, wouldn't it be better to get a full replacement window that comes attached with the trim piece (like the one you suggest above) than to have the installer create a trim? Seems like there'll be a better fit if it's pre-attached or am I wrong?
Would you have any suggestions as to:
(i0 how we can identify contractors/window guys in central NJ to get going?
(ii) any ideas about cost would also be appreciated.
Thanks again, for all the advice.
We have wood trims around the frame of the window now, but we'd definitely like a more maintenance free product. This takes way too much maintenance!
If I understand everything you've said so far, we will need to go with the full insert product. Is this b'cos there seems to be too much damage to repair? From your first post, a good choice for this would be the full replacement fiberglass Marvin product with Marvin BMC aluminum clad trim. I'll look into this.
Also, wouldn't it be better to get a full replacement window that comes attached with the trim piece (like the one you suggest above) than to have the installer create a trim? Seems like there'll be a better fit if it's pre-attached or am I wrong?
Would you have any suggestions as to:
(i0 how we can identify contractors/window guys in central NJ to get going?
(ii) any ideas about cost would also be appreciated.
Thanks again, for all the advice.
data,
Full frame, not full insert to clarify your last post.
It is better to get the trim attached and we do as much as possible; however, not all products have the required options available.
For example, while the marvin fiberglass (aka Infinity from Marvin) has trim in R&D that I will be able to have factory applied I must order trim from marvins clad line and apply this for a few more months.
Other manufacturers do not have anything available and some manufactuers do. Many manufacturers feel this is the installers problem to deal with.
I just visited infinityfrommarvin.com and there are many dealers in NJ.
Full frame, not full insert to clarify your last post.
It is better to get the trim attached and we do as much as possible; however, not all products have the required options available.
For example, while the marvin fiberglass (aka Infinity from Marvin) has trim in R&D that I will be able to have factory applied I must order trim from marvins clad line and apply this for a few more months.
Other manufacturers do not have anything available and some manufactuers do. Many manufacturers feel this is the installers problem to deal with.
I just visited infinityfrommarvin.com and there are many dealers in NJ.