Wood vs. Vinyl Windows

For decades wood windows have been a sign of a quality built home and vinyl windows were thought of as a cheap alternative to wood. However, with today’s technological advances, a good quality vinyl window can perform as good if not better than a wood window at a fraction of the price. Also, today’s vinyl window warranties are on par with wood windows so the life spans are similar.

Today’s style trends have led to the vast majority of new homes being constructed with a white-painted interior trim package. A white vinyl window perfectly matches the interior trim. The vinyl window interior finish is very durable and is not easily scratched. With a white painted trim package and wood windows you would use a painted interior on a wood window. The painted finish is easily chipped and scratched. Also during really cold weather sometimes condensation can occur on the inside of windows. If this is left to sit on the painted wood window sashes bubbling or peeling will occur. The water has no effect on the vinyl interior.

If you are planning to feature stained wood trim in your home, then wood windows are your best choice aesthetically speaking. The wood interior can be stained to match the window trim. A traditional white vinyl window looks out of place on a stained trim interior. An alternative is to use a tan colored vinyl window to soften the color contrast between the window and the stained trim. There are also vinyl windows that have a stained wood appearance on the inside of the window but they do not look as realistic as a stained wood window. There is simply no substitute for wood windows in this application as long as you can afford the additional cost of the wood windows.

What type of window to put in your new home is a big decision. There is not right or wrong answer. Here is my personal experiences and how I arrived at my decision.

I lived in the last home I built for 12 years. I used a nationally known, quality wood window with a white painted interior to match my white trim. Over those 12 years I experienced chipped paint on windows during the construction process which we touched up. I had two dogs and their claws scratched the lower sashes in the windows where they rested their front paws on the window to see outside. We also had plantation-type shutters in some of the windows and during cold winters when we had the shutters closed we experienced some condensation which caused some peeling paint. We were able to touch up paint all the issues but it did take significant time and effort.

For my current home, I chose an upgraded vinyl window to match my white trim. I bid out a number of different window packages. A good standard vinyl window package was $11,000 for my home. The upgraded vinyl window I chose was $22,000. This upgraded vinyl window had a beefier frame and triple pane glass. A quality wood window with white painted interior was nearly $40,000. Although the standard vinyl window was very good performing, I knew I was going to stay in this home for a long time and so I upgraded to the more energy efficient triple pane glass and stronger frame. The wood window just did not make sense economically. The energy efficiency was barely more than the standard vinyl and less than the triple pane equipped upgraded vinyl. Plus with white painted trim, I would not have to deal with all the repainting I had to do on my last home.

George Davis is the President and founder of ProBuilt Homes. He has over 23 year of construction experience. Contact ProBuilt today at (440) 255-6535 or visit them online at www.probuilt-homes.com to learn more about how ProBuilt is “Building Better”.