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Very good point. Our house is pretty much wood everything! Given the look of the house, we're concerned that vinyl might not look quite right. What we were thinking in terms of the Marvin Ultimates is that they are wood windows but with aluminum cladding on the exterior, so you get the streamlined bronze aluminum look on the outside and the warm wood look on the interior. The aluminum cladding should help protect the windows (at least through the 20-year warranty). The flip-side, of course, is the price. Way more than we wanted to spend, but we would like to maintain the overall aesthetics of the house—for us, but also for that day we sell the house, even if it's 20 years down the road.
P.S. Love the Caddyshack reference. Are you near Vienna, by chance?
My house is wood everything too. My design aesthetic is very particular. I went with vinyl because I trusted my contractor. You can't even tell (because of the wood moldings around everything). I hate cheap vinyl looking anything - and the windows I got are beautiful, functional, and durable.
Marvin Ultimate Double hung windows are high quality semi-custom wood windows usually uses in restoring older homes where people to not want to ruin the beautiful look of their home with vinyl. They are pretty expensive, but extremely well made and they will customize to match your windows. For examlple our house has some 6/1 and some 3/1 double hung. the 3/1 windows the top sash is about 1/3 the side of the bottom sash, but the 6/1 windows are abour equal. Marvin will duplicate either.
Very good point. Our house is pretty much wood everything! Given the look of the house, we're concerned that vinyl might not look quite right. What we were thinking in terms of the Marvin Ultimates is that they are wood windows but with aluminum cladding on the exterior, so you get the streamlined bronze aluminum look on the outside and the warm wood look on the interior. The aluminum cladding should help protect the windows (at least through the 20-year warranty). The flip-side, of course, is the price. Way more than we wanted to spend, but we would like to maintain the overall aesthetics of the house—for us, but also for that day we sell the house, even if it's 20 years down the road.
P.S. Love the Caddyshack reference. Are you near Vienna, by chance?
I'm further west around Leesburg, work in Tysons. Are you in this area too?
The thing about going high-end on the windows in terms of recouping your money, is that (a) you'd have to be in the home for a long time for the energy savings to accrue, assuming you also have energy efficient hvac system(s), and/or (b) the buyer would need to see and understand the value of the high-end windows you've installed, meaning they'd probably have to be real estate savvy enough to understand the differences beyond just the looks at that time. In my neighborhood which has some homes going to the natural recycle phase of updating, I see listings sometimes where they've added high-end components to the home (say, hvac, water heater, solid core doors, etc) and note how much they've invested in the home's updating....and they don't sell for too much more than the home next to it that doesn't have all of that stuff, certainly not enough in price difference to recoup the added costs (but do sell faster). I think most buyers see a window as glass, and if it's clear, it's good, if it's foggy, it's bad.
But totally understand the want to keep the aesthetics as close to original as possible, and certainly don't want to "cheapen" the overall appeal of the home. Windows can certainly do that too if not careful. I'd just be aware that it is doubtful someone would give you an extra $20k-$30k over what the market is commanding because of the type of windows. I'd almost say it is kind of like a swimming pool in a market that typically doesn't have them. $100k for a nice pool, $30k in value creation for the home.
PS, wanted to add one more comment - another neighbor had Andersen wood windows put in when his house was being built in 1999. Paid quite a bit extra to have them over the vinyl that many of us have (same builder). 20 years later, he has a couple that have fogged and a couple that could stand to be replaced due to softening wood. But I will give him this - they do open and slide very nicely!
My house is wood everything too. My design aesthetic is very particular. I went with vinyl because I trusted my contractor. You can't even tell (because of the wood moldings around everything). I hate cheap vinyl looking anything - and the windows I got are beautiful, functional, and durable.
Sounds like a good set up. Which window brand did you end up going with?
I think most buyers see a window as glass, and if it's clear, it's good, if it's foggy, it's bad.
But totally understand the want to keep the aesthetics as close to original as possible, and certainly don't want to "cheapen" the overall appeal of the home. Windows can certainly do that too if not careful. I'd just be aware that it is doubtful someone would give you an extra $20k-$30k over what the market is commanding because of the type of windows. I'd almost say it is kind of like a swimming pool in a market that typically doesn't have them. $100k for a nice pool, $30k in value creation for the home.
We have some family near Vienna. I recall them mentioning the mcmansions in that area.
We are also thinking buyers won't really notice that we spent that much on window replacement. On the other hand, they probably would notice the old aluminum windows. Plus, I think our utility bills will start to really increase as we get into January and February.
We're leaning toward starting the replacement process but just spreading it out over the course of 4 or 5 years.
They came up with his stuff that protects wood from weather. it works great but you have to re-apply it every few years. I am trying to think of the the name of that stuff. . . . Whatever it is called, it can protect wood windows and make them last hundreds of years.
With cladding you have to be careful to make certain it is firmly and completely glued/caulked or whatever. If moisture/condensation gets between the cladding and the wood, it will rot the wood very quickly.
BTW part of our house is 182 years old and has several original wood widows. They are fine. We added one new window to this part, it is a disaster and needs to be replaced.
The "new' additions which are 168 and 150 years old also have some of the original windows. We had a few problems with two of them, but the rest are fine. The kitchen was added in 2006. It has mostly new windows. We have a lot of problems with those. They need to be replaced. I allowed a contractor to talk me out of buying the pricey Marvin Ultimates and go with a local custom window maker for about half the price - big mistake.
The older windows are of slightly better quality than the Marvin ultimates. Most are made of hardwood. We have 54 windows. If we were to match the quality of what it there, we would easily spend $50,000 or more. if I could just replace the six new windows with Marvin ultimate, I would be happy. However that will cost thousands. Maybe I can replace them one at a time once we complete higher priority work.
They came up with his stuff that protects wood from weather. it works great but you have to re-apply it every few years. I am trying to think of the the name of that stuff. . . . Whatever it is called, it can protect wood windows and make them last hundreds of years.
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Seems like I've heard of this stuff too.
Honestly, anyone who has "softening wood" in their windows after 20 years clearly has not been doing any maintenance. I have this suspicion that there are a lot of people who just have no clue that things have to be maintained. I don't have windows as old as yours, only about 80 years. I know of two places where I really ought to replace a muntin or part of a sash, and no others. But! I know how to check on things and apply that miracle fluid to which you referred, when needed.
I guess this is part of the advantage of having parents who grew up in the Depression. If a piece of wood got rotten, we dealt with it. Nowadays seems like home owners under 40 would find a piece of rotten wood and promptly bulldoze the house.
I used to Window World to replace my old silver aluminum framed windows. They have a lifetime warranty, so if they ever fog up I just call and they come replace it. You do have to pay extra if you want colored (mine are bronze), but it’s worth it if you don’t want white.
Honestly, anyone who has "softening wood" in their windows after 20 years clearly has not been doing any maintenance. I have this suspicion that there are a lot of people who just have no clue that things have to be maintained.
100% agree! I don't get it myself, why some folks buy something so nice and treat it so poorly. Honestly, not even kidding, I have a neighbor who would rather pay someone to come and hang up their pictures instead of doing it themselves, and then complain that it costs too much for a fresh tuck/point job on their walkway that is crumbling (that never saw a single drop of sealant in 15 years)... I just don't get it.
On our windows that are fogging up early, it's because the window supplier was going under at that time and nobody knew it until it was too late. A 100+ year old company, nailed for embezzlement by the second generation of family. Left the windows sitting outside in the elements for months on end before the builders could deploy them. Warranty not much help when the company goes B/K...
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