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Building a Home

Wood vs. vinyl windows

10 years ago

We are really trying to get our design within our budget, and our builder said that we can't afford wood windows (on the inside) and should do vinyl as it will save a lot. We are having a darker stained trim and medium floors throughout the house. He says that the windows he uses only come in white or beige. I can't help but think that will look bad. Any opinions?

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Comments (5)

niteshadepromises
10 years ago
I'm not a great fan of white or beige vinyl paired with wood trim but it may depend to some degree on your wall color. There are vinyl brands that have a wood look laminate trim. At least one of these I've seen in person and it doesn't look cheap at all, and is a higher quality window than builders grade. More expensive than the ones he uses too I'm sure, but you get what you pay for. Probably less than wood tho.
GreenDesigns
10 years ago
If you are doing all painted trim, it can look OK, but it can look cheap and plasticky as well. Go look in person at the windows he is recommending. That is one item that is very expensive to change out later and it really affects the look of the home negatively if you choose unwisely. I would look to cut costs by going with a low cost carpet and basic laminate counters, etc, before I'd cut window costs and end up with something that didn't look right. Those are items that are easy to upgrade later. But you have to see the choices in person to be able to judge, as well as examine their specs.
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HomeSealed Exteriors, LLC We area actually building the house ourselves. It's a "pole barn" house. The shell was purchased from Hansen Pole Buildings. It's post and beam, we put up the poles/concrete footers in the summer of 2017, winched up the trusses ourselves last year and also started installing the metal roof last year, had to stop Nov 1, as the weather just wouldn't cooperate. In fact the winds still won't die down enough for 2 60 year old engineers to be lifting 24' sheets of steel onto the roof. So DH has been installing girts in the walls that don't have windows while I figure out what windows to buy. (I told him months ago we needed to figure this out NOW!) Fortunately, he has plenty of framing to do before he needs to start framing window ROs. Should we ever be able to sell our current home, the market up here is pretty dead, we might actually be able to hire help now and then. I have no desire to do drywall, did it 30 years ago and that was enough! First photo is where we left off last November. This photo shows what he did today. Has the doggie door location roughed in between girts.
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PRO
Epiarch Designs
10 years ago
pleae provide more info then wood or vinyl. What specific brands is he recommending or what wood brands?
I personally hate vinyl windows. There are some very good quality non-vinyl options such as full fiberglass Marvin Integrity Ultrex and also the Wood Ultrex, whcih is just a small upcharge but gets you wood on the inside. The other option is to adjust the window quanity and sizes. Consider adding more fixed windows instead of operable. THese wont only save you upfront money, but also they are more energy efficient. All windows do not need to open.
Big round top windows add a lot if you have any of those as well.
millworkman
10 years ago
+1 on lzerarc's comments
renovator8
10 years ago
There are windows that save money that are not vinyl. You should be talking to a window to a window specialist. It's dis not a simple matter of wood vs vinyl.

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