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Paint Windows Design Dilemma

Black/Black, White/White, or Black/White Windows

house_in_the_north

9 months ago

Our house was built in the mid 1980s and windows are starting to fail. My default plan was to replace all the windows with black/black vinyl windows over many years (maybe one at a time or one wall at a time.) It turns out black/black limits companies I can work with, increases the price, increases delivery times, and limits the warranty. I'm in a small town in Canada so these issues are probably much worse than you would experience in a larger city in the US. Note that we are also repainitng the house to be the more neutral grey color (James Hardie Timberbark) that is shown on the shed.

I'm now thinking about going with white/white or black (exterior)/white (interior.) That opens up a lot of additional options and lowers the cost.

What do you think from a design perspective? Is the black/white going to look bad? I'm torn on wehther it solves many of my problems or is a worst of both worlds.

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Comments (5)

mxk3 z5b_MI
9 months ago
Hard no to white on the exterior. White on the interior depends what else you've got going in the rest of the house. In the one interior pic you posted, the wood looks great with the dark windows, to my eye white would cheapen that look. I would just stick with the plan for the black/black -- bite the cost bullet and be patient for what you want, otherwise you might regret it. I'm curious -- why would black limit the warranty?
house_in_the_north
Original Author
9 months ago
With vinyl windows, they are made white and then get painted black. So you only get a 10 year warranty on the paint. They also take more abuse from the sun when they are black.
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anj_p
9 months ago
Google gray siding with red brick and you will see tons of houses with white windows so I'm not sure I agree that you need black and black. Also don't think white windows look cheap. They're pretty much ubiquitous until the last 10 years when black became trendy. Black interior is a deliberate design decision that should coordinate with your interior style (more modern IMO).
mxk3 z5b_MI
9 months ago
Have you looked into non-vinyl windows?
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
9 months ago
I usually like metal windows if going black .

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