Wood and Fiberglass Window Frames: The Way of the Future

May 26, 2015

Sometimes, the strength and longevity of your home are not in the big things – at least not entirely – such as your siding, your roof, and your framing. Sure, those are important – vital, even! But they are not all there is to your home. A house is a collection of many different systems that work together to maintain the integrity and comfort of the structure; when one of those systems fails, much as in the case of your body and its many systems, your entire home will fail. Take, for example, something as innocuous as window frames –  they are absolutely vital to your home lasting long and being a great place to live.

Your window frames help to keep temperature controlled, water and snow out, as well as vermin and pests like bugs and small animals. They keep your window secured and at least partially unexposed – your windows are glass, after all! Yet so many choose to use vinyl for their window frames, despite the fact that vinyl is notoriously weak and vulnerable to the elements. Instead, you would be wise to consider wood or fiberglass window frames; the advantages are many, the disadvantages, few.

Wood Frames

Wood is the traditional choice for frames, and though it has fallen out of favor in recent years over the vinyl-mania that has taken hold of so many homes, it remains a versatile, strong, and ideal material for window frames. From the perspective of aesthetics, it is perfect; it can be stained or painted, and a variety of styles of wood and frames can be applied. However, it should be noted that your wood frames will require more maintenance than most other frames would; damage can happen, especially if they are not properly sealed and maintained, leading to deterioration. Seek out composite wood to ensure durability!

Fiberglass Frames

Fiberglass frames are considered superior to both wood and vinyl frames in that they are stronger in just about every respect, less likely to deteriorate, and not vulnerable to the damage that sunlight can deal to vinyl. Meanwhile, they can still be painted like wood, rendering them far more able to adapt to whatever aesthetic you are seeking for your home. You can even have them appear as though they are wood with wood cladding on the interior! Either way you cut it, wood or fiberglass frames just offer too many advantages not to be considered.