Any comments on Renewal by Andersen?

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TomW
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:14 am
Location: Valley Forge Pa

Any comments on Renewal by Andersen?

#1 Post by TomW »

A wood/vinyl blend window. They claim the FIBREX window will no expand and contract like vinyl giving more of an insulation.

researcher
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:11 am

#2 Post by researcher »

Fibrex is an hybrid material that has very little expansion and contaction issues in hot and cold, it's also resistant to bowing and cracking which can lead to air and water infiltration. It has the lines and curves of a fine wooden frame and also can be had with natural wood veneer interior.

We decided on Renewal and are very pleased with them.

JScott
Posts: 323
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:48 pm

#3 Post by JScott »

For the money, you will find that Ultrex from Marvin is 3.5 x stonger than a wood/vinyl composite and that the expansion/contraction is much better than a wood/vinyl composite. Even better is the price and the look. I recommend that you compare for yourself.

dballs
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:58 pm

#4 Post by dballs »

The old board had some info on them, check it out:

http://vinyl-replacement-windows.com/re ... 5&t=75&v=f

researcher
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:11 am

#5 Post by researcher »

Here is a site that shows the difference in expandtion rates between glass, Ultrex, vinyl and aluminum. http://www.wdpc.com/integrity.html

I do not know where Fibrex would come in, but I believe it is much less then aluminum.

FenEx
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Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:43 pm
Location: Illinois

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#6 Post by FenEx »

As for the original post from Tom... you got a sales pitch from Andersen. If your concern is energy efficiency (insulation) as stated, look up the U-factors on the NFRC. You will find the top performing vinyls beat the Renewal by 30%. The U-factor incorporates the frame and glass.

Expansion:
As for the material expansion charts, lets apply it to a window. Lets say a common double-hung of 36" x 48". If manufactured at 70 degrees F the 4' frame may expand 3/32 of an inch (about the thickness of a nickel) on a blazing hot summer day in direct sunlight of 120 degrees. The sashes of the same material will expand in equal proportion... not compromising any seal as the weather stripping is designed for the product. On a winter day of 20 degrees... the same but in contraction.

Air and Water Infiltration:
Which do you think will provide better protection and longer? A vinyl window with fusion welded corners (literally melted together to become one piece) on the frame and sashes or a Fibrex or Ultrex unit that are butted together with corner keys and injected with silicone. Again, I will refer to the much better performance scores of premium vinyls.

Strength:
As strength was mentioned, lets apply that to windows too. Yes... it's true that a 1/8" thick piece of flat-stock Fibrex or Ultrex is much stronger than the same dimentional piece of vinyl. Now, if we multi-chamber that vinyl and easily and economically reinforce element-load bearing members, what do we get to compare in the same size and type of windows? We get Andersen's Fibrex Renewal at a disappointing DP (Design Pressure) rating of R-20, Marvin's Ultrex Infinity at an improved R-30, and a premium vinyl product like Schuco's Corona at an impressive R-65.

Hmmmm... I thought their claims were that their windows were stronger, sealed better and more efficient. All stats and ratings are available for all to research, that's why the rating and testing organizations exist. Steel is stronger than all of the above, but that doesn't mean that if I am holding a piece of it that I am.

Fenex

researcher
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:11 am

#7 Post by researcher »

Yes, I was concerned about the strength until I was given a corner of the frame and was asked to try to break it. The two sides of the frame were about 15" long and with that much leverage, I realy thought I could break it, but I could not. The Renewal installers had no such problem, I watched them each window and all went fine.

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