Looking at my Father In Laws 20 Year Old Vinyl Windows

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steelersfan
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:26 am

Looking at my Father In Laws 20 Year Old Vinyl Windows

#1 Post by steelersfan »

And except for a couple bad spiral balancers, and some minor desinigration of the black spaer material (flecking off a little bit inside the window) they have held up pretty well. They were a mid grade window (Newtown) so I can imagine how todays vinyl windows hold up.

How strong does a window frame have to be? I mean fiberglass is 8 times stronger then Vinyl but at some point the extra strength is over kill.

chrisexv6
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:02 pm

#2 Post by chrisexv6 »

My 22 year old Andersen sliders havent budged very much. They still slide pretty easily (Im sure any resistance I feel is because of worn out rollers/tracks), but the non-welded sash and frame corners havent started to "space out" at all. Go figure.

The seals between the panes still look intact, but since there was only air in between the panes, I guess Id never know if they started leaking. The weatherstrip between the operating and stationary sash is dry-rotted, but other than that the windows are in good shape.

Like you said, imagine how well todays vinyl windows hold up, even without all the features that are "necessary" to have a good window.

-Chris

steelersfan
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:26 am

#3 Post by steelersfan »

Only time will tell whether this fibrex stuff holds up as well. If it has similar properties as partical board (soaks up water like a sponge, flakes easily), I wouldn't hold my breath...

chrisexv6
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:02 pm

#4 Post by chrisexv6 »

One of the main reasons I passed on RBA. I read a bunch of good reviews on forums and Google, but they were all within the last 5 years or so.

Its an unproven technology as far as Im concerned, no matter how much salesman-speak I hear about it (I got the story about how Andersen buried some of it in the Everglades 24 years ago and it still comes out "like new" everytime they look at it).

Again, if its that good and theyve been using it that long, the rest of their windows should be made out of it instead of vinyl (I was told that they are going to start making one or two pieces of retail windows "Fibrex" so people can say they have "Fibrex" windows). Then again, if they didnt make vinyl windows, they wouldnt have th vinyl "junk" leftover to make Fibrex.

Maybe if they were a little more forthcoming with specs (like the DP and infiltration ratings) I would have taken them more seriously. Hearing "better than vinyl" when I asked those questions was not an acceptable answer.

-Chris

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