Fiberglass Windows
Fiberglass Windows Offer Many Positive Features for Replacement Windows.
Fiberglass windows have just recently started to gain mainstream acceptance in the replacement window marketplace. This is to the benefit of homeowners looking for a high quality material used for replacement windows. If you are shopping for replacement windows and considering a fiberglass as a frame option, you are making a good choice for many reasons.
Fiberglass is a Proven Material
Fiberglass has been around for many years and is used in many different applications throughout the world. The hulls of motorboats are fiberglass, industrial ladders are made of fiberglass, seawalls, bridges, and many other items utilize fiberglass in their design.Each of the different applications above use fiberglass for several different reasons. For boats it is its resistance to corrosion while providing a lightweight material for construction. Industrial ladders use fiberglass for both its strength and its low level of conductivity.
Some seawall construction includes fiberglass for its proven resistance to weathering and its ability to be manufactured into shapes that help reduce the impact of the waves. Because of its strength and ability to be shaped into curves, several cutting edge architects have incorporated fiberglass into bridge materials to make extremely unique bridges.
Because of its many positive characteristics, fiberglass is a material that is suited for use in windows. We will take a look at the major reasons to consider windows made with fiberglass for your project and give you a couple of resources to help you choose the fiberglass windows that are right for you.
Strength of Fiberglass Windows
Fiberglass windows are one of the strongest frame materials on the market today. In various tests, fiberglass has proven to be up to nine times stronger than vinyl windows and up to two times stronger than aluminum. This is due to the composition of the fiberglass material and its natural structural design.Most fiberglass replacement windows are manufactured through a process called pultrusion and use a thermoset process to create the final fiberglass material used to manufacture the windows. The pultrusion method is achieved by starting with a stranded fiber matting at one end of a machine. This matting is on a continuous roll that is pulled into the machine.
Once inside the machine, the matting is mixed with a resin at a high temperature and is pulled through a die at the other end of the machine. As the material is pulled through the die, it is cooled and the material solidifies and maintains the shape of the mold that is was pulled through.
The materials then undergo a thermoset process once the resin and matting is cooled on the other side of the mold. The thermost process means that once the matting and resin cool down and cure the material can not be heated back up and liquidified. In addition, it does not become softer at higher temperatures. The fiberglass material retains its rigidity in high heat and low heat and in turn provides a stronger material no matter what the climate.
Vinyl windows are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). They go through a thermoplastic process where the plastic is heated up and extruded through a mold. Once the plastic cools, you have the shapes needed to make the window.
However, a thermoplastic process is reversible which means that if the plastic is heated again, it will soften and try to return to its liquid state. Because of this characteristic, vinyl will tend to soften and bend when exposed to higher temperatures.
A good example of this is a vinyl plastic trash can. When you take it to the street in the morning when it is cool. The can is rigid and firm. In the evening when you pick it up after sitting in the sun all day, it is soft and malleable.
The vinyl has softened as it warms in the sun, but it will stiffen again as it cools off overnight. It is because of these shifts in temperature that the vinyl material is subject to weakening and is not as likely to hold up as well as fiberglass windows in the long term.
Dent Resistance
Fiberglass windows are much less likely to dent during their lifetime. This is because fiberglass is a much harder material than vinyl or even aluminum in some cases. The fiberglass windows can withstand a force impacting them much better than standard vinyl windows.This is a big plus if you are in an area that experiences hail storms or young children playing. With a vinyl window frame, a large piece of hail could crack the frame and require a complete replacement window.
In addition, an aluminum frame or aluminum clad wood window could dent on the cladding without a large amount of force. Once the aluminum is dented or the vinyl is cracked there really is no repairing the window. Fiberglass replacement windows, in most cases, can be patched and painted if they suffer a dent or two so they are a real winner in the dent resistance category.
Scratch Resistance
Nothing is worse than getting your replacement windows installed and in place only to see a giant scratch running down the frame. This may have been from shipping or installation, or your kid decided they loved the windows so much they wanted to run their hot wheels across them. Regardless, you have a scratched frame to deal with. Fiberglass windows help reduce this from happening because of their greater resistance to scratching.Vinyl windows are often prone to scratching on the frame because vinyl is a softer material and easier to scratch. In addition, once the scratch is there, there is nothing available to touch it up or repair the scratch. If it is a lighter scratch, a marine rubbing compound may help to buff the scratch out, but a deeper scratch will be there to stay.
Aluminum windows, or the aluminum cladding on most wood windows also is susceptible to scratching. Aluminum is a relatively soft material compared to other metals and can be gouged and scratched if not handled properly. Typically it is the paint finish on the aluminum that is scratched and that can be fixed with touch up paint. However, when the aluminum itself is damaged it can not usually be repaired and the only solution is a parts replacement.
Fiberglass windows usually have a hard coat baked on finish that is less likely to scratch than aluminum paint finishes. In addition, the fiberglass windows are made so that the fiberglass under the paint finish is not easily damaged either. The woven mat and resin will hold against most scratches.
However, if the material should be scratched, a rubbing compound can be used for lighter scratches and a fiberglass repair kit for deeper scratches. The overall versatility of the material to be repaired in place makes it a positive choice for scratch resistance.
Insulating Properties
Where fiberglass windows really shine is in their insulating properties. In many cases, fiberglass windows can generate window performance ratings on par with a wood window. Because wood is a natural insulator, it is generally regarding as the best insulating material used in window manufacturing. Fiberglass offers a less expensive, lower maintenance alternative to wood windows, but still delivers high energy performance ratings.The reason for the increased insulating properties lies in the material composition. Fiberglass is made up of random strands of fiber mixed with a resin and formed into a shape for production. The fibers in the mix are comprised of silica strands. Silica is a fancy term for glass hence the name "fiberglass".
Glass by nature has insulating properties and therefore does not conduct heat as easily. With the strands of fiber in the window frame acting as insulating agents, the frame does not conduct as much heat across it and therefore stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Fiberglass windows will have better insulating frame performance versus vinyl or aluminum. Vinyl by itself is not extremely energy efficient. Some manufacturers inject foam into their vinyl window frames to help boost the overall energy performance. The foam agent acts to add additional insulation within the window frame. Without the foam, the vinyl window frame can not generate the same performance numbers that a fiberglass frame does.
Fiberglass windows have frames that beat aluminum windows hands down. Aluminum is a natural conductor and actually transfers heat across the frame of the window. This means in the winter an aluminum window frame will feel cold on the room side of the window and in the summer it can actually get so hot that you can not touch it.
Unless an aluminum window has a thermal break in the frame, which is a non conductive spacer in the middle of the window frame, the window frames will never perform anywhere close to the insulating values of fiberglass frames.
Paintable Surface
Unlike aluminum or vinyl, fiberglass replacement windows have a surface that can be painted. This is a benefit because it allows the option of different paint colors on the interior or exterior of the windows. Several fiberglass window manufacturers offer various prefinished colors, or you can have the windows prepped and painted a custom color after they are installed.Aluminum windows can also be purchased in various colors from the factory, but they are usually limited to white, tan, or anodized bronze. The difference between fiberglass windows and aluminum windows is that the aluminum can not be painted after the factory finish.
While most homeowners will probably never repaint their replacement windows, it is a nice benefit to have the option available. It may or may not be important to you in choosing the windows for your project, but paintability is definitely an added benefit that fiberglass windows offer to the customer.
Resources
While fiberglass windows are considered a new product coming to the market, there are several window companies that carry some form of a fiberglass window window in their product offering. There are several smaller, regional manufacturers that carry fiberglass windows, but they don't carry the name recognition in the market as the major window brands.There are three main companies that are offering a fiberglass replacement window in the market today. These are Pella, Milgard, and Marvin. Each of these companies produces a fiberglass frame window that is capable of out performing vinyl and aluminum windows for years to come.
Keep in mind when looking at their product offerings, each one is going to position their product a bit differently to make their product unique. Regardless of the method to generate the fiberglass windows, each one is going to generate superior strength, dent resistance, scratch resistant, and superior energy performance for you replacement window project.
What can we help you with?
Ready to get started? Need more information? No matter what stage you are at in your replacement window project, we are here to help. Use the links below to schedule an appointment, find out more about replacement windows or simply drop us a line with your question.
- Let's get started! - Schedule an appointment
- Tell me about the Energy Tax Credit
- What are my Replacement Window options?
- I just have a question about San Antonio Windows