A view of natural surroundings is guaranteed to make any design project more desirable and successful. In the third of our four-part blog series on wood windows, we explore the design flexibility, aesthetic impact, and durability of using wood windows to enhance the view.
Explore four different examples of how builders used newly fabricated windows that were custom-built to meet historical requirements.
Large expanses of glass continue to be one of the residential construction industry’s hottest trends. The clean lines, broad panes of glass, and elegant simplicity deliver remarkable looks, open sightlines, and a seamless connection from indoors to out.
It’s no secret that homeowners are veering more toward the modern and contemporary in their style choices. And that minimalism includes the window market, where it’s manifesting itself in the form of clean lines, simple shapes, dark colors, and more glass. Beyond looks, homeowners expect high performance in the form of efficiency, functionality, and durability.
Here are seven window trends that are very popular with consumers this year.
Discover the top five window brand considerations that homeowners ask about
Builders overcome the challenge of restoring historic buildings by replacing deteriorated wood windows with high-tech wood windows that don’t rot and are environmentally friendly. Restoring historic buildings can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to replacing deteriorated wood windows. Dry rot is the main reason why architects and builders need to restore old windows in historic buildings, meaning that new windows need to be able to stand the test of time. Today, builders are finding innovative ways to effectively replace historic windows with high-tech wood windows, which have a specific environmentally friendly treatment process to prevent against wood rot, bending, or insect infestation. This is the first in a four-part blog series that revolves around the design flexibility, aesthetic, and durability of wood windows. High-tech wood treatment In the 1970s, the US Department of Environmental Quality outlawed pentachlorophenol-based (penta-based) wood-dip treatments, a common perpetrator of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that caused harmful health and environmental risks. Instead, manufacturers began to use a more environmentally friendly product called Woodlife F. But while Woodlife F was great for the planet, dry rot would still form if it were exposed to…
Your choice of brand has implications for various parts of the operation. Builders are loyal to brands that offer the features, benefits and durability they require. With doors and windows, most settle on one or two brands that meet their price and performance specs, and that offer strong warranties they know the dealer and manufacturer will stand behind. When deciding which brands to align with, large-volume builders obviously want a breadth of product that will serve them across all their home models without adding unneeded complexity. To simplify the specification process, they may opt for a base product with various options in glass grille patterns, so they can use it in different neighborhoods with different styles. This type of consistency also pays off in the sales process. “By sticking with a few trusted brands you’re better able to explain their features, benefits and advantages to the buyer,” says Scott Alden, a…
JELD-WEN Style Collections guide customers to the perfect doors and windows to get the style they’re after. When the time comes for homeowners to select windows and doors for their new home or remodel, it’s possible for them to have too many options. With e-commerce sites, Pinterest, Instagram, and design blogs presenting endless possibilities involving the style, colors, features, and finishes for windows and doors, it’s easy for customers to get overwhelmed. JELD-WEN created four thoughtfully curated Whole Home Style Collections—Farmhouse, Coastal, Updated Traditional, and Simply Modern—to help homeowners discover the doors and windows designed to bring these popular styles to their homes. Inspiration and guidance “Customers want inspiration and need guidance in choosing the right product to fit their home style,” says Christina Wolff, JELD-WEN associate product line manager for exterior door systems. “We wanted to create marketing materials that can help customers in their purchase journey.” The Whole Home Style Collections are valuable resources that builders and contractors can use to help speed up product identification and validate their customers’ choices. Each guide offers design ideas and showcases products organized into price tiers—enabling builders to quickly and easily assemble window and door specifications that meet any customer’s budget. “The ability to shop by style and inspiration makes the buying experience so much easier for the pros…
Increase comfort and efficiency with the right windows A building’s envelope is the physical barrier between the interior and exterior environments. It includes all of the elements that contribute to keeping conditioned indoor spaces dry and comfortable. When thinking about the envelope, the first things that come to mind are the roof, walls, foundation, insulation, and assorted types of waterproofing. However, it’s also important to consider how critical windows are for the durability, energy efficiency, healthiness, and livability of a building. Beyond providing natural light, windows have a central role in keeping moisture, air, and heat outside or inside of the building—depending on the season. Heat There are three ways that heat energy is transferred from a warm place to a cool place: radiation (sunlight), convection (hot air movement), and conduction (heat transferred through materials). R-values indicate how effective the insulation and building materials are at controlling heat transfer through…
Go beyond code with performance grade Many decisions go into building a home that will survive whatever nature throws at it. Considerations for choosing the windows are often guided by building codes that evolved in response to lessons learned about surviving disasters and extreme weather events. For example, engineers determined that when a hurricane tears the roof off a house, it’s often because windows were breached, letting strong winds in to push the roof up and off from the inside. Even if the roof holds fast, wind-blown rain blasting through a failed window will still cause significant damage. After Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992, generating $27 billion in property damage, new requirements for windows regarding impact resistance and design pressure were added to building codes to help houses survive such disasters. Today’s homeowners increasingly want their homes to not merely survive extreme events, but also to be resilient. According to the Resilient Design Institute, resilience is the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance. It’s the ability to bounce back after a disruption or interruption. A truly…