Wood Looking Vinyl Windows – Aluminum Cladding Comparisons

Vinyl windows with wood grain veneers are predicted to grow in demand by 10% annually until 2016. Market trends predict having a vinyl wooden replacement window look to the interior and exterior on your house will become popular along with certain varieties of aluminum-clad windows. This is all in an attempt to get a more rustic, antique trim on the home.

So what do you look for in vinyl windows versus wooden windows? Well the truth is, you’ll never get the exacting performance of a vinyl window out of a wooden window. That being said, vinyl veneer windows have come a long way to create the look and feel of real wood without actually being wood. Vinyl windows can even be wooden on the interior with an aluminum-clad exterior to achieve any sort of look desired. We at A&A install these types of windows made by Marvin, but our Sunrise Window has a fiberglass reinforced core and mimics the look of wood better than any other window.

Comparing wood to vinyl is sort of like comparing apples to oranges. Wood windows typically cost a bit more, and vinyl windows tend to have better ratings as far as energy efficiency is concerned. Installing vinyl replacement windows with a wood frame opening is a turnoff for many people because they feel the fake wood can’t match the trim properly, but again, vinyl has come a long way in the 25-30 years or so they’ve been around. A wood grain interior with/without aluminum cladding on the outside is a look that will be around a while, below is a close up of a wooden aluminum-clad window.

To see what wooden interior windows with aluminum-clad exteriors look like installed, check out this past video and blog article we made. (includes video installation). The windows installed in this video are an example of Marvin windows with aluminum cladding, for full article click here.