Before:
Most homes built between 1987 and now were built using either contractor grade vinyl windows or wood windows with aluminium clad exterior. The wood windows were made using a soft, porous wood species such as pine. These windows are susceptible to early wood decay. The wood in your window, if not properly sealed and treated, can decay in less than 4 years. Should you repair or replace? This is prevalent with some windows more than others. If you’re lucky enough to have windows made from a company who is still in business they may or may not help you out. Companies such as Marvin, Pella, Windsor or Quaker will all try to accommodate you if you’re within the warranty period. But if you have windows made by Barber & Ross or Rockwell or R.O.W. which are no longer in business, you’re out of luck, right? Wrong. Or even Hurd windows who filed for bankruptcy protection so now they don’t have to honor any warranties after 2008. Are you again SOL? No, there is something you can do.
Most window manufacturers from the late 80’s and early 90’s are long gone leaving in their wake thousands of homes with windows that are rotting from the inside out. By the time you notice that there’s a problem, it’s just too late. Now what? Well you can go to a big box store and talk to some person who was working at radio shack two weeks prior and ask them about installing new windows for like oh maybe 20k or more. Or you can call friends and family and ask if they have any experience with these issues and hopefully they can refer you to a local Window Repair Guy that can help. A qualified window repair company can offer you many options not just window replacement.
After:
If your windows are rotting at the sashes (the part that moves with the glass) and not the main frames, you can replace only the sash and glass for pennies on the dollar compared to replacing your windows completely. One Source Renovation LLC at WindowRepairGuy.com offers OEM exact profile match sash replacement for R.O.W Windows as well as Rockwell Windows, Barber & Ross, Hurd, Weather Shield and more. OSR uses wood made of Poplar which is a much more dense wood than Pine. This will increase the longevity of the window by many years and is easy to stain and paint like Pine.
If you’re replacing your windows or even just the sash and glass now is the time to make sure you upgrade to glass which will include either Low E or argon filled glass. These two components make a huge difference in the performance of the glass. Do your research prior to making a costly decision