dark color viny windows

15 years ago

I am reposting here as no one on the window forum has responded and there are more than a few window posts on this forum.

I am deciding on which casement window to buy for a new house. It must be dark brown or preferably burgundy (outside color, white inside) and have looked at several wood/aluminum products. Color options on wood/alum are good but would be ordered primed interior and painted by my contractor. This adds a few bucks to the cost.

However, this is for a very high wind, water location and I really think vinyl would be better. I'm considering a Canadian product called Solaris which is pricy. (So much for "cheap" vinyl) In color, they cost as much or more than products like Anderson, Pella or Eagle.

I am not worried about fading on this product. They took me to several existing houses with dark colors that had been installed several years before with direct sun exposure. Even the black ones were nice and I could not see any appreciable color difference between the color sample and the ones which were 3-4 yrs old.

They are not solid color vinyl but painted with special UV resistant paint. I did note the on the salesman's carry sample, the color has some scratches but I'm assuming this is because the portable unit is tossed in his car. The older houses didn't have any scratches so it is probably an installation issue or be careful transporting them.

I am hesitating because of the price. The windows themselves seem great and have a higher DP rating than any of the wood/alum products, plus they look nice with the sashes set back in from the frame on the outside, like old time windows rather than flat like many of the others.

Still, they price could be an issue so I thought it would do well to ask if there are any other color vinyl options. Even though there appear to be many positive customers locally using Solaris, I'm wondering if any on this forum has an completely unbiased opinions.

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Comments (5)

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Jesse Lizer
15 years ago
there are tons of higher end vinyl companies out there. I honestly do not look into them as often because in our area I prefer fiberglass products.
I would possibly recommend looking into a fiberglass product as well. Very durable, and many can be had in darker colors for standard prices as the darker shades do not affect fiberglass like it does vinyl. Companies would include Marvin Integrity if you are after the wood interior, or also other good fiberglass companies such as Fibertec, Inline, Serious, etc. They will also give you a prefinished white fiberglass interior for the same cost, thus saving you $. You can get 2 tone exterior finishes from most. Pella Impervia is another one, currently only offering 3 colors. However mid this year they will be offering 2 tones and other color options I am told.
jimandanne_mi
15 years ago
Someone who knows more about this than I do can correct me if I haven't quite got it right, but if I remember correctly, the reason they don't usually make vinyl windows in dark colors is also because the dark colors absorb the heat from the sun. White vinyl expands a lot more than the fiberglass when it is heated, so the dark colors make it expand more, which over time causes the vinyl to separate from the glass, thus causing leakage over time.

We got aluminum clad, but if the fiberglass had been in other colors than white when we built, that's what we would have gotten.

Anne
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soesoe75
15 years ago
Andersen makes a 100 series window that comes in very dark brown. We installed it in our new house and the are fantastic looking- much nicer than vinyl and less than fiberglass. The price point was excellent. Our builder steered us away from dark color vinyl as the heat can affect the structural integrity especially in large windows.
User
15 years ago
lakeyjim-

We live in NNY on a lake and get wind, cold, lots and lots of lake effect snow, moisture and sun. Our 4 YO Eagle alum clad, red (Eagle color Cinnamon Toast) windows look as good as the day they were installed. What is your concern with alum clad WRT the weather?

This isn't a close up, but here's the color, along with about half as much snow as we have now, this was taken 2 weeks ago.

sandyponder
jason1980
15 years ago
Hey Jimbo, Some viynl window companies will paint the outside of the window and the inside will remain white. They use some sort of car paint. You will pay a lot more for this look. Andersen, among other companies, will give you one color outside and a different color inside but these are not viynl. I beleieve the outside is viynl clad and the inside is painted wood. Anyway, check out Viwintech (Viynl Window Technologies). They make an affordable viynl window that you can play with the colors on. Its a decent window but not the cats meow. Not sure about the longevity of the painted viynl. I wouldnt do it on my house. Good luck. Just do white and save yourself the worry!