The Kansas windstorm rattles old window frames and makes homeowners wonder how much longer the frames will hold up. Homeowners living in an older home around Harrison Street or out near the wetlands find that windows take a real beating from the shifting prairie climate. Between freezing winter northers and triple-digit July afternoons, picking the right replacement material is not just about looks. It is about survival.
Homeowners often ask whether they should go with standard vinyl or step up to fiberglass. Majestic Window Installation Co has spent years pulling out rotted frames and wrestling with warped sashes across Barton County, and our team has strong opinions on this subject. The performance of these two materials can be broken down to see how they actually stack up against each other out in the real world.
The Cost Breakdown
Money is usually where the conversation starts for window installation projects. Vinyl is the undisputed king of affordability for Window Installation Service. It is budget-friendly, readily available, and gets the job done without emptying a savings account. Homeowners who have a whole house full of drafty double-hungs to replace find that vinyl Window Installation allows them to do it all at once without taking out a second mortgage.
Fiberglass Window Installation costs more upfront, sometimes significantly more. Homeowners pay for a manufacturing process that yields a much tougher product. However, if homeowners plan on staying in their Great Bend house for the next twenty years, that initial price difference starts to flatten out when factoring in longevity.
Handling the Kansas Weather
The weather in Great Bend is brutal on building materials. Massive thermal swings make things expand and contract violently. Vinyl has come a long way since the flimsy material installed back in the eighties, but it is still plastic. On an extreme August day when the sun is baking the south side of a house, vinyl can get a bit flexible.
Fiberglass, on the other hand, expands and contracts at almost the exact same rate as glass. That means the window seals stay tight year after year, which is important for keeping out the dust that blows off the fields during a dry spell. It will not warp, it will not sag, and it stands up to hail much better than vinyl ever could.
Maintenance Realities
Nobody wants to spend their Saturday sanding and painting window trim. The good news is that both of these options are low maintenance for homes in Great Bend. Vinyl never needs paint, period. Homeowners wash it down with a hose and some soapy water once a year, and the job is done.
Fiberglass is also low maintenance, but it comes with a major bonus: homeowners can actually paint it if they decide to change their home exterior color down the road. Most fiberglass windows come with a factory-applied finish that lasts for decades, but if homeowners want a custom color to match their brick or siding, fiberglass takes paint very well.
My Recommendation for Local Homes
If homeowners are flipping a house or working with a tight budget, good-quality vinyl Window Installation completed by our crew at Majestic Window Installation Co will serve them well. It seals up drafts and lowers utility bills without breaking the bank.
If homeowners are building their forever home or are tired of replacing windows every twenty years, they should spend the extra money on fiberglass Window Installation in Great Bend, KS. It handles the Kansas wind, locks out temperature extremes, and simply outlasts almost everything else on the block.