What is a real wood window?

New Wooden Windows we Built for a Home Owner in Lexington Ky new wooden windows

New Wooden Windows we Built for a Home Owner in Lexington Ky

A couple I know built their home a little over twenty years ago.  They explained their modern wooden windows were failing and asked me to research the modern market for replacements that would not fail again.   If these could not be found, they asked if I would build them good windows in the traditional form with simple rope and pulley balances.

When I surveyed the home, I found the windows were made to simulate the mullions and muntin bars of antique sash but these were glued onto the exterior glass.  The sash were made of rot-prone Ponderosa Pine which had begun to rot on the day they were installed.   Pretty normal for a modern window repair call.   This was to be their third set of windows.

Having asked me to find them a good window that would last I began surveying the market and was surprised, at that time, to find that none of the major window companies were building standard wooden sash with lumber that was highly resistant to rot.   Most building and window suppliers admitted the life expectancy of their sash was, at best, 20 years.   All relied on technologies which were generally admitted to  eventually lead to replacement.   I was sort of shocked by this, as I had continued to hold the industry up for what seemed a dedication to building something that would last.  Now I believe what has become standards in making windows “maintenance free” and “energy efficiency”, have ended up changing the way we consider windows.  They are no longer made to be as part of buildings in a lasting sense.  Windows have become something like consumable goods, requiring replacement every 20 years.

It was with this in mind that I began building window units using traditional methods and superior lumber, balancing the sash with simple balance systems.   Our aim is to address the market of those frustrated like we were, and provide a product that will last.  Our material selection can be in wood species that are both light in weight and are highly resistant to rot, for example reclaimed old growth cypress from the Gulf Coast or black walnut for the Appalachian Mountains.   

Our wooden windows are excellent quality and can be prefinished so that the interiors show all the color and grain of the real wood sash.   We can provide these units, in single or multi-light, in most any design.   They may be  made as single, double, or triple hung; in-swing or out-swing casements, awnings, and in a wide variety of shapes.

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We are expert in interlocking metal weather strip and the system of water bars needed to keep weather out in the face of wind driven rain. This material is the only type of weather strip rated by the U. S. Dept of Energy as excellent. If your project calls for windows and doors made well and of superior materials, we would be glad to hear from you.