Considering wood windows with cladding.  Does anyone have an opinion as to which is a  better cladding  between vinyl and aluminum? For longevity or any other issue.  Thinking about either Andersen or Hurd. Pricewise, essentially equal.

Thanks,  John

John -

Have you considered fiberglass? Many companies offer this option including Milgard, Marvin Integrity. I am in the process of building a Timber/SIP home and used Marvin Integrity Ultrex/Wood windows. These are fiberglass clad on the outside, and clear pine on the inside. They are very affordable, but your limited to catalog sizes (except for Polygons), only one choice of wood species, and 3-4 colors. Other than that, they are about 1/2 the price of Anderson's or Milgard's Fiberglass/Wood. Weathershield also makes a very nice vinyl/aluminum/wood window.

I have lived in two homes with aluminum windows and never again. The aluminum is like ice in the winter with tremendous amounts of condensation to the interior.

John,

I built a passive solar house in 1996 using Hurd aluminum clad wood windows. Those windows are of a very high quality and it seems like the alum cladding is bombproof. I have no experience with vinyl cladding, but everything I read says that the expan/contract cycles wear out the vinyl joints over the years.

Having said all that, I would say ditto to olpjeb's suggestion of fiberglass. Reason being that the interior wood of the Hurd(or any other) window can be exposed to a lot of condensation/freezing of moisture if you are in a very cold climate with any humidity at all. This condenation is tough on the finish you apply to the interior wood of the windows, and you will have some periodic stripping/refinishing of the wood. The fiberglass would seemingly be unaffected by the humidity problem.

My 2 cents worth.

Dave