Choosing Windows & Doors
Exterior windows and doors must provide security, weather-proofing, and aesthetic appeal to your home or business. So it’s important that they be of high quality and properly installed. Genesis Exteriors offers you more than a decade of award-winning service and expertise installing windows and doors at homes and businesses throughout South Central Wisconsin. And we only recommend and install windows and doors rated “highly recommended” by Consumer Reports.
Which is the right kind of window for you?
Aluminum windows used to be the first choice for durability, lightweight strength, and low maintenance but has been largely displaced by vinyl-clad and fiberglass offerings, which offer superior thermal efficiency.
Fiberglass windows offer the best combination of insulation, moisture resistance, and durability but are more expensive than either aluminum or vinyl. Find out more.
Vinyl-clad windows are the most economical, extremely durable, and require virtually no maintenance.
Find out more.
Casement Bow Window
Casement Bay Window
Gliding Window
Awning Window
Picture Window
Casement Window
Double-Hung
Our experts can show you many types and styles of windows. They will advise you about which kinds are best for your particular needs and application. And our experienced craftsmen will install them at your home or business with the diligence and professionalism for which the Genesis name is known throughout Madison and South Central Wisconsin.
Which is the right kind of Door for you?
Entry and exterior doors have changed significantly over the past few years. There are nowadays hundreds of options, from conventional wood to high-tech fiberglass composites, and steel doors that incorporate a combination of materials. The hybrid that’s best for you depends on your particular needs and application.
In general, wood doors are the most aesthetically pleasing, steel the most economical, and fiberglass the most durable and energy efficient. But similar to windows, modern hybrids can provide more than one of these benefits.
For example, some wood doors have steel interiors; some steel doors have wood exteriors; a fiberglass or steel door might have a wood frame; and nearly any door might have a foam core.
Our experts can show you many types and styles of doors. They will advise you about which are best for your particular needs and application. And our experienced craftsmen will install them at your home or business with the diligence and professionalism for which the Genesis name is known throughout Madison and South Central Wisconsin.
Learn more about Genesis Exteriors Window and Door Installation Services
Fiberglass Replacement Windows
Everything being equal, a very good case can be made that “poltruded” fiberglass is your best all-around value. Pultrusion is the process of mixing fiberglass strands with a proprietary resin and then pulling them through a heated die. The result is protruded fiberglass, a material with performance characteristics better than aluminum, vinyl, wood, or steel. What does that mean for you?
Fiberglass replacement windows are strongest.
Protruded fiberglass is stronger than aluminum, wood, or vinyl. It will not rot or warp as might wood. Nor will it shrink, sag, or crack, as might vinyl. That’s a pretty good start. But more subtly, protruded fiberglass expands and contracts at basically the same rate as glass.
This means that there is less gapping between the window glass and frame as weather changes from one extreme to the other—not like that ever happens in the Wisconsin. So there is much less air leakage and much less stress on locking mechanisms.
Vinyl-clad Replacement Windows
Vinyl replacement windows are the most common sort of replacement window and have so far proven to be an excellent product. They are so-named because their frames are fabricated primarily from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Other materials are used for hardware and reinforcement, of course. But the primary exposed material is vinyl, which makes them virtually maintenance-free relative to wood: no painting, scraping, or puttying…and there is no such thing as a PVC-eating termite.
Strength and durability of higher-quality vinyl replacement windows
The best vinyl replacement windows have a “chambered” design, making them quite sturdy. Newer to the market are Cellular PVC windows in which all the vinyl components are solid. As mentioned above, vinyl replacement windows have a good track record but haven’t been around long enough to make definitive statements about the expected lifespan. So the guarantee you’re offered is an important consideration.
Esthetics of Vinyl Replacement Windows
Vinyl replacement windows can be had with a stamped grain that makes them look like wood from a distance. As with fiberglass replacement windows, the color goes through-and-through, so any scratches are virtually invisible. However, your choice of colors is much more limited than with fiberglass replacement windows. This is because PVC can warp in extreme heat, so heat-absorbing darker colors are necessarily avoided by manufacturers. Vinyl replacement windows cannot be repainted—so make sure the color you choose today is the one you’ll want 20 years down the road.
Quality differences among various brands of vinyl replacement windows
There is a wide range of quality when it comes to vinyl replacement windows. Good ones tend to be very good and bad ones very bad. To protect the Genesis brand, maintain our reputation, and earn repeat business, we only offer higher- and highest-quality vinyl replacement windows. Beware of any Madison replacement window contractor who “competes on price” by offering low-end brands of vinyl replacement windows. They tend to warp, then leak, or otherwise fail in just a few years. It happens—and it happens a lot.
