Whether you're planning a new build or working on a remodel project, choosing the right windows is a high-stakes proposition. According to Consumer Affairs, well-maintained windows can last up to 40 years, with an average of 1.5 windows per room, making them one of a home’s most prominent and potentially eye-catching features.
Many homeowners are drawn to wooden windows as a beautiful, sustainable, and energy-efficient option. Although wood windows typically require a higher initial investment, many homeowners find their many benefits worth the price.
Fenstür’s fully customizable wooden windows offer long-term cost savings, energy efficiency, and compliance with building codes, combining the natural beauty of wood with the practical considerations of home ownership.
Although the cost of wooden windows is, on average, higher than that of windows made from other materials, they come with a host of benefits that make them worth considering for any design-conscious or environmentally-sensitive homeowner.
Wood windows are a timeless and elegant option that enhances a home's value and curb appeal. Fully customizable, wooden windows elevate spaces with the warmth and natural beauty that wood brings to a room. More than a functional feature, wooden windows are a design element.
Fenstür offers more than ten wood varieties and a fully customizable suite of stain and paint options, allowing customers to realize their vision. Whatever your aesthetic, Fenstür can help you build something that meets your style and functional preferences.
Wooden windows also offer environmental benefits. Wood is a fully biodegradable, renewable resource. Wood windows offer significantly lower carbon emissions over a 60-year lifespan than vinyl and aluminum alternatives. They also allow homeowners to repair and refurbish an existing feature rather than simply replace it.
Fenstür makes its windows from sustainably sourced materials. Our superior design, careful manufacturing process, and high-quality paints and stains are all part of our commitment to reducing our environmental impact while offering our clients a beautiful, long-lasting, natural product.
When comparing the cost of wood windows to vinyl or aluminum windows, it's essential to consider the long term. Ongoing costs related to energy efficiency can make a huge difference when it comes to long-term savings versus short-term outlay.
Wood is a naturally insulating material that helps to keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Wood windows can provide even higher efficiency when clad in aluminum or paired with Fenstür’s other advanced insulating features like triple glazing and modern insulation barriers like advanced sealing and weather stripping.
Wood windows can generate significant savings on energy bills due to reduced heat loss and gain over time. Other materials suffer, especially during sudden temperature changes or severe weather. Aluminum and other metal options are generally poor insulators, allowing for significant leakage.
Vinyl windows, while a better insulating option than aluminum, still don’t measure up to wood when preventing heat leakage. Vinyl windows can expand and contract during temperature changes, particularly if the change is sudden or dramatic, reducing energy efficiency when you need it most.
At a time when many homeowners are understandably concerned about sustainability — for both personal reasons or because many states and cities now require windows to meet specific energy performance standards — Fenstür windows offer a stylish option that meets or exceeds all local and national building codes.
Energy-efficient window options offered by Fenstür:
Fenstür is constantly working to improve the efficiency and sustainability of our products. In 2018, Fenstür became North America's first and only Passive House-Certified wooden window and door manufacturer.
We were the first company in Canada to pass an NAFS test for a lift and slide door, and we are proud to be widely known for manufacturing the most energy-efficient wooden windows and doors in Canada.
Although wood windows may cost more upfront, they represent a long-term investment that offers homeowners increased durability, efficiency, and sustainability for the product's complete life cycle. When properly manufactured and maintained, wood windows can last a lifetime, adding beauty and value to a home.
Durability begins with the quality of the materials. Fenstür makes its windows from specially selected old-growth timber grown in cold and wet climates. Our sustainably harvested wood is graded for a higher proportion of heartwood, the most durable part of a tree, and we engineer all our door and window components to increase stability, reduce knots, and minimize pitch bleed.
Fenstür windows are engineered and assembled by expert craftsmen, who carefully machine all our wood for peak surface smoothness and improved joint strength. All horizontal surfaces of the window are designed with a slight slope to prevent pooling water, water penetration, and rot in vulnerable areas.
Additional durability features include:
Wood windows do require maintenance to retain their beauty and effectiveness fully. However, when built with quality components and attention to detail, maintenance intervals can be long, with Fenstür windows averaging 15- to 30-year maintenance cycles.
When maintenance is required, wooden windows are easy to repair, refinish, and refurbish, reducing waste and negating the need for replacement. Vinyl and aluminum windows have low initial installation costs and require little maintenance, but when damaged, they are almost impossible to repair, necessitating a replacement.
Undamaged, vinyl windows can last 10 to 30 years — depending on quality — and aluminum windows average a lifespan of 15 to 30 years. When properly maintained, high-quality wood windows can last longer than a lifetime.
Wood windows are often a more expensive option, but many homeowners find that the cost of wooden window frames is well worth the benefits they provide economically, aesthetically, and environmentally over the product's lifetime.
Wooden windows are naturally insulating and perform well even when faced with extreme weather or sudden temperature changes. Fenstür windows offer the natural advantages of wood alongside expert craftsmanship and engineering that prevent drafts and heat gain or loss, keeping your home comfortable no matter the conditions.
Fenstür windows offer homeowners a long maintenance cycle, often 15-30 years, and allow them to repair or refinish — rather than replace — a key property feature. Homeowners can paint or stain Fenstür windows to match redecorating efforts, reducing waste of time, money, and resources.
Wood windows are a beautiful addition to a home that can last a lifetime. And even if the house you install them in turns out to be a beautiful “for now” rather than a forever home, wooden windows add curb appeal and resale value to your property.
When it comes to home improvements, you get what you pay for, and when you invest in high-quality wood windows, you are paying for a lifetime of beauty, durability, and long-term savings.
Fenstür makes the largest and most efficient wooden windows and doors in Canada. Our energy-efficient, code-compliant products offer clients a fully customizable range of options that can take them from vision board to reality, all with the support of our expert team.
If you have a new build or a remodel project and are interested in exploring the beauty and versatility of natural wood windows, contact Fenstür for a quote or more information on our beautiful wooden windows.