Insulated Vinyl Siding Offers Attractive Low Maintenance and Superb Energy-Efficiency
By Matt Gallo
Vinyl siding has long been one of the most popular home exterior products in the United States. It’s durable, low-maintenance, affordable, and beautiful. However, vinyl provides little to no additional insulation for your home (some R-value estimates are as high as 1 but many are as low as 0.15). That’s what makes the new insulated vinyl siding so attractive-it’s vinyl with the added benefit of thermal insulation, a win-win for many homeowners.
Insulated vinyl siding is a solid-core home exterior product. First introduced by Crane Plastics in 2001, insulated vinyl is now available from any number of manufacturers. This new type of vinyl siding takes a great product and makes it even better. You get the low maintenance, durability, and great looks of traditional vinyl, plus a whole lot more.
Replacement Windows: The Benefits of Vinyl Windows
By Margaret Winfrey
When you feel the time is right for replacement windows, you should give some thought to what you want from them. Should you choose something modern, such as gleaming white vinyl windows or go traditional with bay windows or even wooden sashes like your grandma might have had? Then you have cost to consider, and how savings in energy costs due to improved insulation might offset the cost of your windows.
Then you have color, in fact, when you think about it, it’s not necessary the simple choice you thought it would be. How about the material of construction, and should you give serious consideration to vinyl windows rather than more solid wooden or metal frames?
However, wood is heavy, not only in weight but also in maintenance time since it has to be stained, varnished or painted and it tends to expand or swell under various weather conditions so that it occasionally fails to close properly. Metal windows are the same, and these too can tend to chip if painted, and lose their sparkle if not.
