The northwest is a very harsh climate for windows and doors. Rain, wind, and drastic temperature changes are tough on them. Over the years manufacturers have come up with many creative adaptations to make their windows and doors more resistant to these extremes. Originally wood was the common material used. Wood requires continuous maintenance to avoid rot and swelling, and is expensive both for materials and labor.

In the early 1900′s steel windows were created to reduce the problem with rot, swelling, and the constant need for painting. Unfortunately steel has two major drawbacks. Steel rusts, therefore still requires painting, and steel transmits heat much better than wood. Few steel windows are produced today; limited largely to fire rated windows.

Aluminum windows came out in the 1950′s; first as single glazed (one layer of glass) and later with insulated glass. Aluminum does not require painting, but has the obvious drawback of transmitting heat at a rate about 6000 times faster than wood. This was partly overcome by putting a thermal barrier in the windows separating the aluminum on the outside from that on the inside using a non-conductive material.

In the 1980′s, more restrictive energy codes were enacted which led to new innovations.

    Extruded vinyl windows were developed to address the  problems with the older windows. Extruded vinyl resists heat loss, can't rot, and needs next to no maintenance. Over the next thirty years, demand for energy efficient windows drove the industry to create better and more efficient glass systems. The latest highly efficient glass and vinyl windows can provide U values around 0.20, 5 times better than the old single glazed wood and aluminum windows.

   Wood windows with exterior cladding have also been developed. The cladding to the exterior can be aluminum, vinyl, or fiberglass; and serves to protect the interior wood from weather damage. These windows have similar energy saving characteristics to vinyl windows, while still providing the beauty of wood.

   The most recent addition to window design is the fiberglass window. Fiberglass is very strong and weather resistant, and has the added advantage of being paintable both inside and out. Fiberglass has similar insulation characteristics to vinyl.