Energy Efficiencyīeing on top of a hill, our house gets blasted by sun – we needed an energy efficient windows to cut down on our heating and cooling costs. This would only be achievable by painting that section after it leaves the factory. The only thing we could not customize was the inside casing around the window – we wanted that black on the area right next to the window pane and white on the outer sections, but that was not available from the factory. The grilles are also available in different widths (we chose the smallest) and could be a different color on the outside than the inside (which is what we needed for HOA regulations). We were able to design the exact grille pattern that we wanted for each window. We were able to customize the look of our windows so that we could achieve the steel window look. MaterialĪnderson Windows use Fibrex, which is twice as durable as vinyl and extremely strong, allowing for smaller frames and more views! Perfect for dynamic climates and high humidity (yay Virginia!). Speaking of those checkboxes, let’s run through each and show how Anderson stacked up. Renewal by Anderson could provide the steel window look that we craved, and they also checked most of our boxes for this project. Our Sales Rep, Mike, was extremely knowledgeable and went through all our options. Then we contacted Anderson Windows, and their Renewal by Anderson team came and looked at our project. In short, they could not give us that steel window look, so we showed them the door (did I mention we were replacing our old wood doors as well?). The problem with Thomson Creek is that they only offer vinyl windows, and they don’t offer black grilles. We then had Thompson Creek come out and give us a quote. Pella makes beautiful windows, but they are only offered in wood, which in our climate would only last 15 or 20 years. The wood expands and contracts throughout the seasons, which can affect their operation (none of ours opened) and are prone to rot. Since our house is in Leesburg, Virginia, we have excessive humidity in the summer, which does not bode well for wood windows. We then looked at options from Anderson, Pella, and Thomson Creek. We looked into actual steel windows and threw that idea right out the window (pun intended) once we saw the cost. So we either needed to paint the outside grilles white and the inside grilles black, or find a product that had internal grids with different colors for the two sides. One requirement we needed to overcome was that from the outside, the grilles had to remain white to comply with HOA regulations. We love white walls, light floors, and black windows, so we knew we wanted to replace the existing white, wood windows with black windows. We have a unique design style,” which is a combination of formal architectural and design elements, paired with causal décor and furniture. Replacing windows was not something we wanted to tackle for many years, but we decided that we needed to pull the trigger immediately on new windows for the back of the house. In the summer, a swarm of bugs could be seen hovering around the family room recessed lights at night. This proved to be a conduit for bugs to enter our house at an alarming rate. The back section of the house was in far worse shape than the other sides – the windows sills were rotted, none of the panes opened, and we could visibly see gaps between the sashes and frames. When we moved into The Arched Manor, we knew the wood windows needed some work, but we were not prepared for just how bad they actually were. We absolutely love them – we created a ‘Black Window’ Pinterest board for your visual pleasure, so check that out if you need some window inspo. It’s clean, beautiful, and can either be modern or formal. It’s a classic look, that not only makes a statement but also frames the view of the outside better than a white window. But as we know in the design world, everything is cyclic, and using black windows in residential dwellings has been extremely popular in the past 5 years. ![]() At that time, aluminum and vinyl came into play and could be produced much cheaper than steel. ![]() The black window trend is here to stay folks, and we could not be happier! The black window look is actually based on the look of steel windows, which were extremely common from 1920 to 1965.
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