Honestly, I’ve had both in different houses and the draft/condensation thing mostly came down to install quality and not the frame material. My old place had cheap vinyl that was leaky as heck, b...
That’s interesting about the install being the real culprit. I’ve seen plenty of “premium” windows underperform just because the flashing or caulking wasn’t done right. You mentioned the darker vinyl warping—did your buddy have those south-facing or just in general? I’ve only run into that with darker colors in direct sun, but I’m curious if it’s more widespread than I thought. Also, for your fiberglass, did you notice any difference in noise reduction compared to the vinyl? Sometimes that gets overlooked but can be a big deal, especially near busy streets.
That’s interesting about the install being the real culprit.
Yeah, the install is definitely a bigger deal than I realized at first. I’ve seen “high-end” windows with cold air just pouring through the trim because someone skimped on the foam or didn’t seal the sill right. About the warping—my buddy’s place had those dark brown vinyl frames facing due south, so they got blasted by the sun all afternoon. He said after a couple summers, some of them started to bow just enough that the locks felt sticky. I haven’t seen that happen with lighter colors though.
For the fiberglass, I actually did notice it seemed quieter—like, when a truck rolls by outside, there’s a bit less rumble. But maybe that’s more about the glass package? Hard to say since both were double-pane but different brands. Did you go triple-pane at all, or just stick with double?
I stuck with double-pane, mostly because of the price jump to triple. Honestly, I was kinda tempted since our street gets noisy, but the sales guy said a lot of the sound blocking is from the glass thickness and spacing, not just the number of panes. Makes sense, I guess? I did go with fiberglass frames though, partly 'cause I’d heard about that warping on dark vinyl too. Haven’t noticed any real drafts or sticky locks so far, even after a couple years. The install crew seemed to know their stuff—spent forever sealing everything up, which I guess paid off.