Vinyl or fiberglass for this specific case?
joenorm
| Posted in General Questions on
I am buying a small number of ALL fixed windows for a small outbuilding and am head scratching over vinyl vs fiberglass.
Fiberglass is about 25% more money but I think it’s agreed that it is a more superior material.
But since they are all fixed does FG have any real advantage over vinyl? The vinyl would be painted black, so there is that piece to take into account also.
I am leaning toward fiberglass but wondering if I am wasting money to get no real advantage. Thanks!
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Replies
The main advantage of fiberglass over vinyl (aka PVC or uPVC) is that it expands and contracts at a rate close to that of glass, while PVC expands and contracts much more with changes in temperature, even more so in dark colors. That can lead to seals failing, and on non-welded PVC the window can literally start falling apart. With higher-quality PVC windows that's much less of an issue, and in an outbuilding you may not be worried about performance.