Materials Matter: Marvin Brand Windows
One of the most important materials in your home isn’t something you look at so much as you look through.
Your home’s windows serve more purposes than just providing a nice view: natural light, ventilation, egress, aesthetics. They are the ultimate in form meets function. Ideally they look good and work well, but when you’re renovating an older home, windows can become a challenge.
In many older homes, we work to retain the original wood windows. These windows are often a focal point of the room and a defining feature of a home’s exterior. But when we encounter extensive rot on 100 year old wood sashes or delaminating cladding on 40 year old windows, restoring those windows isn’t always an option.
When we started a massive whole-home renovation and addition for a treetop home in Mooreland Farms, we knew the windows were top priority. Built in 1985, many of the home’s original windows were failing, with broken sashes, broken hardware, previously repaired glass and some windows that simply would not open or close anymore. With these existing functionality and efficiency issues in mind, the homeowners made the decision to replace all of the original windows and doors and wanted these replacement windows and the new construction windows in the addition to be a seamless match.
Although the existing windows were a defining feature of the home, their functionality was deteriorating, and renovations inside the home would require some changes to the original window locations.
New windows were installed in the same style, and some changes were made to their configurations to work with new layouts inside.
Although we replaced the windows throughout the house, the style of the new windows remained consistent with the original casement, sliders and french doors. The views in every direction throughout the house of the wooded lot were one of the home’s biggest assets, so designing, specifying and installing new windows and doors were a top priority. To do this, we used one of our preferred materials: Marvin brand windows.
A view of the new windows from inside the treetop kitchen
We work with Marvin windows frequently because they have a consistent, reliable range of product offerings at different price points. Their mid-range products, including their doors, have a great reputation for quality, energy efficiency, and longevity. In addition to those features, their higher-end products also have a wide range of customizable options such as interior and exterior wood species, finishes and custom door hardware. We’ve even mixed and matched products from different Marvin lines in a single home when unusual shapes or sizes required it, and still maintained a seamless look throughout the project. Finally, their customer service has been great whenever we’ve needed adjustments or when hardware issues have come up after installation, and for all of these reasons, they’ve become a go-to brand for many of our projects.
New casement windows in the home’s addition were selected to match the original windows style and proportions.
For this home in particular, natural light and a connection to the outdoors were top priority. The new window and door products transformed a home that had a great view of nature to a cozy, light-filled home that has great access to nature.
The new windows were a match for the original (faded) black casement windows, and add a bold, modern pop against the new siding color and granite cladding.
During remodels like this one, natural light and views are always a high priority for both our clients and our design team. We’re often shaping and reorienting rooms to make the most of light and views. In this kitchen, we’ve re-oriented the workspace entirely - washing dishes at a kitchen sink that overlooks a backyard is an entirely different experience than doing the same chore in front of a wall of cabinets.
