The PVC frames and Reclaimed Barn Siding are excellent, provided they are produced and built by specialized companies (not from a simple craftsman): specialized companies with no daily quality control and certifications obtained through laboratory tests. Would you ever buy your child a toy from abroad without certification? What security can you give? How long can it last?
The durability of PVC frames is tens of years, but beware. Because to last, the PVC must be of first quality, with modern and innovative profiles and hardware. The glasses must be anti-injury, with a thermal channel and gas. The raceway is the profile that separates the two glass sheets. It does not have to be in aluminum, but in thermal material.
It does not require any maintenance and is very easy to clean. It has an excellent quality to price ratio. The non thermal aluminum channel can cause superficial condensation, as shown in the picture.
Like PVC and Reclaimed Barn Siding, wood is an insulating material and traditionally the most used for building windows. Let’s debunk the biggest false myth that circulates on the wood. Wooden windows do not need much maintenance. Research on paints has made great strides in recent years. The latest generation wooden windows treated with ecological water-based paints are guaranteed from 7 to 15 years depending on the treatment cycle.
What corrodes the paint is the dust which, when wet by the water and dried by the sun, creates particles that have a corrosive effect. To ensure that this does not happen, just keep the window clean and use a specific product that nourishes and revives the paint.
Installation
Everything you have talked about up to now (thermal, acoustic insulation, etc.) has no value and is useless if there is no basic installation work in place. The window without laying is a half-thing. The installation affects 70% on the real performance of a window.
A very high-performance and expensive door frame if laid badly does not really hold anything because the incorrect installation goes to nullify all the certifications obtained from laboratory tests.
It’s like buying a very expensive latest generation hot tub with stratospheric features and functions and having it laid by a plumber that attacks pipes badly. Excellent product + bad installation = no functionality. The expectations you had from the product have been thwarted by a bad installation.
Instead of comparing quotes, you should compare the installation projects. If you want to know what I have in my house, I can tell you that, in addition to the security door, I had wooden windows fitted with an outer aluminum shell.