Wood Frames

The traditional window frame material is wood, because of its availability and ease of milling into the complex shapes required to make windows. Wood is favored in many residential applications because of its appearance and traditional place in house design. From a thermal point of view, wood-framed windows perform well with frame U-factors in the range of 0.3 to 0.5 Btu/hr-sq. ft-°F. Wood is not intrinsically the most durable window frame material, because of its susceptibility to rot, but well-built and well-maintained wood windows can have a very long life. Paint protects the exterior surface and allows an easy change in color schemes.