Replacement Windows Redefined

Builders and homeowners might feel they have to choose between new wood windows that look beautiful and replacement windows that can be easily installed. JELD-WEN has a product line that lets them have both.

JELD-WEN has expanded its premium Siteline collection of wood and wood-clad windows with two new products: the Pocket and the Sash Pack. Both offerings allow homeowners to upgrade their windows’ thermal and acoustic performance, while keeping their existing window frames in place. And that means less labor and less expense. “It’s a more cost-effective way of replacing windows,” says Jeff Kohler, business development manager, JELD-WEN.

With the Siteline Pocket and Sash Pack, JELD-WEN delivers an enhanced experience on two fronts. “We’ve improved both the aesthetic and the ease of use,” Kohler says.

On the aesthetic side, JELD-WEN has overcome a common drawback with vinyl jamb liners (the vertical tracks where the window sashes slide up and down): The jamb liners typically come in only white or beige, since other vinyl colors degrade in the sunlight and heat. So if the window frames aren’t white or beige, the jamb liners don’t match.

JELD-WEN solves that problem by covering the jamb liners’ interior with a wood veneer and their exterior with aluminum capping. Both materials can match the frames’ color. “That’s a very big advantage of the Siteline Pocket and Sash Pack,” Kohler says.

The Pocket and Sash Pack offering also conceals the fasteners that connect the jamb liners to the sashes. Other products leave them exposed, revealing screw holes and caps.

In addition to improving the way the windows look, JELD-WEN has improved the way they work. Standard replacement windows have compression jamb liners: The sashes compress against the jamb liners to create a weather-tight seal. But that compression also makes it harder for homeowners to tilt double-hung windows inward to clean them. The Siteline Pocket and Sash Pack replacement windows have non-compression jamb liners, so the sashes can lean in much more easily.

“Homeowners don’t want to fight their windows. If it’s that difficult to tilt, they won’t do it and they won’t wash the outsides,” Kohler says. “Operationally, the Siteline Pocket and Sash Pack compression jamb liners are head and shoulders above others.”

Plus, all Siteline products are made with AuraLast pine, a water-treated, vacuum-pressured wood that guards against rot, saturation, and termites. And Siteline provides thicker-than-normal aluminum cladding for the windows’ exterior.

The newest Siteline products, Pocket and Sash Pack, satisfy two different needs. The Sash Pack, including the top and bottom window sashes and vinyl jamb liners, fits into squared window frames. The Pocket can go into frames that aren’t square—because it comes with its own frame for its sashes and jamb liners. The Pocket frame reduces the amount of glass only by about 1 inch in width and height.

“With these windows,” Kohler says, “JELD-WEN has improved on what was out there in the marketplace.”