Window Shopping – Renewal By Andersen Takes The Pain Out Of Pane Shopping

It might start subtly.  It might start with a wooden stile grinding against a wooden casing as a wooden sash rises.  It might start with a ghost-like chill inspired by passage, or a ghost-like fog benighting the palisade–the colder and the wetter the outside, the bigger the haunting.  

It might start even more subtly than that.  It might start with the mildly-frustrated perception of not-light or not-breeze.  It might start with a vague longing for the beauty, nearby but invisible, eclipsed by unforgiving drywall and studded lumber.  

It might start with something not just subtle, but abstract.  It might start with a desire to increase value, to boost the curb appeal of the investment which sprawls all around.

Whether it’s a warping of frames or a leaky pane or a failed seal or claustrophobic tendencies or abject voyeurism or broad beamed love-it-or-list-it-ness–however it starts, each of these considerations might serve as the impetus for the acquisition of new windows, and your pals at Lavender Magazine can offer a recommendation.  

Founded in 1995, Renewal by Andersen of the Greater Twin Cities is, according it its website, “proud to serve the window, patio door, and entry door needs from the metro area to Saint Cloud and Brainerd.”  Renewal by Andersen is the full-service window replacement division of Andersen Corporation, an international window and door manufacturing company whose roots stretch back to the Roosevelt Administration…the Theodore Roosevelt Administration, that is.  Founded by Hans Jacob Andersen (no relation to Hans Christian), Andersen Corporation currently employs more than 13,000 people at more than thirty manufacturing facilities, logistical centers, and company-owned retail locations.

“Whether you’re in your starter home or your forever home, we have solutions to preserve and improve your house and its resale potential,” Renewal by Andersen’s web page continues.  “Our hassle-free Signature Service process also creates peace of mind in the quality of your new windows, freeing you up to work on the home improvement projects most important to you.”

The Signature Service begins with a free assessment wherein design consultants meet the prospective client, offering suggestions but also indulging in the lost of art of Listening, a back-and-forth, to-and-fro exchange of ideas meant to improve the overall quality of the house.  

The most obvious consideration, where windows are concerned is the lookee-thru part, scientifically known as Clearcarbonis Minimus and known within the trade as, ahem, “glass.”  Thanks to Minnesota’s theater of seasons, a buyer must consider how a window’s glass will respond to heat and its lack, as well as visible light transmittance and an ozone-layer-like ultraviolet light protection to help reduce fading.  

As the Renewal by Andersen web page puts it, “With customers across the nation and a glass solution for every climate, our windows take advantage of the newest technologies to help lower energy costs and keep your family comfortable.”  

Popular replacement window styles include awning windows (“easy to open, great for hard-to-reach areas”), bay windows (“make any room a masterpiece”), casement windows (“our most energy-efficient, ventilating window style”), double-hung windows (“a traditional look with a wide range of design options”), picture and combination windows (“the ideal solution for showcasing a beautiful view”), sliding windows (“maximize your view”), and specialty windows (“styles include round, arch, circle, circle top, pentagon, arched, and more”).  

These windows are framed in a proper proprietary product that Andersen has designed, developed, and implemented, a product called Fibrex® material.   Although it might sound like the newest member of a mutant super-hero group, Fibrex material is actually a composite material of thermoplastic polymer and wood fiber  “It’s the best material for our application.”  In other words, Fibrex material offers the elegance, strength, and stability of wood (which can be difficult to maintain), with the low-maintenance features of vinyl (which can lack elegance, strength, and stability).

That’s no idle boast:  after rigorous scientific testing, Fibrex material has proven resistant to cold, corrosion, decay, heat*, and generally-inclement weather.  It enjoys a unique durability, as well as a singular rigidity.  Renewal by Andersen windows made with Fibrex material come in various colors, foregoing the many trials and tribulations to which pane-painting is heir.  These features combined offer maximum glass area because, y’know, a window with a minimum glass area is either a wall or a wind.  

Once all of that theory is settled, practice asserts itself as project technicians “ensure accuracy and answer any last time minute questions before sending in the order for your fully customized windows.”  That is to say, the windows are actually dovetailed into the human nest by a crew of master installers.  Renewal by Andersen is rare in that it both manufactures windows and installs them.   

But the completion of the window placement isn’t the end of the buyer/seller relationship; rather, it’s the beginning.  As promised on the Renewal by Andersen web page, “A robust limited warranty is backed by a commitment to making sure your windows function as expected.”  The warranty includes the window, of course…but also the installation. 

Whether it’s the warping of frames or a leaky pane or a failed seal or claustrophobic tendencies or abject voyeurism or broad beamed love-it-or-list-it-ness that creates the need for a new windows, the window widows of the world can rely on Renewal By Andersen.  As they invite on their website, “Schedule a free in-home window consultation with our window design experts or visit one of our showrooms.”

https://www.renewalbyandersen.com/

“Fibrex” is a registered trademark of Andersen Corporation.