Casement Windows
All of the big manufacturers offer casement windows in several sizes and materials. Although vinyl requires the least maintenance, many prefer wood since it can be painted to match the trim around the outside of the home. Advantages 1. These Windows provide a fully open window. It has been pointed out to me that most other windows cannot be opened as far. When you open a casement window, you swing the entire window open. Single hung windows only allow the lower half to open. With Double hung windows, only the lower half or the upper half open, but never both. With Sliding windows, only one side of the window can open. The other side is usually fixed. Fixed windows obviously never open. Awning windows open all the way, but they are typically smaller in size than casements. So if the size of the window opening is important to you, you may want to consider casements.
2. Casements Allow You to Catch Side Breezes. If breezes move along your house at an acute angle to the exterior of your home, it's difficult to get any kind of air moving through your house with most windows. But casements have that open sash acting as a flap to funnel breezes into your house. This is an entirely valid point. If you own a house without much space between you and your neighbor, breezes will come in at a sharp angle to your wall. Casement windows will do a fair job of scooping the wind into our house. 3. Casements are Harder to Break Into. Casement locks are hook-shaped, and these hooks are embedded within the frame, making them untouchable. Contrast this with double-hung windows, which are easy to break into by slipping a slim pry bar under the sash and lifting. The sash lock's screws pull right out of the wood.
Casements open like doors. Like doors, either the left or right side is hinged (or, more accurately, pivoted), and the non-hinged side locks securely into place with latches. Unlike a door, the casement window opens not by a knob or handle but by a crank.
Disadvantages 1. Casements Are More Exposed to the Elements. Because these windows open outward, the edges are exposed to sun, rain, snow, etc. The top edge particularly is exposed and gets weatherbeaten fast. It's easy to promise that you will religiously close your windows prior to the rain, but that doesn't always happen. 2. Casement Windows' Mechanical Parts can Break. Most of these windows have some sort of crank which you turn to open and close the sash. Compared to the easy operation of a double-hung window (slide up, slide down) or a slider window (slide left, slide right), a window crank is very complex and prone to breakage. The elements can affect the crank unit as well as the sash. 3. Screens are on the Inside. Because casement sashes open outward, screens must be on the inside. Do you have kids? Do you have dogs or cats who like to stand on hind legs and look out windows? If so, you can already see the problem here. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about casement windows by clicking here.
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