windowguy

look at doing lami glass. that will reduce the noise transmission factor

try john culpepper at bsa, or you might also try Tom wilson. Virgina Kellsey is very good as well as leslie davidson.

try colbe design, bsa--talk to john culpepper, murphy mears--talk to kirby mears, king residential---russell king or chris may....if you need more, give me a shout.

Best material is by far clad wood, but it depends on your budget and configurations.

Basic window retro fit is easy, even in a brick veneer. I do it all the time. But, let me ask you this, what product and material are you looking at;....wood, clad wood, vinyl, aluminum?? Also, be very leery of the window departments at home depot and lowes. You basically give them the measurements, they order, and if you are wrong, then you bought windows that either dont fit, dont meet code, etc. Stick with a professional that does windows everyday, will meet you onsite, give architectural suggestions, and hold your hand throughout the process. I do this as my vocation, and would be glad to give you my input.

what area are you building in? I am a subvendor for many custom builders, and i would be glad to give you input as to each one, as well as give you opinions in the field about any ones that i do not deal with.

In answer to your question, If you maintain an all wood window, then the window will hold up no matter what the climate. Regarding maintenance, a vinyl window is more low maintenance than that of a wood window, but the architectural asthetics are very unappealling. For a wood window that is a low maintenance product, Look into an aluminum clad product. This line of products has advanced by leaps and bounds over the past 5 years so as to replicate the details of the profiles of a true wood window. And yes, I am a window expert. I get the pleasure of dealing with this facet of custom construction on daily basis. The older windows that you describe were most likely old growth cypress that were field milled and buit. That is the reason that they have lasted so long. Most manufacturers today, be it Jeld-Wen, Marvin, Kolbe, etc. use #2 yellow pine as the frame and sash. This is a softer wood for 2 reasons, the nature of pine, and that it is new growth. And yes, certain manufacturers will still do a counter balance system that is similar to a weight and pully. Most still use a block and tackle system that is far better than the old compression jambliners you see in some homes. Infact, most have completely concealed this system so all you see is wood. Hope this helps.

I have seen some of Toms work in West University. I am not real impressed with the quality of construction. Given that I am a vendor for custom builders in WU, River Oaks, Tanglewood, Memorial, etc, I see the components that many of the Custom builders use. Tom builds a beautiful house, but the guts of it have some points to be desired. In the Heights area, consider using Gabriel Homes, Allegro, Millennium Companies. There are several others in that area that are also very good. I am available to give advice as to the quality of work if it will help you.