For many homeowners, renovating or building brand new often means juggling between costs and quality. Reducing costs can be done in many creative ways, but sometimes builders get pressured to lower the final costs so much that they invest in short-term solutions. One way to lower the cost of building or upgrading your home is to choose builder-grade windows and doors for your home.

What Does the Term ‘Builder Grade’ Mean?

In construction work, the grades you hear about refer to the quality of the materials and components of structural items. Often, contractors and developers keep their prices competitive by offering the most basic building materials, also known as builder-grade materials. Some common materials that contractors may offer at a builder-grade level include doors, windows and other generic fixtures. While typically more plain looking, builder-grade materials perform their basic function and offer the fantastic advantages of affordability and availability.

3 Different Grades of Windows

If you have a construction project, you will likely hear about these three grades of windows and doors.

• Builder Grade: As mentioned, this grade is the most elementary, offering only the most basic materials and non-customisable sizing.
• Premium Grade: The materials for premium grade products have higher quality (ex.: timber windows and aluminium windows), the craftsmanship is superior, and they might come with additional features such as free installation, warranties, and more varied colour palette.
• Custom Windows: For homeowners with distinct preferences, contractors can also customise your windows based on your preferences. Custom windows can have particular dimensions, shapes, glass types, filters, energy-saving features, or security films.

The Pros and Cons of Builder Grade Windows

All window grades have specific advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your situation, each level of the window offers different options. The following are the pros and cons of builder-grade windows:

Pros of Builder-Grade Windows:

• Made using materials that are readily available
• Are highly affordable
• They look fantastic when new and are easy to replace

Cons of Builder-Grade Windows:

• Have a short lifespan and will need replacement or repairs in 5-10 years
• Limited options for colours, models, shapes, and features
• Use inferior finishes and technology

Builder’s Choice

Overall, builder-grade windows, doors, or fixtures are not necessarily the worst choice you can make. There are circumstances when builder-grade elements can come in handy, such as when you are on a tight budget.

Over time, you can also gradually replace your builder-grade windows with premium or custom products. Better products can be a wiser investment in the long run because they are more efficient for energy-saving, add value to the property, and provide more comfort.

If you’re looking to upgrade your builder-grade windows or simply install new custom windows, Valley Windows is here to help. Our team has decades of experience in the window manufacturing industry, and we are happy to help with all your window needs.  Contact us today for a free consultation!

The post Home Building 101: Builder Grade Windows appeared first on Valley Windows.

As many articles properly sum it up, things like mirrors, bookcases and even floorboards aren’t always what they appear to be. Hidden spaces have been a staple in architecture for centuries, although in former days, they were far more functional. They’ve been used in pretty much every castle, palace and home of a dignitary, forever. In some Egyptian pyramids, they protected burial chambers. These tunnels were an easy way to exit the premises swiftly and without being noticed, especially in castles. They often led to tunnels that would then take the inhabitants of the home to a safer location.

According to this site, “These tunnels usually have hidden or camouflaged doors, some of them can be opened by engaging locking devices, or a code protected mechanism. Camouflaged doors can be hidden behind a painting, a sliding bookcase or can be built into an architectural feature.”

Nowadays, we’re hoping that the above reasons aren’t as necessary as they once were. Rather, secret rooms and passages are used for much more fun reasons. By pressing a bookcase in the right place, you may lead yourself to a secret playroom for your young ones. By lifting a mirror in a certain direction, you may enter a hallway or staircase that gets you to your next destination and surprises all of your household or guests.

Access to cellars is an increasingly popular reason to create these. Instead of dealing with a regular staircase, you can design a trapdoor, that takes up none of your square footage, but still meets all of your needs. When you invest in a design addition like this, it gives you extra motivation to ensure that the space that stairs or a passage lead to, are properly outfitted for all of your needs – be it a wine cellar, gym, she shack or additional media room space.

Now, the question is whether you reveal your secret to those visiting or living with you. Your choice…

Questions? Please let us know, we’d love to hear from you in any way that works the best for you. While the Valley Windows team loves to focus on giving you a better view with our best-in-class windows and doors, our windows shine (well, when you care for them properly), but also when they’re a part of beautiful and fun houses where you thrive and create the best memories possible.

Thank you for stopping by the Valley Windows blog.

* image source: Tower Trip

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Installing a variety of windows and doors, we grow accustomed with pretty much every room in your home. Some are staples – kitchen, bedrooms, social spaces, etc. But what about when you just want to escape, be able to enjoy the outside from inside and just generally have some “you time”. Enter the sunroom.

Sunrooms are a storied piece of the home’s architecture. Historically, they’ve also been called a garden room, patio room, sun porch, three season room or solarium – among many other names. Three season room is the most interesting name to us, we’re guessing that those who call it such aren’t properly insulating the space and have to flee into the home when the weather is at its most cruel.

By definition, it’s a room adjacent to probably your living room, dining room or kitchen on the ground level of your house that thrives on maximum amounts of natural light. They’re frequently constructed from transparent tempered glazing, which sits on top of brick or wood. The brick or wood is called a “knee wall”. Alternatively, you may see examples of sunrooms made completely from either PVC or wood or aluminum – glazed on each side of the space. Now, if your sunroom faces directly into a neighbour’s yard or the street, we recommend that you explore frosted materials, which give you much more privacy.

Okay, you’re thinking… this is all well and good, but what do I actually do with this space. The short answer is – anything you want. The Valley Windows team has most commonly seen them used for reading or napping nooks. There are fewer things better in our opinions than napping in the sun and knowing that you’re still in the confines of your home. On rainier days, a sunroom takes on an entirely different name and purpose… it’s simply a multipurpose room with which you can do absolutely whatever you want.

We just have a couple of recommendations – we wouldn’t promote having major electronics like televisions in a sunroom. The glare will be heavy on sunny days, causing you to draw the drapes, entirely defeating the purpose of the space. We’d also recommend that you’re strategic about the paper or paint colour that you use on the walls, and any art that you’d like to display. For the same reason, it can easily fade.

Questions? Let the Valley Windows team know. We’d love to hear from you.

The post Sunrooms 101 appeared first on Valley Windows.

The Valley Windows team is grateful to bring you a better view and any balcony most likely requires a window or door (or both). It doesn’t matter what the size or shape of it is, balconies are a brilliant way to showcase both. To the above point, we hope that both our brand-new readers and those that faithfully return over and over again know that they can work with us to take a serious and concerted effort at the range of products we have and determine exactly what would work best for you. But, as we always aim to do on the blog, information-sharing is our thing and today, we have some tips about balconies in general:

• First up, think about the size and shape. We mentioned this above. There’s a lot of grandeur in having a giant balcony in the front of your home, overseeing all of your garden, that’s easily accessible by a huge style of door like our aluminum sliding door. We get it, but sometimes a style of balcony or even a style of door like that can overwhelm the existing architectural style of your home. We’d recommend leveraging a style of product like that elsewhere in your home, especially on the ground floor.
• Secondly, think about where the balcony is located. You really don’t want it facing the front of the home, especially if your home isn’t set particularly far back from the street, or into your neighbour’s living room. Instead, take a look at your favourite view from potentially the backyard, knowing that you’ll be able to enjoy it from a different vantage point, and probably enjoy it even more.
• Balconies are easy to add at any point in time. The Valley Windows team is happy to make recommendations for contractors who can help with that. If you find a home, you’re in love with, but know that that’s the one addition that you’d like to think through, don’t let that stop you from signing on the dotted line. Just make sure that you’re factoring in an appropriate nest egg for further down the line (give yourself time to move in) to then embark on a project that’s going to make your home even better.

Interested? Please reach out. The Valley Windows team always wants to help make your home better.

The post Balconies 101 appeared first on Valley Windows.

(Caveat, this is just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to our products. We’re sure that there will be future posts of a similar nature. It’s a rough time when you can’t showcase all of the products that you’re so proud of in one post…)

Timber Sliding Windows – they’re easy, they’re accessible, they’re perfect for those who enjoy a breath of fresh air on a regular basis but don’t need it all of the time. Sliding windows do just that – open and close easily, maintaining sleek style and allowing a quick adjustment, should Mother Nature decide to say hello in a way that surprises users. Here is an example of one of our favourites.

At first glance, a Timber Awning Window may look more like a tilted piece of art or a mirror. They open from the top and – literally – tilt in. While this means that you’re most likely giving up a screen for the purpose of guiding against bugs (unless you get creative… very possible), these can be a fantastic option, especially if you live on a floor higher up in a building. They allow in optimal airflow without blasting you with the heat or the cold. What do these say about your personality? A need for ease, style and low maintenance. We can certainly relate.

Our third for the day is the Timber Casement Window. This option serves double duty if you’re looking to avoid choosing a door that leads out to whatever outdoor space is closest. These windows say a few different things about your personality and we’re fans of all. You like ease – (it’s a theme with Valley Windows products, who wants to make life difficult for you?) – but you also like a little bit of drama. Let’s say that you have a magnificent view right outside of your bedroom or social space. Who doesn’t want to fling open the windows first thing in the morning and seize the day? You can learn more about this product here.

We hope this has made you start thinking about what Valley Windows products your home can’t live without. Give us a call and we’ll make the rest of the process as easy as possible. Stay tuned for far more information about some of our favourites, right here on the Valley Windows site.

The post What Does Your Window Say About Your Personality? appeared first on Valley Windows.

Part of what inspires us on the Valley Windows team is the creativity that we get to integrate into our daily tasks. We look at the products that we design and install and are continuously encouraged that they only evolve and improve over time. This is due to many different reasons. Technology is a constant part of our lives, sustainability is a growing theme, and more and more materials are available to us as we create windows and doors that offer your home a better view.

We also know that there is no finish line in our improvement as professionals, and so we’re constantly trying to finesse what we have to offer you. We know that our windows and doors contribute to increased home value, and we know that they make your home more beautiful.

That brings us to the topic of today’s post. Since we aim to make your home more beautiful, we need to keep a constant needle on what’s going on in the industry. Today, instead of looking backward, we look forward. We’re not just looking at the future of windows and doors, but instead – of homes! We’ll be sharing trends that we see on the horizon in our next few posts. Read on for a few of our favourites to kick things off.

Living off of the grid

Ecocapsules are growing in popularity and offer a solution for those who just want to live in peace and quiet. Whether they’re solar powered, wind powered or leverage batteries, they take you away from it all in a truly sustainable way.

Aluminium homes

We take advantage of aluminium in many of our window and door designs, but did you know that you can build your entire house with this dynamic material? Designers and architects are, around the globe, and the result is a home that’s beautiful and unique.

Tiny homes

Even though historically, we’ve pined for large mansions with rolling lawns, pools and such, many are instead turning to tiny homes. You need to be creative about how you use your space, but there are benefits aplenty, including the option to pick up your home and travel wherever you’d like to go.

Modular homes

Modular homes are also in-fashion, and great for those who want to make shifts to the design of their home over time. They’re designed in pieces that can fit together and be taken apart. If you have a growing family, these are ideal, as you can add more bedrooms at your leisure.

Multi-purpose skyrises

Soon we may be looking at a future where you can work, play, sleep and more – all in one building. With growing populations, many are building up, instead of out. In large urban cities, these buildings may include restaurants, health centres, your apartment and more.

Stay tuned for more innovative ways that the future of homes is changing.

The post The Future of Homes appeared first on Valley Windows.