Better Style on a Budget
Homeowners want windows and doors that deliver value and style

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. January 11, 2006 —

For many homeowners, the desire to renovate is often tempered by the dreaded “B” word: budget. When resources are limited, homeowners need a guide for their decision making. They need to know what’s the best investment and why.

The value proposition of home-improvement projects involves several key factors: labor, purchase price of building materials, cost of operation and maintenance over time, and potential return on investment when a home is sold.

“Beyond these dollars-and-cents considerations, homeowners today want to install stylish products that will look great for years to come, even if their budgets are small,” said Brian Hedlund, product marketing manager for JELD-WEN^® windows. “Window and door replacements are some of the most popular renovation projects because they score so well on both value and style.”

Windows and doors are responsible for regulating energy costs, bringing in light, and creating a comfortable environment in the home.  Because of all these factors, window and door upgrades offer a potential return on investment ranging from 84 to 106 percent, according to real estate experts. That’s on par with a kitchen or bathroom remodel.

JELD-WEN helps homeowners determine what fixtures will fit in their budgets and add a touch of lasting style. So which windows and doors offer the biggest payoffs?

Classic Look that Lasts

Consumer spending on window replacements nears $4 billion annually, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In residential remodeling, vinyl products represent more than half the replacement windows in the United States because of this material’s many benefits. It is strong enough to resist wind, wet weather and insects, and adds style to the home. Energy efficient vinyl windows also pay off over the long run. Those who replace single-pane glass windows with ENERGY STAR^® qualified products can save $125 to $340 on energy costs annually, the U.S. Department of Energy found.

In addition to offering long-term value with durable materials and energy efficient options, JELD-WEN^® Premium Vinyl windows are an excellent choice for style as well.  These windows offer simulated divided lites (SDL) typically found only in wood windows. Another option is “equal sight lines.” This means that each section of the window has equal amounts of glass and is proportionally correct, providing a clean, architecturally accurate look that is common to top-of-the-line wood windows.

JELD-WEN is also taking vinyl windows beyond the standard white or almond color scheme with the addition of a new color option, Desert Sand. With the style of more expensive wood windows, energy efficient options and an industry-leading lifetime warranty, JELD-WEN Premium Vinyl windows win on value and style, hands down.

Attractive Alternative to Wood

Americans spend about $1.4 billion on door replacements each year, the U.S. Census Bureau found. Meanwhile, leading experts from Wall Street Journal home editors to product specifiers are recommending entry doors made out of alternatives to wood when homeowners decide to upgrade the front entryway.

“While there will always be homeowners who select genuine wood doors for their richness and warmth, the damaging effects of weather and the demand for a low-maintenance alternative have motivated us to create composite doors that are just as beautiful,” said John Monfore, JELD-WEN product marketing manager.

Thanks to an innovative manufacturing process adapted from the automotive industry, JELD-WEN^® Premium Fiberglass doors offer a more realistic woodgrain appearance and twice the fiberglass content of competitors in this category. This results in a stylish, yet incredibly strong, door that is energy efficient and won’t bend, warp or fade in the face of extreme weather conditions. Combined with low maintenance requirements, Premium Fiberglass doors are an attractive alternative to wood.

Affordable Style for Interior Doors

Home decor, both inside and out, is increasingly viewed as a bricks-and-mortar manifestation of the owner’s personality. In a recent Yankelovich study, 64 percent of respondents said you can tell someone’s personality by what his or her house looks like.

JELD-WEN offers homeowners a new way to personalize spaces using interior doors. With JELD-WEN^® Interior Custom Carved MDF doors, the entrance to each room becomes a blank canvas for expressing oneself.

Reasonably priced, this is the perfect door for a child’s room, game room, exercise room or other special sanctuary within the home. Each door is carved to the customer’s specifications and can be preprimed or left to the homeowner to personalize with coordinating colors.

Bringing affordable bungalow style to the interior of the home is easy with JELD-WEN^® Molded Fiber Interior doors. The new Rockport™ door is the industry’s first five-panel molded door, created for homeowners who want to incorporate authentic old-style charm without the cost of a solid wood door.

Interior five-panel doors were common among architectural styles popular in the 1920s and 1930s, including Colonial and bungalow homes. Now homeowners can incorporate the designs of this era along with the high-tech benefits of ProCore The Quiet Door^®. ProCore is an option for

JELD-WEN interior doors that makes them up to 50 percent quieter than hollow interior doors.

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