A Complete Guide to Window Capping

A home renovation project comes with details; the finish details are crucial to bring the project to completion. What that entails is garage door capping and window capping to make the job complete. Cladding is an extremely popular solution to the finish aspects of your home renovation projects. The best material you can use is aluminum as it confers many advantages for your home. Garage door aluminum capping and window aluminum capping will last forever as it stands the test of time and will not buckle when exposed to the elements. Let’s take a look at what cladding is and how it will be beneficial when installed in your home.

What Is Window Capping?

Simply put, window capping or cladding is a material – generally vinyl or aluminum covering a wood frame of the window. When added to the window, it protects the wood from exposure to the elements, ensuring the window will last for many years. When added, the cladding covers the wood outside, and inside the home, the wood is exposed for a subtle design feature for your home’s interior.

What Are the Advantages of Window Capping Or Cladding?

There are significant reasons why a homeowner should clad or cap their home’s windows, and the investment in capping pays dividends for years to come.

Maintenance Costs Are Reduced.

Wooden windows require regular maintenance, that is a fact. When you install capping or cladding, you can avoid costly updates. Painting and or staining that you would typically engage in with wooden windows is eliminated, and you don’t have to re-seal the windows either when capping wooden windows.

Aesthetic Value

When you decide to take the plunge and install cladding, one thing comes to the forefront of the project. You can have the capping match your home’s exterior colour scheme and design. If you have brickwork for the outer cover or siding, it can be matched. When installed, the cladding is already colour coordinated, and there is no extra work painting or staining the cladding.

Insulation

We hear a great deal about energy conservation and how it helps reduce greenhouse gases and carbon footprints. The simple act of cladding your windows increases the insulation value that the windows provide.

Energy-Efficient Windows Save Money.

In conjunction with cladding comes a benefit that most homeowners aren’t aware of. The financial savings that cladding provides is a surprise. Once you have installed cladding, you have eliminated drafts and warm and cool air loss. In turn, your fuel consumption is reduced, as is your HVAC use. That translates into cost savings on utility bills and HVAC maintenance. Remember, too, that the energy savings will be there year after year, defraying the cladding cost to the point where it is putting money back in your pocket.

Cladding Is Weather Resistant.

Your windows take a beating when the wind howls, and the rain pelts them when it comes down sideways. When you have cladding installed, the cladding will stop any water penetration from piercing your home and soaking the wood frame.

Structural Protection

You can protect the window opening when installing cladding on the top of the frame or the lower exterior. Keeping water out is the primary purpose for cladding, and the wood rot that causes frame damage is limited to virtually nothing.

Visual Presentation

Cladding can be manufactured to look like any surface under the sun. If you want your cladding to have the appearance of natural wood to improve the curb appeal of your home, you can buy cladding that looks like wood. Or any other appearance that you have in mind; cladding can be designed with your taste in mind.

What Are the Different Types of Capping?

Capping can come in various forms, and each comes with advantages. When you evaluate the different materials, durability is one consideration, as is the insulation factor and appearance when you are making a decision.

Extruded Aluminum

The thickness of extruded aluminum is where this type of capping shines. It is an eighth of an inch thick, and that makes it more durable due to the strength it provides as a capping alternative. Dents, scratches, and other damage that other capping choices will sustain don’t affect aluminum. Aluminum will hold its lustre for many years after it has been installed and provides excellent value for the money spent installing it.

When aluminum is finished, it is painted with a special type of paint called Kynar. Kynar is impervious to UV rays as it doesn’t fade, and the chalking problem that other capping endures doesn’t affect aluminum.

If you are installing round top windows, bay or bow type windows, aluminum is highly compatible and cost-effective. One drawback is that aluminum isn’t the best insulator that other capping materials are when they are installed.

Vinyl

Popularity is what drives the interest in vinyl cladding for several reasons. First, vinyl will assure energy efficiency when they are installed. Then, when you evaluate the life span of vinyl, know that they will last for at least two decades, and the third thing to keep in mind is that vinyl is an easy surface to maintain.

Quality is essential when considering vinyl cladding, and you need to do your homework before making any purchases of vinyl cladding. If you seek an economical vinyl solution, you could see your cladding chalk or become warped throughout the cladding life. These problems can be damaging for your home’s windows, and the visual appeal will fall correspondingly.

Fibreglass

When hot air or cold air hits your windows, they expand or contract according to the weather. When you added composite fibreglass cladding as your choice for capping, be aware that it works on the same scale as the glass windows when heated or cooled. Working in concert with the glass, you can count on a h3, weather-tight seal. The drawback here is that fibreglass doesn’t work well with specialty windows.

Aluminum, Roll Form

This solution is the least expensive of the cladding family of capping. It is thinner in gauge than the top-of-the-line aluminum cladding. Certainly, it is a short-term solution, but it chalks, and the finish will fade over time due to lesser quality paint used in the finishing process.

What Should I Know About Aluminum and Vinyl?

Vinyl as a finish for window capping requires limited interaction from a home maintenance perspective. As mentioned above, the properties involved in creating vinyl will provide a robust, long-lasting solution for your capping problems. You don’t paint or stain the windows; the most you may have to do is wash the cladding down periodically to bring the colour backs to its original lustre and renew the windows’ charm.

Comparing Clad & Non-Cladding Windows

When you look at non-cladding windows, they are what the industry uses – bar none. The benefits that accrue from this selection are weather resistance first and foremost. The safety factor they provide a homeowner gives peace of mind when protection from the elements is imperative. When you review the financial incentive that comes with installing non-cladded windows, you will be surprised just how affordable they are compared to other options. Cladded windows, on the other hand, offer the appearance and feel of natural wood inside your home and excellent weatherproofing on the exterior of your home. Cladded windows add charm and elegance and are a traditional choice for homeowners who see their homes in that light.

Tips to Bend Aluminum Trim Around a Window

The Trim Purchase

When you need to bend metal, it helps if you can obtain a pliable metal, like aluminum. The trim is added to cover the corners of the window. The standard rule of thumb is to measure twice, cut once, and buy a bit extra aluminum just in case a mistake is made.

Using A Capping Machine

It starts with marking the aluminum that requires bending; once the dimensions have been established, the end to be cut is inserted into the capping machine. It would help if you scored the metal for an efficient cut – use the machine to get the desired bend. This is the initial stage to begin the bending process that will require angles to be developed for the circumference of the window.

Guide Use

The scoring must be visible and when you begin, start with the slightest bend for the window.  Guides and stops will direct the work done, creating an even cut on both sides of the aluminum. If additional bends are required, dry-fit the piece of aluminum to ensure that each fits the window’s coordinates.

Break the Trim

The trim break is akin to the measuring process; measure twice, break once to ensure diametric accuracy. When breaking trim, use the scoring technique that is used when bending.

Painting Window Trim

1. Scrape away peeling paint
2. Take out the old caulking
3. Clean the trim
4. Sand the trim to smooth surface
5. Apply new caulking to the seams
6. Paint the trim – you may need to apply a coat of primer before adding a coat of exterior gloss specifically for the material you are painting.

You can create the desired appearance when you take the steps outlined above.

Don’t Attempt DIY For Window Capping.

Window capping is work for a professional contractor, and if you have no experience in the field – as they say on TV, “Kids don’t try this at home.” When you shop around for a contractor, look for a specialist in capping with years of experience adding cladding to windows.

Get Quick & Reliable Window Capping Services with Us

At Integrity Roofers, we are specialists when it comes to window capping, and our services are excellent. Capping your windows adds protection to your home, and you can’t discount the value that capping provides.

When you reach out to our company, we will provide the best-in-class support that identifies your problem immediately. Once we have been contracted to work at your home, we will complete a thorough inspection to develop a body of digital evidence for a homeowner’s review. From there, we will have recommendations to solve the problems with homeowner approval.

After the work, we will have a warranty to protect the homeowner for years. The first warranty we provide comes from the manufacturer.  A pro-rated warranty will cover specific aspects of the product installed. The warranty varies based on which manufacturer you choose. The non-prorated warranty covers everything that is involved in the job. As the contractor of record, we at Integrity Roofers offer a workmanship warranty to protect our labour in the field. For more information about our labour warranty, contact us to discuss your situation and provide the necessary information.

We are the only solution in the Greater Toronto Area at Integrity Roofers for all of your roofing and capping needs. We have the expertise and experience to bring your roofing or capping project to an outstanding conclusion, and we aren’t happy until you are. Call our office today at Integrity Roofers to discuss your home improvement project at 647.953.9365.