Which Windows Are Right for Your Home in Livonia, Michigan?

When replacing the windows in your home, choosing the right windows is, of course, the most important decision. In a world with hundreds of choices for windows alone, how do you know which windows are right for your home in Livonia, Michigan?

The right windows will be stylish and well-insulated. They will enhance the attractiveness of your home, match the architectural style, and improve your home’s cozy energy efficiency for greater comfort in summer and winter. They should be sturdy enough to withstand the notorious Michigan seasonal storms, but still easy to open in good weather.

Fortunately, the right windows are easy to find with some careful consideration for your needs and the style you want to create. Our home exterior experts will gladly guide you through the options to find the ideal window selection for your Livonia home.

Window Considerations for Homeowners in Livonia

Here in Michigan, we all share three top priorities when it comes to choosing the best windows for a home. First is weather durability, You need windows that can withstand the winter snows and spring storms for at least a decade, if not much longer. Second, you need energy efficiency in the form of insulation for both summer and winter. Lastly, you are probably looking for windows that either match or enhance your home’s architectural style.

Weather Durability

Windows that are durable in harsh weather are a must. This means your windows need sturdy frames, securely sealed panes, and expert installation. Your windows should have an overlapping design that keeps out the weather and holds the window firmly in place with glass that does not crack in the face of gale-force winds, flying storm debris, or high-piled snow.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficient windows are both well-sealed and insulated. They keep in your AC in the summer and, even more importantly, they keep your home cozy warm in the winter. Insulated windows do not just increase your home’s comfort, they also decrease the energy (and cost) needed to keep your home the right temperature in each season.

Architectural Style

Lastly, each window should either match or even improve your home’s architectural style. Each home design will look best with a few particular styles of window. You can upgrade the look with new windows or perfectly match a home that is already charming and beautiful in your eyes. The good news is that durable and energy-efficient windows are available in every style, so you don’t have to choose from these three priorities. You can meet them all.

Window Frame Materials for Livonia, MI, Homes

What type of material is best for windows in Livonia, Michigan? The material of your window frame determines the sturdiness, insulation quality, and the amount of maintenance needed to keep your windows in good condition. Wood windows are traditional, vinyl windows are rising in popularity, and fiberglass windows are considered top-of-the-line. 

Wood Windows

Wood windows are a charming and traditional choice. Wood is also an excellent insulator as it does not convey much heat or cold through the body of the frame. Wood windows will match a historic house and are easy to paint or stain any color you desire. However, wood windows also require the most maintenance of all window types, and offer the least home security, as they can be cracked or pried.

Wood windows must be properly sealed and protected from the elements, and watching out for water damage around your walls is absolutely essential If you choose wood windows, be sure to add their maintenance to your yearly checklist.

Vinyl Windows

Vinyl windows require the least maintenance and offer fair insulation quality. Vinyl is a sturdy plastic that does not convey much heat or cold. These window frames offer a durable and sturdy installation and can be quite striking in white or beige in your home’s design. However, vinyl window frames also come in a limited range of colors and do not take well to painting. Therefore, they are ideal only if the available vinyl colors and textures suit your design vision.

Fiberglass Windows

Fiberglass windows are a perfect meeting between the artificial advantages of vinyl and the appearance of wood. In fact fiberglass can be textured to match almost any other material and can be painted several times to achieve any look you desire. Fiberglass is a composite of fine glass fibers and a resin matrix which makes these window frames extremely durable and also resistant to temperature changes.

Fiberglass is strong, insulating, and secure, providing the full range of desirable advantages in window frame material.

Strong and Insulated Window Glass Options

What about your window panes? The best glass for Livonia, MI windows is likely to be gass-filled double-paned (or triple-paned) windows. Impact glass is also worth consideration, given our intense storm season and the durability against the weight of heavy piled snow.

Double-Paned and Triple-Paned Glass

Double-paned windows have two layers of glass with a layer of air in between. This is useful because glass is too-good a conductor for temperature. One layer of glass can convey the cold of winter – or the heat of summer – directly into your home. Two layers provide an insulating buffer between the inside and the outside, and the air is a surprisingly good insulator when used this way.

Triple-paned glass, as you might guess, has three panes of glass with two insulating layers of air in between and provides even more protection against temperature transference.

Gas Sealed Insulation

For either double or triple paned windows, the best insulation can be achieved by sealing up the panes and filling the space in between with Argon gas. Argon is a safe noble (very stable) gas that is an excellent insulator. This method also ensures that no moisture gets between the panes, preventing mold and fogging from condensation.

Impact Glass

You might also want to consider impact glass. Impact glass is made by layering dense glass with invisible laminate sheets. The laminate sheets add both insulative quality and durability to the glass, making it more resistant to cracking when hit by debris, accidental baseballs, or attempted intrusion. It also will not shatter if it cracks, because the laminate will safely hold any pieces together.

Window Designs

The next consideration is one of design. There are two ways you can look at window design. One is by choosing windows that delight you and suit your vision no matter what your home’s architectural style may be. With so many modern designs, any window can look beautiful in your home if it blends aesthetically with the existing features, and your delight is what matters most.

There are many different types of window design to choose from.

Bay and Bow Windows

If you love the elegant look of a bay window, you may be dreaming of either a bay window or bow window design. Bay windows typically consist of three windows, one large window and two smaller angled windows on either side. Bow windows are of a similar shape, but typically consist of four to eight equally sized window panels.

Picture Windows

Picture windows are large windows that do not open and typically do not have a grid. They are particularly favored in modern style homes but can be seen in many different home designs. Picture windows offer the best view and the feeling of a wall made of glass.

Window Grids

Window grids can be a part of almost any other window design. They are the squares, lines, or diamonds across the glass pane of a window. Grids were once necessary when windows were made of smaller pieces of glass or more prone to breaking. Now, they are mainly decorative and help to define or match the style of your home.

Dormer Windows

Dormer windows are an architectural choice, as they stick up out of the roof itself creating the small peaked designs along the top floor of a home. Within the dormer can be windows of many different sizes.

Round Window Tops

Some windows have a half-circle round top. These add a certain dash of elegance to your home, and the style is favored in Mediterranean-style houses and the detailed windows of Tudor homes. But you can add them to any home and they often look quite stylish.

Circular and Octagonal Windows

Attic and accent windows are sometimes circular, hexagonal, or octagonal in shape. These are almost never primary windows but can add a bit of charm and light to the accent spaces of your home’s exterior design.

Stained Glass Windows

Stained glass windows are rare but not unheard of in home design. Stained glass is commonly used for upper windows where the colorful light will shine down into the home at the right time of day.

Garden Windows

Garden windows form a small glass box that creates a tiny greenhouse. It is both a shelf that pushes outward from the home exterior and has an angled top glass pane of the box to invite in plenty of sun. They are often used for kitchen windows and are ideal for indoor plants.

Sidelight Windows

Sidelight windows flank the front door – or really any door where you choose to install them. Sidelights add light, visibility, and a more airy design feeling to both your front porch and your foyer on either side of the door.

Clerestory and Transom Windows

Transom windows are rectangular (or sometimes half-circle) windows that are placed above the door. They provide extra light for the foyer and a unique architectural style to the front of the home.

Clerestory windows are horizontal rectangular windows placed near the top of a room. They provide extra light and sometimes serve as an accent above an existing bank of windows. 

Windows by Architectural Style

If you have a Livonia, MI home of a particular architectural style and want your windows to match, we can help with that, too. Here is a quick guide on the types of windows commonly found in each of these popular home architectural styles.

Victorian and Queen Anne Style Homes

• Decorative round-topped windows
• Turret and bow window designs
• French style patio doors
• Single and double hung windows
• Circular accent windows

Tudor Style Homes

• Window grids and exposed timbers align
• Windows in close groups of 2 or 3
• Narrow casement and picture windows
• Dormer windows
• Round-topped transom window

Colonial Style Homes

• Symmetrical windows with small grids
• single and double-hung windows
• Two windows on either side of the door
• Dormer windows, symmetrical around one central dormer
• Decorative shutters

Craftsman Style Homes

• Single-hung and double-hung windows
• Dormer windows
• Windows in groups of two and three
• Upper window grid trim

Cape Cod Style Homes

• Symmetrical dormer windows
• Two windows on either side of the door
• Tight window grid
• Transom over the front door
• Double-hung windows with non-symmetrical sash height

Modern Style Homes

• Large picture windows
• Sidelights, Transoms and Clerestory windows
• Horizontal slider windows
• Moving glass wall systems
• Large glass patio doors

Ranch Style and Split-Level Homes

• Bay windows
• Double-hung windows
• Round-topped dormer windows
• Sliding glass patio doors

Prarie Style Homes

• Geometric window grids
• Large picture windows
• Sidelights and Transoms
• Casement and picture window combinations

Mediterranean and Spanish Style Homes

• Round topped or arched windows and doors
• Turret and bow window designs
• Round circular accent windows
• French swinging patio doors
• Double casement windows

Window Opening Options

Lastly, let’s talk about how your windows will open. This will influence how you enjoy your windows when the weather is nice and how easy the windows will close if the weather changes.

Single and Double Hung Windows

The most traditional and commonly seen type of window is the single-hung window. It slides up from the bottom and slams closed. You can easily fit a screen into the outside of the frame.

Double-hung windows open at both the top and the bottom, for a convenient way to control both light and airflow. But they require more maintenance and insulation.

Casement Windows

Casement windows swing outward from one hinged side. They are typically controlled by a hand crank to open exactly as much as you want without swinging freely.

Awning Windows

Awning windows swing out from the bottom, creating an outward angling piece of glass when opened. The unique thing about awning windows is that they can be open in the rain without letting the water in.

Side Sliding Windows

Side sliding windows, as you might guess, slide open from the side. The track must be well maintained but they can be very convenient. Sliding windows are often used in smaller spaces like bathrooms and for convenient passthroughs to the back patio from the kitchen.

Glass Wall Systems

Glass wall systems are made from large apparently picture windows that have unique opening mechanisms. They are more commonly found in beachside homes and modern architecture styles.

Picture Windows

Lastly, picture windows are large windows that do not open at all.

Discovering the Best Windows for Your Livonia, Michigan Home

If you live in Livonia and are in need of new windows, naturally you want to make the best selection. The answer lies somewhere between form and function, finding windows that are both beautiful and provide the best possible performance for your home. Here at Rocket Exteriors we are home exterior experts can help you find any window design that suits your vision from the highest quality brands, materials, and window pane options to suit the needs of a Michigan home.

From there, we can guarantee expert installation so that your home is energy-efficient and beautiful in just a few days. Contact us to learn more by calling 734-335-1553.