My local lumberyard had a ‘contractor day’ type event today. One of the speakers was a DuPont Tyvek rep. One of their new products is called Attic Wrap. It is a tyvek-type product designed to wrap up the top foot or so of the wall, be notched around the truss tails, and then fastened to the top of the trusses all the way to the ridge. Furring strips are then nailed over the wrap, and the roof sheathing applied to them. It is supposed to create an air-tight attic. Sounds like a good theory, but it sounds ridiculously difficult to apply.
The other product he showed was SIP’s with a layer of Kevlar inside them. It is designed to produce storm-proof rooms inside a house.
There was also an Andersen window rep there. They now have windows with some sort of titanium dioxide coating that when activated by sunlight won’t anything stick to it. Any sort of dust or bugs are supposed to be washed away with the next rain, and it is supposed to dry 99% spot free. They also have new window screens made of micro strands of stainless steel, they are almost completely transparent. He also gave the lowdown on the new Woodright series of replacement insert windows, which I think someone was asking about here not too long ago.
Anyways, this stuff was new to me and I thought it was kind of interesting.
Mike
Replies
The self cleaning windows have been around a few years. The coating was recently invented and it seems just now making its way into name brand windows. When used on large commercial buildings such as skyscrapers it can save big money.
Actually, the self-cleaning windows have been around for DECADES in Europe. Invented by Pilkington (you'll see this name on many car windshields in North America if you read the fine print) from England, I believe. They gave it extensive testing for longevity before bringing it to the NA market.
It's NOT a coating. It's actually incorporated into the exterior pane of glass. Acts as a catalyst in the presence of UV light to a chemical reaction that breaks the molecules in the organic "dirt" into smaller "bits" which don't adhere to the glass and so wash away easily. North facing windows get enough reflected UV light to make it effective.
I'm not sure if it's the result of the self-cleaning feature or not, but my neighbour has Andersens, and my windows show very little distortion of the reflected image when viewed from a distance. The glass is FLAT! I thought he just bought cheaper windows until I saw they were Andersens.
With large overhangs (like I have) that don't get rained under often you just need to hose it off occasionally. No squeegy needed. Like the "self-cleaning" toilets they don't totally eliminate all cleaning really, they eliminate the scrubbing, but minimize the frequency needed to keep them clean.
I have them on my 3-year-old house, and it was one of the final decision-makers when I chose my window brand and type, because only one manufacturer here in my area (Ontario Canada) carrried it as an option (It was also lucky their windows were of high-quality). There are some large high windows (18'+) on my house that would be difficult to reach and clean without a ladder.
I'll report after 3 years that the stuff really works. Once a year I do power wash the windows standing mostly on the ground, but I'm fussy.
The surface is hydrophilic, which is to say that water sticks to it in a sheet, instead of beading up like on conventional glass. This is a bonus to me because our panoramic view of the lake is unobstructed when the glass is being rained on - you can see perfectly well right through the window. It's especially noticeable in contrast to the glass in our sun porch, and one door which are not self-cleaning. Also results in no water marks after it dries.
Doesn't affect the availability of LowE coatings, superspacers, argon fill etc of the window.
We took advantage of an introductory offer, but I believe it adds maybe 10% to the cost of the glass. Arcticcat, roughly how much did it add to the Andersen price? Did they say?
- Brian.
Edited 2/22/2006 1:18 am ET by markls8
Edited 2/22/2006 1:19 am ET by markls8