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Contact us today to get started with a free quote!
Contact us today to get started with a free quote!
Some houses need real wood. An older home with original trim, a historic district with review board standards, or simply a homeowner who wants the warmth of wood inside every room. For those homes we install wood windows from Marvin, one of the most respected names in the business. Zags Exteriors is an authorized Marvin dealer, so we order, install, and stand behind Marvin windows and doors directly.
We install wood windows for homeowners throughout Chicagoland, from a few windows in a 1920s bungalow to a whole house on the North Shore.
Wood windows cost more than vinyl, and they ask a little more of you. The interior wood is a real finished surface, so it can show wear over decades the way a hardwood floor does. In exchange you get a window that looks like it belongs in a well built home, with narrow, traditional profiles, real wood you can stain or paint, and hardware and details you can't get in vinyl.
What wood doesn't have to mean anymore is scraping and repainting the outside every few years. Most of the wood windows we install have wood on the inside and a protective cladding on the outside, so the part facing the weather never needs paint.
Wood is usually the right call if:
If none of those apply, a good vinyl window will likely serve you just as well for a lot less. See vinyl replacement windows.
We install two Marvin collections with wood interiors. Both are built to order. The difference is how far you want to customize and what protects the outside.
Marvin Ultimate. The top of the line, for homes where every detail matters, and we install the full collection. Ultimate offers six interior wood species: pine, cherry, white oak, Honduran mahogany, and vertical grain and mixed grain Douglas fir. Interiors come factory stained in seven shades, painted white or black, primed for your own paint, or finished in a custom stain or paint color. Outside, most Ultimate windows are clad in extruded aluminum with a finish Marvin warrants for 20 years against chalking and fading, in 19 standard colors plus custom color matching. For historic work, Ultimate can also be ordered with a real wood exterior.
Marvin Elevate. Real wood inside with a fiberglass exterior, at a lower price than Ultimate. Interiors are pine, left bare for staining or painting, or factory finished in a clear coat, white, or black. The exterior is Marvin’s Ultrex fiberglass, which Marvin rates as eight times stronger than vinyl. Because it expands and contracts at nearly the same rate as glass, it puts less stress on the seals over time, and its acrylic finish is three times thicker than typical painted finishes, so it resists fading, chalking, and peeling even in dark colors. Elevate comes in six exterior colors and covers the most common window styles.
| Ultimate | Elevate | |
|---|---|---|
| Interior | Six wood species | Pine |
| Interior finishes | 7 stains, white, black, primed, or custom | Bare, clear coat, white, or black |
| Exterior | Extruded aluminum cladding, or real wood | Ultrex fiberglass |
| Exterior colors | 19 plus custom matching | 6 |
| Styles | Widest range, including French casements, specialty shapes, and historic wood double hungs | Most common styles and specialty shapes |
| Best for | Historic homes, custom work, high end remodels | Real wood inside at a more approachable price |
Want Marvin quality without any wood at all? Marvin’s Essential collection is fiberglass inside and out, and we install that too.
We install Marvin patio doors to match your new windows, with the same wood interiors, exterior colors, and hardware finishes. Ultimate offers sliding and swinging French doors, and Elevate offers sliding patio, sliding French, and swinging French doors. Doing doors and windows in the same project keeps everything matching inside and out.
Standard glass on both collections is dual pane with a Low E coating and argon gas between the panes. Triple pane glass is available on many Ultimate and Elevate products for extra insulation and sound control, and laminated and other specialty glass is available for noise, privacy, and safety.
Energy performance depends on the exact window, size, and glass you choose, so we don’t quote one number for every window. We’ll give you the whole window U-factor from the NFRC label for each window on your estimate, and if ENERGY STAR certification matters to you, we’ll confirm it for the exact configuration we’re quoting.
Every window project starts with a design consultation, and with wood windows it matters even more. These tend to go into homes with character, and the wrong profile, grille pattern, or finish stands out on a house like that.
Before we talk products, we look at the house as a whole: its age and architecture, the existing trim and casings, the windows you're keeping, and the rest of the exterior. From there we'll recommend:
The right collection and style for each opening. Sometimes that's matching what the house has always had. Sometimes it's a casement or picture window where the old one never made sense.
Wood species and finish. Stained to match existing woodwork, or painted to match the trim.
Exterior color. Chosen to work with the siding, roof, and trim.
Grilles. Simulated divided lite patterns that match the period of the house.
Hardware. Ultimate offers ten hardware finishes, from oil rubbed bronze to satin nickel to matte black, plus designer hardware.
If an HOA or review board has standards for exterior changes, we'll design to those from the start. We bring samples so you're deciding in front of your house, not off a screen.
A lot of the wood window work in Chicagoland happens in older homes: prewar bungalows and two flats in the city, and older colonials and Tudors on the North Shore. These houses usually have original trim worth keeping and window openings that are rarely square.
Marvin makes windows specifically for this work. Ultimate's wood double hung is designed to fit into historic homes, with a narrow checkrail that keeps the traditional look and an all wood exterior when the house or a review board calls for it. And many Ultimate and Elevate windows come in insert versions that fit inside your existing frame, so the original interior and exterior trim can stay.
If your home is in a historic district, the review board will usually want to see product details before approving replacement windows. We'll help you put that package together.
A good window installed badly leaks air and water like a bad one, and wood is less forgiving of water than vinyl. Most of what makes a replacement window perform happens in the hour around the window, not in the window itself.
Insert or full frame, depending on what we find. We do both. An insert install fits the new window inside the existing frame, which keeps your interior and exterior trim in place, goes faster, and costs less. It's the right call when the old frame is solid and square, and it's often the best choice for older homes with trim worth saving. A full frame install takes the window out down to the rough opening. That's what we recommend when the frame is rotted, the opening is out of square, or you want to change the size or style of the window. We'll tell you which one each window needs after we've seen it, and on a lot of houses it's a mix.
Measure, then order to fit. Every window is built to order, so we measure each opening ourselves rather than going off the old window's size.
Check what's under the old window. With the old window out, we look at the sill and framing for rot and water damage. Old wood windows that have leaked for years often hide damage that only shows once they're removed, and we'd rather fix it than cover it.
Insulate, flash, and seal. The gap between the new window and the opening gets insulated, and the exterior gets flashed and sealed so water sheds away from the window instead of into the wall.
Finish and cleanup. We finish the interior trim, haul away the old windows, and clean up before we leave.
Clad and fiberglass exteriors need little more than an occasional rinse. The interior wood is where the care goes, and it's the same care you'd give good woodwork: keep it dry, wipe up condensation in winter, and touch up the finish if it wears. Factory finished interiors arrive ready to go. If you order primed wood to paint yourself, Marvin's warranty requires it to be painted within 90 days of installation, so plan for that.
Windows with real wood exteriors, usually chosen for historic homes, need to be kept painted like any wood trim.
Because we're an authorized Marvin dealer, your windows and doors carry Marvin's full limited warranty, and it transfers to the next owner if you sell. It covers the insulating glass seal for 20 years on most window sizes and the window's parts and hardware for 10 years, and Ultimate's standard aluminum cladding finish is covered for 20 years against chalking and fading. Every Zags installation is also backed by our own five year labor warranty. We'll walk you through exactly what each one covers before any work starts.
For most homes, vinyl is the better buy. It costs less, never needs painting, and with a good glass package it insulates as well as windows that cost far more. Wood makes sense when the house calls for it, and when you want the look and feel only real wood gives you. We’ll price both on your estimate so the decision comes down to real numbers on your house. Compare vinyl replacement windows.
Yes. Zags Exteriors is an authorized Marvin dealer, so we order Marvin windows and doors directly, install them, and your project carries Marvin’s full warranty.
For the right house, yes. If you want real wood inside, are matching existing woodwork, or own an older or historic home, wood windows give you a look and level of detail vinyl can’t. If none of that applies, a good vinyl window usually performs just as well for a lot less, and we’ll price both so you can compare.
Not the way they used to. Most wood windows we install have an aluminum or fiberglass exterior that never needs paint. The interior wood needs the same care as any good woodwork: keep it dry and touch up the finish if it wears. Windows with real wood exteriors, usually chosen for historic homes, need to be kept painted.
Both have real wood interiors. Ultimate is the top of the line, with six wood species, an aluminum clad or real wood exterior, 19 exterior colors plus custom matching, and the widest range of styles. Elevate has a pine interior and a fiberglass exterior in six colors, covers the most common styles, and costs less.
Both protect the wood and never need paint. Aluminum cladding on Ultimate comes in more colors and suits high end and historic work. Elevate’s Ultrex fiberglass is very strong and moves with the glass as temperatures change, which helps the seals last. We’ll show you both during the design consultation.
A well made, well installed wood window with a clad or fiberglass exterior can last for decades. How long depends mostly on keeping water away from the wood, which is why installation and flashing matter so much.
Often, yes. If the existing frames are solid and square, insert windows fit inside them and the interior and exterior trim stays in place. If the frames are rotted or out of square, a full frame replacement is the better choice. We’ll tell you which one each window needs.
Yes. We’ll recommend windows that meet typical historic standards, like Marvin’s wood double hung with an all wood exterior, and help you put together the product details the board needs to review.
Yes. Ultimate interiors come stained in seven shades, painted white or black, primed for your own paint, or in a custom color. Elevate interiors come bare for staining or painting, clear coated, or painted white or black. If you paint primed interiors yourself, plan to do it within 90 days of installation to keep the warranty.
Yes. We install Marvin patio doors to match your windows. Ultimate offers sliding and swinging French doors, and Elevate offers sliding patio, sliding French, and swinging French doors.
Marvin’s limited warranty transfers if you sell. It covers the glass seal for 20 years on most sizes and the window’s parts and hardware for 10 years. Our installation is covered by a five year labor warranty.
Yes, we offer financing on window replacement projects.
