Extruded vs Roll-Form Aluminum: Why it Matters on Windows
CLAD WINDOWS Clad windows simply refers to the different materials “capping” the wood window so that it becomes more durable and less likely to rot. Many window manufactures design a wood interior, clad exterior window. Often times there are interior wood specie options as well as different exterior cladding choices such as vinyl, fiberglass and aluminum. I will be focusing on an aluminum clad exterior in this post. There are a number of aluminum clad wood windows on the market and they are not all created equally. When comparing various manufacturers to one another, it is important to understand the differences in materials and construction that windows are made out of. The aluminum exterior is made in one of two ways: roll form or extruded. HOW THEY ARE MADE ROLL FORM The roll forming process uses a pair of rolls to fabricate the metal. Metal sheets are passed through the rolls several times until the desired shape or profile is achieved. EXTRUDED The extruded alumin...