New Windows: Push Out vs Crank Out Casements
April 2, 2018 7:04 PM Subscribe
Can't decide. Deadline is tomorrow. Push out vs crank out casement windows?
We're remodeling our house and replacing all the windows (new windows on the addition). We've settled on Kolbe as the brand but can't decide on the style. Some tradeoffs:
The crank outs come in our preferred product (Vistaluxe) with the cleaner jams and narrower features. The screens have to live on the inside of all the windows. When I play with the crank outs I feel kind of silly turning and turning and turning. I've also heard a few friends complain about the mechanism.
The push outs only come in the Ultra line (not quite as clean) but have the added benefit of including retractable screens - a feature I think would endure as a major benefit over time. The retractable screen component adds kind of a header to the top of the window which is also competing with my desire for a clean look. Here's a video of the mechanism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxGkH8pnPE8
We're remodeling our house and replacing all the windows (new windows on the addition). We've settled on Kolbe as the brand but can't decide on the style. Some tradeoffs:
The crank outs come in our preferred product (Vistaluxe) with the cleaner jams and narrower features. The screens have to live on the inside of all the windows. When I play with the crank outs I feel kind of silly turning and turning and turning. I've also heard a few friends complain about the mechanism.
The push outs only come in the Ultra line (not quite as clean) but have the added benefit of including retractable screens - a feature I think would endure as a major benefit over time. The retractable screen component adds kind of a header to the top of the window which is also competing with my desire for a clean look. Here's a video of the mechanism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxGkH8pnPE8
Those crank-out mechanisms always get sticky and hard to work with after a few years. The handles are never strong enough to stand up to repeated use, and once they start to get wobbly, the problem just gets worse and worse. I hate those things with a fiery passion.
posted by number9dream at 7:51 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by number9dream at 7:51 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The windows in my rental are the crank out style, to my dismay. They are more irritation than they are worth, what with sticking in certain weather, or the cranks getting turned too far so that they seem almost 'stripped'. Best I can figure is the existing hardware might just be old, whereas newer mechanisms work more smoothly? Think long-term, and take the climate in your area into account, as YMMV.
I miss tilt-in windows the most.
posted by Amor Bellator at 8:05 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I miss tilt-in windows the most.
posted by Amor Bellator at 8:05 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
(On review, what number9dream said.)
posted by Amor Bellator at 8:07 PM on April 2, 2018
posted by Amor Bellator at 8:07 PM on April 2, 2018
Best answer: I have crank out windows. I thought it was fine until they all sort of stripped and stopped working within a few months after I moved in.
Picture this. It is a hot summer day. You have opened your second story window. You have to leave town. You are locking up. Suddenly you can't close the window. The crank is turning uselessly on its own axle and the window will not close. You are either going to miss your plane or have to leave town with your window wide open. (And no screen, because those are also shit and broke.) You frantically call a friend to stand on a ladder and try to reach the window with the longest pole you can find (a mop) while you panic and start to throw a basketball at it. Finally the two of you somehow wrangle it closed. Then when you get back from your trip and call the handyman to fix it, you find out this brand of handle is no longer made and it'll be hundreds of dollars to get the piece as you now need a whole new one.
*There is no way I could have made this up. I hate crank windows.
posted by velveeta underground at 8:32 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
Picture this. It is a hot summer day. You have opened your second story window. You have to leave town. You are locking up. Suddenly you can't close the window. The crank is turning uselessly on its own axle and the window will not close. You are either going to miss your plane or have to leave town with your window wide open. (And no screen, because those are also shit and broke.) You frantically call a friend to stand on a ladder and try to reach the window with the longest pole you can find (a mop) while you panic and start to throw a basketball at it. Finally the two of you somehow wrangle it closed. Then when you get back from your trip and call the handyman to fix it, you find out this brand of handle is no longer made and it'll be hundreds of dollars to get the piece as you now need a whole new one.
*There is no way I could have made this up. I hate crank windows.
posted by velveeta underground at 8:32 PM on April 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
I dislike cranked windows. The one major advantage they can have is that if there's a lot of wind, the cranked ones tend to stay open better but that will vary by model.
posted by Candleman at 8:46 PM on April 2, 2018
posted by Candleman at 8:46 PM on April 2, 2018
I have a couple crank casement windows under the eaves that are probably ten years old. I've not had a problem with the cranks although it is much easier to crank them open than closed. The house where I grew up had one over the kitchen sink and likewise never had a problem with the cranks in all those years.
I don't like having them open in strong winds just because I think they could get damaged. I can't put a window air conditioner in a casement window. I can't clean the outside glass like I can clean the double-hung windows in the rest of the house which tilt in from the frame.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:08 AM on April 3, 2018
I don't like having them open in strong winds just because I think they could get damaged. I can't put a window air conditioner in a casement window. I can't clean the outside glass like I can clean the double-hung windows in the rest of the house which tilt in from the frame.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:08 AM on April 3, 2018
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No opinion on push vs. crank though, as my preference is for sliding openings (only because that's what I'm used to), but less mechanical is probably better.
posted by anadem at 7:17 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]