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Comment by LarsAlereon | Hacker News Reader

It's true that old-growth wood is stronger and denser than modern wood, but it's absolutely not true that obsolete windows made of old-growth wood are better than modern windows or should be retained in a restoration if not required by code. Wood is a terrible material to make window frames out of, and there's simply nothing you can do to a single-glazed window that makes it comfortable to live with.

We have this thing called "building science" now, you can do better than just copying your grandpa.

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> Wood is a terrible material to make window frames out of

I respectfully disagree. There are certainly downsides, and upsides to modern materials (e.g. UPVC), but there are reasons to still use wood in many situations.

From a practical perspective, wood is easy to work, and easy to repair. You can pretty much indefinitely go setting in new pieces of wood where needed (speaking as the owner of a 105 year old wooden boat, which still has ~60pct original material).

Wood is also clean and easy to dispose of, whereas modern materials provide a real headache and hazard.

And IMO nothing compares to wood from an aesthetic perspective, which is important for living spaces.

> Wood is also clean and easy to dispose of, whereas modern materials provide a real headache and hazard.

Well there is a difference between painted & non-painted wood, as far as eco-impact of their disposal goes. Not to mention various anti-rot treatments like used for fencing poles & the like.

But in general you're correct.

> And IMO nothing compares to wood from an aesthetic perspective, which is important for living spaces.

No argument there. Eg. my sister has a kitchen table that's like a 5..6cm thick massive wooden slab. It has a very different quality, look & feel compared to most of today's "fast-fashion" furniture done in cheap, veneered particle board. One way or the other that table will easily outlast her.

Also: unless you live in a damp environment, wood indoors basically lasts forever. True, for window frames etc there exist more durable options today. But it's mostly a matter of cost, maintenance & aesthetics.

You can pry my wood window frames from my cold dead hands. They're gorgeous. If you want them to be energy efficient as well they're also expensive but easily worth it over the ugly plastic that plagues every new construction.

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