Vinyl frames are made primarily from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This material has many advantages, including being virtually maintenance-free. Not all vinyl window and door frames are the same. There will be differences in the quality of one manufacturer's vinyl compared to another. This is because a vinyl frame is made from a compound—a recipe of sorts—that dictates its performance over time. Each additive to a company's vinyl recipe helps determine the long-term characteristics of the final product, like its weather and impact resistance. For example, titanium dioxide makes the vinyl more heat resistant. At first glance, competing windows may look the same, but there can be key differences in the vinyl recipe used and how vinyl parts are formed to make a window structurally strong and optimize insulation performance.
