Video Blog: How the Fibrex® Material Is Made

Every single Renewal by Andersen® window replacement features frames and sashes that combine the best qualities of wood and vinyl window frames: toughness, energy efficiency and sustainability. These frames and sashes consist of our exclusive Fibrex® material, and in the following video, we give you a quick tour on how it’s made. 

Manufacturing Fibrex Material

Our parent company Andersen® Corporation began testing materials to replace then-current materials such as aluminum, wood and vinyl in as early as 1958. Aluminum was rejected early on because it conducts too much heat and corrodes easily. Wood is a good choice because of its durability, though susceptible to the effects of moisture, while vinyl is ideal for its low-maintenance properties, though it’s relatively flimsy. Finally, after decades of research and development, Fibrex was patented and introduced in 1991.

Fibrex material is a composite made of wood fiber and polymer, combining the strength and durability of wood with the low-maintenance benefits of vinyl. Today, we use Fibrex to manufacture our replacement window frames and sashes, from the simplest awning window to the biggest bow and bay window.

The wood fibers are sourced from wood trimmings at our parent company’s wood manufacturing facilities. The wood fibers are then thoroughly dried and molecularly bonded with a polymer, forming an entirely new compound better than the sum of its parts. The compound is then put through an extruder that lets us create window frames and sashes of virtually any shape, size and color.

Features and Benefits

Fibrex retains the strength and durability of wood frames. This lets us build slimmer window frames and sashes that allow more glass, and therefore larger viewing areas. It also retains wood’s insulative properties, which, when combined with our High-Performance™ Low-E4® glass, let us build the most energy-efficient replacement windows on the market.

The same surface also allows deeper relief, resulting in a more realistic wood grain that you can feel. The colors are applied during manufacture and warranted not to flake, rust, blister, peel, crack, pit or corrode. Like vinyl frames, Fibrex material frames do not require repainting and maintenance.

To know more about our Fibrex frame material or how it works on a window style like a sliding window, call Renewal by Andersen® of New Jersey and New York Metro today at (866) 609-5033 or fill out our contact form to schedule a free in-home consultation. We serve Toms River and Jackson, New Jersey.