Old post but thought I'd update. We have finally moved into our forever home and on occasions, obviously in winter, we still have crying window (sob). We have the wet windows on the south side of the home which is the shady side so not unexpected but also on the north side where we still get lovely warm winter sunlight streaming in and I still do have all my windows slightly cracked open and it does help. Incidentally I have glass bricks in our bathroom on the south side and there is no condensation on this window at all. Our home has insulation in both the exterior and interior walls and we have double insulation in our roof, so factor 7 unlike the usual factor 3.5 not that it probably has any bearing on the moisture issue. We have a 1.8mtr wide veranda surrounding the entire home so the windows are some what protected from the elements but when the temperature gets fairly low and can be almost zero in winter, it seems impossible to prevent this crying window sindrome but I can live with the fact it is fairly easy and quick to remove with a Karcher window vac now, brilliant little machine at $99 and it only takes a few minutes. We have an exhaust fan in both bathrooms that is vented outside so the moist air does not go into the roof space and in fact even my rangehood ducting is vented outside too!! We even had condensation in the roof cavity as well to the point of having a rainforest up there but since fitting another whirlie into the roof making it three in total now, it appears to have almost entirely eradicated that problem. I can say catagorically now that crying windows are a very difficult problem to eradicate in very cold climates where obviously the inside of the home being heated at night is going to create the perfect conditions for the condensation to settle with the inside being far wamer than the outside and there in lies the problem which canot be changed. I have blinds and curtains that I close ever day before dark but it makes no difference. As I have aluminium windows and doors throughout, so no timber anywhere, it isn't such an issue for damage but annoying none the less but life goes on and I do so love my beautiful new home!!

Beautiful view Jane, gosh you're on the side of a mountain no? Yes if left natural the cedar will weather to grey but to me that looks weathered & dry & possibly not in keeping with your house style. I still like the red door & think the cedar weatherboards look to be in good condition. I would start by painting the gutter & fascia in the graphite, then the pergola as well & lose the cinder if that is the light colour. Funny thing, I live in a pole home too but without your amazing views!

Hi Fiona. Those boards were replaced after initial build (after installing new wider slider), so that’s why they were lighter. It was weathered and needing a clean and recoil there. I took cutek’s (expensive)advice and started with quik clean (loosens dirt which was evidently incorporated into my layers of oil), then followed with pro clean (timber brightener). I scrubbed my butt off and was still not happy with the result. It just didn’t evenly clean it up, and I used fairly concentrated doses, and got down on my knees to scrub, not just a brush on a long stick. I oiled with cutek extreme (instead of cd50). Some more pics, after scrubbing then after oiling (still dark). I did redo my handrail in johnstones deck oil, and it appears to be lasting well, no peeling... but I’m still a bit cautious about risking my deck with this finish (water based over oil). I think I’d prefer dirty weather deck than a peeling finish. Next house I’m only having timber deck if it’s entirely undercover!! Do you have a similar dilemma?

Cost is not necessarily a big issue as some would expect. The cost's may not be that much different, many say it's more but forget to say by how much....... Some 'standard' but exceptional quality aluminium window and door systems are way more expensive than timber. Some other aluminium systems are quite poor in every aspect, apart from the glazing itself. Not really comparing apples with apples as the quality varies considerably and is quite complicated with so many manufacturers all offering various products at various thermal performance levels. Even some well known brands can be quite poor performing..... requiring double glazing where a comparably priced product but better quality only needs single..... Buyer beware! Window systems are becoming more of a priority during design than ever before. I'd shop around and get costings first rather than giving them boot just yet in particular if you really love them. Maintenance is really just painting (every 5 years?) or oiling the timber. Just keeping everything cleaned goes a long way to lowering the workload. Also being brick, that has reduced your workload again allowing some extra time to look after and admire the timber which you'll be looking at everyday when inside or out.