FRANKLIN, Ohio — New high efficiency windows keep your home warm in the winter, and nice and cool in the summer, but more and more, they are creating big problems for neighbors, due to the reflection of the bright sun.
Homeowners across the country are finding something bizarre outside their house: Their vinyl siding is melting, even in the middle of winter.
Now, in some cases, the plastic mirrors and trim on their car is melting too.
Jenny Stepp showed the warped vinyl siding melting all over one side of her home in Franklin, Ohio.
"It's melting and bubbling up all over," she said.
The reason?
Sunlight is reflecting off the high efficiency windows on her neighbor's home, which then focuses the light like a laser beam on her siding.
But the siding is not her only problem.
Lately, those sun rays have been melting plastic trim on her brand new SUV.
"I just got my car in May of 2023," she said. "So it's from May till now it's been melting."
Stepp showed us how the trim around the mirror of her Chevy Trailblazer is melting and bubbling, just like her home's vinyl siding.
"It's melted it right there," she said
She has a lot of company.
Last fall, Randy and Angela Scarth of Hamilton, Ohio contacted WCPO after vinyl siding on their subdivision home started melting.
"It's almost like a waving action as you look at the entire siding," Randy Scart said.
A home inspector pinpointed a side window on their neighbor's house, which had just been built a year earlier.
"This window, the reflection coming off the window, is basically melting and deteriorating our siding," he said,
And an insurance adjuster gave them a $7,000 estimate to replace it.
What homeowners can do
The National Association of Home Builders has hundreds of complaints of this problem. It says:
- Ask your neighbor to change out to a standard glass window.
- Offer to split the cost with them.
- Offer to pay for a window screen to cover the outside of the glass.
Window installer Bill Patterson says screens are the cheapest fix.
"I think a screen is a really good resolution to the issue and it really does minimize the reflection greatly, but inside the home its not really a big difference," Patterson said.
Jenny Stepp says unless her neighbor adds exterior screens, she'll have to park her Trailblazer on the street, so the mirror doesn't get any worse.
We contacted the company that made and installed her neighbor's windows, but it told us it is not responsible.
That leaves her wondering if it is worth replacing the siding.
"I would like to get it done," Stepp said. "But will I get it done, spend the money, then have it melt again due to an act of God?
The good news is that the melting usually stops once spring and summer arrive, because the sun is too high in the sky to reflect off windows onto a neighboring home.
If you notice siding melting, talk to your neighbor before the problem gets worse.
That way you don't waste your money.
_______________________
"Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").
Follow John:
- Facebook:John Matarese Money
- Instagram: @johnmataresemoney
- Twitter: @JohnMatarese
For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com
