My wife and I are interested in replacing the wood shakes on our 50 year old Cape Cod with vinyl siding. At the same time, we'll also be updating 11 old single-pane windows.
From what I understand, one of the main benefits of using replacement windows is that they can be installed from inside the home, and don't require removing exterior siding - as a new construction window would. However, since that's not an issue - is this even a concern? (I've also read that if you use a replacement window, you lose a bit of overall glass surface, which I'd prefer not to do, if that's true).
We'd like to keep the interior window trim, so I don't know if this factors into the decision one way or another.
Would new construction or replacement windows be better for our situation?