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| Author: | Chris |
| Subject: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-03 03:51:09 |
Hi all - I have received quotes for windows from two sources, Home Depot and Sears, who sell the Simonton and Alside vinyl windows, respectively. HD quoted me approx $14,600 and Sears $13,600 for twenty windows installed, various sizes, with HD quoting me for their Simonton 6500 series windows and Sears for the Alside Ultramaxx windows. Because you guys seem to have ALOT of experience with this, I'm hoping you can help me out with several questions:
1) Which do you feel is the better overall window?
2) Which company seems to offer the best quality and service in both installation and long-term support?
3) Are there any problems I should be aware of with either window / company when it comes to this kind of work?
Thanks in advance for any help!
| Author: | Dean S |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-04 01:47:00 |
Chris,
The answer is neither. Over $700 each for vinyl windows? You can get a better window cheaper from a smaller company. Read some of the testimonies about Milgard and others on this site.
Or you can spend a little more and get a wood window. I'm sure you could get fiberglass windows for about the same price.
For a different opinion on vinyl, check out Truthseeker's comments on the next page of posts under the thread "Vinyl Windows All Expand and Contract."
Or you could read this article: www.eastrow.org/articles/vinylwindows.html
| Author: | Sherri |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-04 15:04:31 |
I just got a quote from an individual contractor to replace all 24 of my windows with Simonton 5500's (no grids) for $7800 (including my huge paladium window). Most of my windows are big (he said). I think this sounds like a good deal. I live in Atlanta in a 10 year old 2 story brick front home. You might be paying too much.
PS. I am still getting more quotes and need to verify his credetials, but he was referred to me by ReliableRemodeler.com
| Author: | Ken |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Dean S) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-04 21:33:47 |
Dean,
I wouldn't mind wood interior, but I want maintenance free and want to avoid condensation dripping onto the wood that would cause mildew. What do you suggest.
| Author: | steve |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 01:33:34 |
I don't know what area of the country you're in but I got a quote of @ $400 ea. for the sheffield which included install and trimming out. Keep looking. Sears is a rip off on just about any home improvement projects. Sears gave me a quote of $11,000 for a roof job, then dropped it to $8,000. Got the job done for less than $4000.
| Author: | Dean S |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Ken) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 02:06:45 |
I'm biased (I sell Marvin) so I naturally prefer wood windows. Conversely, if I felt vinyl windows were good I'd sell vinyl. That said...
Vinyl windows can be installed very cheaply and that's what some consumers want. If you want them that's fine but don't pretend they're better than wood or fiberglass.
Fiberglass looks much like vinyl but is a much stronger material and expands and contracts as much as the glass. It's more expensive than vinyl.
Wood with an aluminum cladding system is the most expensive option. For some homes the look of wood is essential, for some it doesn't matter.
Condensation occurs because of a)too much humidity in the home or b) air infiltration from bad windows. A good quality new window should eliminate b and you can turn the humidifier down and leave the drapes open most of the time for a.
A maintenance free window doesn't exist. You still have to check the caulk on the outside every few years. Caulk doesn't last forever and when the line breaks water can get in. Aluminum clad windows are as maintenance free on the outside as vinyl.
Maintenance on the inside? Paint them as often as you paint the inside of your home. It's expensive if you hire someone, not too much work if done yourself but I think it's worth it.
| Author: | John Fonage |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Dean S) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 04:14:18 |
That is really high pricing. You can definitely get Alside windows cheaper than from Sears. Same windows. Half the price. The same could most likely be said for Simonton (who also make excellent windows, btw). Find another contractor. Also, you can price your Alside windows out online -- http://www.CraftsmanWindows.com ... the pricing is lower there.
| Author: | Gee |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 06:21:19 |
I believe you are confused. Sears (and Home Depot At Home Services both sell the Simenton made window. The only differences between these two companies windows is the glass pact is 7/8" for HD and 1" for Sears and Sears window has split lift handles verses an integrated lift rail for the HD window. Neither company offers the Ultra Max window. I am a Sears window salesman and I also sold for Home Depot for a short time. Both windows are good but I would beware of two things. HD has had a lot of problems with installs and they will take your mandatory 25% down payment if you cancel after 3 days. Sears doesn't play that crap with their customers. The Ultamax window doesn't stack up very well against the Simenton window in quite a few ways. First of all when you compare the NFRC labels, you will see that the Simenton window gets far better ratings than the Ultra Max. Secondly, the overall fit and finish are not as good. Lastly the Simenton window is a much heavier window with a nicer appearance installed. I would compare these windows side by side and it will be easy for you to see the superiority of the simenton window.
| Author: | Gee |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by steve) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 06:25:34 |
You can always get CHEAPer jobs and quotes my friend. The emphasis here is on cheap. I'm sure there are some people out there that would say you paid too much. BTW Sears doesn't play pricing games. I'm wondering how you got that quote since Sears isn't doing roofing for a very long time.
A sears salesman
| Author: | windowmann2000 |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 14:46:45 |
Two of my most unfavorite places. Sears which usually wants your 1st born and prefers that you finance with them at high interest rates which you have to do because their prices are too high and you need 50yr terms to pay for them, and the giant HD which just does not have the personal service you would get from an established window dealer. Just keep shopping, it's a pain but worth the effort. Alside has a full line of windows ranging from rather shabby to rather nice. My favorite is the Sheffield introduced after they couln'nt get good test result on the Ultra Max with it's pocket style sill and made the same window with a sloped sill.
Simonton is a very good product but again has varying degrees of quality and is available through many outlets, so do a little more shopping and try and find established locals who can give you hopefully much better pricing and personal service.
| Author: | windowmann2000 |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Gee) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 14:51:11 |
Sears sells more than one brand name and most of us know it's not Sears your buying from.
| Author: | steve |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Gee) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-05 16:54:46 |
gee, that quote was 7 years ago and still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. sears was playing the pricing game in that instance. maybe things have changed, maybe they haven't. from the window quote mentioned, it doesn't look like they have. by the way, my roof is great.
| Author: | Gee |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by windowmann2000) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-06 17:47:53 |
I think you should cjeck things out a little more. Sears sells ONLY Simenton Windows marketed under the name of Weather Beater. They sell a Weatherbeater Max (formerly Sears 7000) with LoE/Argon, the same window with clear glass (formally Series 5000) and a Series 2000 window that is marketed in some makets as the Good window. Sears uses Good, Better, and Best in many products. It is no secret that Sears is not a manufacturer. Sears is a retailer. However, Sears attempts to use a high qulaity product at a fair price. Since profit is not a dirty word, Sears tries to stay in business <where many have failed> so it must charge more in order to offer lifetime warranties, show a decent return for stockholders, provide excellent products and services. It is almost ALWAYS easy to find a cheaper price. Allgood (and many others) offer a window for $149 installed. Let me ask you a simple question, do you think you would want that window in your home? I certainly don't think you would. Their (Allgood) PROMAX window is a decent window but it is $500 a pop. I would liken window prices to car prices. You can buy a new Kia for $12,000 and you can buy a Mercedes for over $100,000. They are both cars but why the big difference? They both will get you where you want to go. But try to pull a boat with either of them and you might find that a Ford will do a much better job. Windows, prices, and companies are diverse. I like to think about it like this. The old axiom "you get what you pay for has some merit".
| Author: | wyman |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Gee) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 03:19:03 |
That's hilarious Gee. I had Sears out two months ago. He started at $9,800 for nine windows. He offered me his spring discount (10%), I balked, then he found a few coupons I could use that gave me an additional $750 off, I balked again. Then he offered me his buy it now price which just so happened to be another 10% off. From my understanding, Sears once employed Danny Devito and Richard Dryfuss from the movie "Tin Men". Oh yea. The "VP" from Orlando then called me about a week later to tell me that he had a special deal on a window that they didn't advertize. And I could have that single hung for only $650 each. Sears is a scam from top to bottom
| Author: | Jeff |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Dean S) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 03:26:36 |
So Dean, you'd sell vinyl if they were any good? From your previous posts, it looks like you'd sell your Mother if the price was right.
| Author: | Peter |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 17:12:24 |
Chris, your estimates are high no doubt. But you have left out the critcal part of your quote. How many square feet of glass are you talking about? You see in this forum a range of $25-$30 psf, installed. Second what features are included on the windows?
For what it is woth I looked extensively at Alside and Simonton. You'll find numreous detailled posts under my name in April and May detailing the results of my search.
In a nutshell I went this the Sheffoed purely on the asthetic appearance because all else was relatively equal.
Both company websites provide a link to finding distributors in your area. Call and get three reference from each, its' a good start. Better still see if one of them can bring a sample window of each model when they come out.
And for those interested in the wood trim, look at a sample before you buy. I reminded me of the faux wood trim on an American car from the 70's.
www.simonton.com www.alside.com
| Author: | windowmann2000 |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Gee) |
| Subject: | Sears-simply put a rip off. |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 18:37:23 |
You know Gee you may be right on that--maybe. Sears for years in fact most of them has whored themselves out to independent contractors who bought the Sears name to use when marketing to the public. It wasn't to many years ago a big one filed bankruptsy, maybe it opened Sears eyes but in their webb site they still list a lot of sub-contract info. Over the years they have sold almost every major brand and I'll bet if I keep searching I'll find they srill do.
The big fact still remains they are a rip off with all the false drops etc. You can't defend their in home practices or justify their outrageous prices.
| Author: | Dean S |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Jeff) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 22:06:28 |
Jeff,
Why in the hell would you say something like that? Aside from being a coward for making a drive-by comment over the internet, you are also a no-class moron.
Dean
| Author: | hdguy |
| In Reply To: | Sears-simply put a rip off. (posted by windowmann2000) |
| Subject: | RE: Sears-simply put a rip off. |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-07 22:08:48 |
Gee, check your facts sears does not sell simonton windows in the new jersey market
| Author: | Chris |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-09 19:36:44 |
Thank you everybody for the honest responses; regarding the Sears / Alside issue - yes, Sears does sell Alside windows through their subcontractors in the New Jersey market and yes that was the make of window I was quoted on. I was also shown Alside product brouchures by the sales rep.
I though both quotes were a little high, too. What was interesting was that Home Depot was telling me I had to have tempered glass on about a third of the windows due to their low height, and Sears said I did not. Of course HD added about $1000.00 to my quote as a result of the more expensive glass.
I am replacing 20 windows, many of which are oversized (ie 3'x5') and including a bay window/casement combination. I have not added up the entire square footage yet, but I will.
I was curious about the two companies because I liked the Alside window offered by Sears a little more than the Simonton, but their warranty includes a $75 service call fee after the first year and a prorated warranty on seal failure. The HD person insisted their warranty was "double lifetime", ie the windows would be warranteed for as long as I and the next person own my house, and that there would never be any additional cost for any repairs, breakage, seal failure or otherwise, which is nice from a "never have to worry about 'em" perspective.
| Author: | Chris |
| In Reply To: | Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-09 19:45:02 |
Thank you everybody for the honest responses; regarding the Sears / Alside issue - yes, Sears does sell Alside windows through their subcontractors in the New Jersey market and yes that was the make of window I was quoted on. I was also shown Alside product brouchures by the sales rep.
I though both quotes were a little high, too. What was interesting was that Home Depot was telling me I had to have tempered glass on about a third of the windows due to their low height, and Sears said I did not. Of course HD added about $1000.00 to my quote as a result of the more expensive glass.
I am replacing 20 windows, many of which are oversized (ie 3'x5') and including a bay window/casement combination. I have not added up the entire square footage yet, but I will.
I was curious about the two companies because I liked the Alside window offered by Sears a little more than the Simonton, but their warranty includes a $75 service call fee after the first year and a prorated warranty on seal failure. The HD person insisted their warranty was "double lifetime", ie the windows would be warranteed for as long as I and the next person own my house, and that there would never be any additional cost for any repairs, breakage, seal failure or otherwise, which is nice from a "never have to worry about 'em" perspective.
| Author: | windowmann2000 |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-09 22:41:07 |
If you like the Alside and I hope it's the Sheffield series, it's available from many people in your area probably at some substantial savings. Alside is sold just about everywhere including over the internet. But be very carefull about the dealer and the installation. Their internet sales have got them in trouble before.
| Author: | windowmann2000 |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Gee) |
| Subject: | where's that uninformed Gee |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-09 22:43:49 |
Must be new with Sears, probably quit already.
| Author: | Stacey |
| In Reply To: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx (posted by Chris) |
| Subject: | RE: Home Depot Simonton 6500 vs Sears Alside Ultramaxx |
| Posted At: | 2004-06-15 01:05:38 |
Hi Chris,
I had Home Depot install Simonton 6500s in my house about 3 months ago and so far I am very satisfied. They are definately solid windows and they look great. They also cut down on the noise reduction, which is something they don't tell you. I paid $5400 for 9 windows which I thought wasn't too bad of a price. I would ask about their warranty, I don't believe glass coverage can be transfered over to the new owner if you decide to sell your house. Check the fine print.