Looking for honest opinions for Austin, TX replacement

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sergu
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:17 pm

Looking for honest opinions for Austin, TX replacement

#1 Post by sergu »

Hi all,

I almost signed a contract for changing all of our builder grade windows with vinyl when my friend caused me having some doubts about it. Our problem is this: Most of our windows are on the south side of the house and there are no shading trees there. Furthermore, we have a dark colored deck which makes that side of the house unbearably hot when having 14 hours of const Texas sun in summer. The finish on the door handle on that side, which has life time warranty, lasts only two years.

And a quick web search shows videos and pictures of sagging vinyl windows, one installer in Houston claims he gets constant calls about sagging vinyl windows (which he did not install!). Another thing my friend's builder friend told me that when this happens, manufacturer or installer of the window are reluctant to do anything since the envoironment caused the issue, not because of the manufacturer's defect.

If I ask this question to the windows installer, I know what they will say :-). So I am looking for honest opinions here. Given our situation, would you:

1-Pay a few thousands more and go with aluminum windows?
2-If vinyl is okay, which brands would you reccommend for Austin, TX? Are those brands as expensive as aluminum?
3-Will even the most expensive vinyl windows sag eventually? Note that our builder grade aluminum windows has not sagged for 20+ years.

Thanks,

Bruce

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Windows on Washington
Posts: 5311
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Looking for honest opinions for Austin, TX replacement

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Can vinyl be made to live in Texas...yes. It must be a quality product and the darker the color, the higher the surface temperature and closer to the deformation temperature.

Have you looked at the Don Young product? That typically comes in close to the vinyl pricing.

Every window contractor in Texas is going to have example of sagging windows because most of the new construction products are throw aways. We have sagging windows up here and they were installed by nationally known window vendors, but when they use a garbage product, they don't hold up.

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