A bit of a rant and some questions

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OCMan
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Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:57 pm

A bit of a rant and some questions

#1 Post by OCMan »

As for the rant:

Selecting and comparing windows, determining what is best or better is incredibly difficult. This is especially true when the salesmen become involved. Of course, they all claim theirs is the best and hype whatever feature they think makes them stand out. And if they don’t know the answer they all fall back on “this is an Energy Star window.”

When you do your research and end up learning the installation can vary widely in quality and is equally important it becomes even more difficult.

The manufacturers Web sites for the most part are beyond awful. Some are clearly set up to only entice you and get a salesman to your house. Few provide all the info necessary for window-to-window comparisons.

Our house was built in 85/86. It has 15 Andersen Slimline windows. Several have lost the gas, others the exterior glass has etched as a result of the aluminum screens and nearly all have a great amount of air infiltration. I would have expected Andersen windows to have a longer life. I will also add that at this point in my life I have no desire to climb ladders to clean the second floor windows.

We live in northwestern Pennsylvania where it can get darn cold and windy. For the record, our region is in plant hardiness Zone 5 and of course is in he Northern Zone for Energy Star windows and doors.

I started out getting a quote from a local contractor (not a window specialist) who is meticulous and has done work for us before. He recommended the best double pane Vinyl Window Designs window, which is what he quoted: $12,455.

WindowWorld provided a quote of $12,695 using an Alside Mezzo window.

Home Depot on a Simonton 6500 Vantage Point window was pennies shy of $16K .

WindowUniverse using a Revere (now owned by the same company as Alside) Berkshire Elite quoted $8,745. This is all done online. The company claims window sizes really don’t matter and that the window installation is by manufacturer crews. I’m not certain if I buy that.

All the window quote include Energy Star Low E and Argon filled glass, foam filled frames, two tempered sashes (per code), wood laminate interiors, night latches, simulated divided light grills between the glass panes, and full screens.

Since my local contractor could not get to the project this past fall as promised. I began to do more research and got the additional quotes from WU and Home Depot. My research led me to believe that there are probably better windows than those I had quoted; perhaps Okna 600 series or something by Soft-Lite. Unfortunately, neither apparently have distributors or dealers in my region. (Okna has a terrible Web sites for consumer use.)

So, my core questions:

1) Are the windows I’ve been quoted better quality windows?
2) Of those quoted, is any significantly better than the others?
3) Would the Okna or Soft-Lite or any others be much better, and if so how to do I access them without a regional distributor or dealer? Are there alternatives to them?

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Windows on Washington
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Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

1. Do your research. You are in the right place.
2. Sales people can have a tendency to aggrandize a bit. Guilty as charged!!!
3. There absolutely are differing quality products out there.
4. To get a quote on one of the products you mentioned, its pretty easy to call them and request dealer information.

masterext
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Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#3 Post by masterext »

If you are in western PA, i am quite confident you can find both an okna and soft lite dealer in your area.

OCMan
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Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:57 pm

Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#4 Post by OCMan »

Windows on Washington,
As a window professional and too far away to have an interest in the project, I would love your take on the windows quoted so far.
And of course, what you think are the very best windows out there.

Ditto for the other pros I've seen on this board: ToddInMN and Homesealed. And for heaven's sake, if folks have any of the windows, I would love to know what you think.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#5 Post by Windows on Washington »

The ones that we typically see recommended, usually for good reasons, are the Soft-Lites, Sunrise, Okna, Kensington Quantum II, etc.

With regards to the line up you have, not my favorites by any stretch with differing degrees of what some might call as mediocre.

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HomeSealed
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Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#6 Post by HomeSealed »

Great advice above. Not a big fan of anything that you have seen to this point, and the list of windows that WoW provided is a nice start. My top two windows are probably the Okna 1000 series (and the 800), and the Softlite Elements. The Sunrise Restorations makes a great casement, but it sounds like you have double hungs which while still pretty good, would not be on the same tier as the other two IMO. I'd invert that for Softlite, great double hungs, casement is solid but not spectacular.

You mentioned air infiltration as a concern, and those units have the best ratings on the market as well as elite performance in pretty much every measurable area. As the other guys have stated, both should be available near you. You are right that the manufacturer websites are not the most helpful in directing you to dealers, but a quick phone call should yield results. You could also google search your preferred window product combined with the city that you live (or closest major metro area) and find someone that way.

OCMan
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Re: A bit of a rant and some questions

#7 Post by OCMan »

HomeSealed,

I find the Okna 600 and 800 series (EcoPro and EnviroStar) on the Okna Web site, but not the 1000 series. Am I missing it, or is it something you need to ask the dealer/distributor about?

Also, another question for the pros, they never give the performance ratings for windows with grids. Do the grids decrease the performance level much? It probably doesn't matter because I think the wife will insist on the grids in any case :D

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