Please Note! This is our archived old board, it is “read only.”
To visit our current active discussion board click below.
https://www.replacement-windows.com/windowbb/
| Author: | marcus |
| Subject: | Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 15:57:26 |
Hello everyone,
I've been lurking on this site for the past couple months and have learned a great deal from the discussions here. I thank you all for such a great store of information.
My wife and I are replacing 15 windows (+2 basement windows) in our first house (a 1963 split level outside New Haven, CT). We like casements for their openness and efficiency, and we also wanted to differentiate our house from the mirror image house next door, designed by the same architect. We checked out Simonton's 5500 casements, but didn't like the look of the thick frame. At the same showroom, we saw the Marvin Infinity casements which were very nice looking, and we're still waiting for the quote on them. We also had bids on Great Lakes "Gold" (> $8k total), and Alside's "Ultramax 2000" (> $9k!!!), which may be the Sheffield line.
Then we called Schuco directly to get a dealer. The person who came out for the estimate actually works at the plant in CT, and even offered us a tour of the facilities, which we very well may do. He's a great guy who does installations part time, and is hoping to move into full time. No hard sell whatsoever, which was unexpected. He didn't even give a price until the next day. It was the best experience we had out of four bids.
Anyway, I'm about to sign on the dotted line, but wanted to get any thoughts. Prices are for Corona 4000, low-e, and argon...
14 double hung OR casements @ $400 ($450 for triple glaze)
1 inline slider @ $500 ($550 for triple)
2 vinyl basement hoppers (w/ 2x4 wood frames since the concrete opening is angled) @ $250
Total for triple glaze everywhere and double glaze in the basement is $7350.
I was blown away by his price. He doesn't have much overhead, he seems very honest (he's dealt with salesmen in his job at Schuco, and isn't fond of some of their tactics). Seems too good to be true. Installation would be maybe 6 hours (Alside installation would have been 2 days!). Any reason not to dive in?
Thanks in advance,
marcus
| Author: | Guy |
| In Reply To: | Before I sign... (posted by marcus) |
| Subject: | RE: Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 16:30:13 |
Marcus, I would beat a path to that mans door step to sign a contract. Just make sure he's a legitimate company which receives all the warranty perks and service from Schuco. Make sure he pulls any required permits by law in your area before he starts. To be safe get a couple references from customers he's already done. It sounds a bit hard but you can sleep at night knowing your not getting hung out to dry by a rookie. If all that pans out your good to go!!! Get your warranty cards and info before he leaves!! Good Luck!!!!!
Guy
| Author: | Window4U (IL) |
| In Reply To: | Before I sign... (posted by marcus) |
| Subject: | RE: Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 16:53:09 |
Schuco has a different business plan where their factory is, with more of an open policy of who they sell to.
Make absolutely sure this guy has all the credentials,.... insurance, etc. to do this work as he sounds like he is not a normal dealer who has jumped through all the hoops to get accepted by Schuco as a dealer. He very well may not be able to give you the lifetime of support real dealers can. His pricing is very cheap, which is from the fact he has no overhead and is doing this part time. Working at a factory doesn't necessarily give a person credentials to actually install windows either. Be careful on this one in my opinion. Do your homework very well and definitly check out a least 5 or 6 of the installs he has done and talk to the homeowners.
By the way, there is no way he is going to do this job of installing 17 windows in 6 hours unless he is not planning on capping the exterior casings with aluminum, {which may explain his low price.}
| Author: | anon |
| In Reply To: | RE: Before I sign... (posted by Guy) |
| Subject: | RE: Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 16:55:36 |
Talking about warranty cards, from previous posts we were promised a look at the new Schuco warranty. Where on the web can we see it?
| Author: | Window4U (IL) |
| In Reply To: | RE: Before I sign... (posted by anon) |
| Subject: | RE: Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 17:03:48 |
I wish I could tell you Anon. I am waiting as well. They have recently made newly designed brochures that I'm expecting any day so maybe I will get them with the brochures. The new website is due sometime in the future as well. I'll let you know when I get them.
| Author: | marcus |
| In Reply To: | RE: Before I sign... (posted by Window4U (IL)) |
| Subject: | RE: Before I sign... |
| Posted At: | 2004-08-17 20:07:05 |
We'll look into his insurance. Thanks for that tip. I'm pretty certain he said one of the people on his team (a guru of Schuco windows, like a "master" mechanic) even trains other installers for Schuco. As for the warranty, he left us with a small, blue pamphlet that we haven't looked at yet (we just met with him yesterday). All I can say is that Schuco's logo was at the top.
We are planning on looking at some of his other installs (he left a list), hopefully some older ones. If I recall correctly, he mentioned a 1 year warranty on installation. Should parts fail in the future, if it's something simple, he could mail a part for free (like a lock), or drop it off if he's in the area. But I do believe there would be a service charge if he had to come out for something bigger. He did give a disclaimer about glass being glass, and that there is always a possibility of it having a stress fracture from expansion/contraction with the vinyl (one reason we also were looking at the Marvin Integrities). But he hasn't seen that with Schucos.
Oh yeah. He works with a team of two or three other people. Could that account for his quick install time? Capping (or wrapping as he put it) is included. Though I don't remember offhand if it's vinyl or aluminum.
Any other questions I should be asking? Thanks so much for everyone's input! We appreciate the help.
-marcus