Replacement Windows Discussion Board Forum

All is good here Wayne. Hope you and your family are well!

Not enough of the window in the photo to tell whether it's racked or not. The Essentials line more prone to that problem than the Elevate series. The installer could have caused the separation, or it could be a production issue. In either case, as the Nerd said, it should be sealed (caulked) and wil...

Go with the Imperial LS. The difference between .01 and .02 is negligible, and in all likelihood, attributable primarily to rounding.

Doesn’t HomeSealed serve the Chicago market now? If he does, I would highly recommend contacting him for a quote. You won’t find a more professional, service oriented company. As to the window brands, both are highly rated and solid choices. The first contractor is wrong to casually dismiss triple p...

NT is a good choice for a solid mid-grade vinyl window in the DFW area. I prefer the Presidential or Energy Master lines, but the Executive isn’t bad.

I try to avoid commenting too much on pricing, unless it’s outrageously high or low and in your case, it isn’t.

Foaming the entire perimeter is preferable IMO. I don’t recommend Pella products.

Reliabilt windows are bottom of the barrel, and not in the same league as anything Okna makes. Whether it’s construction quality, manufacturing tolerances, Air Leakage ratings, Design Pressure ratings, or any other measure which indicates how well a window is built, Okna is the clear winner in that ...

I’m not familiar with KHPP, so I’ll defer to HomeSealed on them. Of the other two, I prefer NT for quality of build and track record. Foam filling is fine if it’s included, but since it doesn’t lower the SHGC, it’s not something I’d pay extra for. The Traditions line is offered as an exclusive produ...

As I said, NT is a decent mid-grade quality vinyl window for Texas. It's suitable for new construction but will be more expensive than most vinyl windows that builders recommend.

Like most things, if the rating is something to boast about, it will be on all of the promotional material. So if a rating is hard to find, it’s not good.

Howdy Jason!

The Soft-lite outperforms the RBA in every category of efficiency. RBA’s Air Leakage rating is so bad, they won’t even provide it. Save the money and get the better window.

If you’re wanting a decent vinyl window for rental property, you might look at Burris, NT Executive series or Don Young 5200 series.

For vinyl windows, Soft-lite, Okna or Sunrise would be good options.

The south Texas heat is hard on vinyl windows, vinyl siding, vinyl patio furniture, etc.... If you’re going to go with vinyl, you’d better choose a well built product, and that typically means a window with more substance or structure to it. While many like the narrow frame that Amsco offers, it is ...

I don’t typically comment much on pricing, unless it’s in the extremes. I’d say the NT pricing you have is pushing the boundary on the low side.