Advice for Northern AZ

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cmort
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Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:17 am

Advice for Northern AZ

#1 Post by cmort »

Hello,
Looking for current (2021) info regarding products/installers available in our area:
Arizona, northern central, above Phoenix, below Sedona, elevation 3500, wind, cold winter, hot summers. Some monsoon season.
Existing windows are Ply Gem Builder series 3724, aluminum, may be originals to home build 1992, but not sure how to tell. Have the NFRC sticker. No evidence of water leaks, but drafty & quite difficult to open (16 windows, mostly sliders, large picture, couple narrow single hung). Would it make any sense to do complete replacement as opposed to retrofit? Outside of house is stucco.
Have read many forum posts about fiberglass, vinyl and aluminum with thermal break, done lots of googling to try and find what’s available here. So far choices seem to be Milgard, Simonton, Anderson Renewals, Window World, and whatever Home Depot and Lowes sells. Don’t seem to be able to find mfg’s recommended frequently on this forum that ship to this area. Getting an installer may be hard. Have had Milgard fiberglass in CA house and they were ok, but seams were kind of sloppy. Water leaked into bottom rail of French door slider then down into my wood floor.
Looking for quality/efficiency, longevity, clean lines, easy to clean from the inside, and good fitting screens (mosquitos!) color choices. Most windows are large enough so not super concerned about visual loss.
Thank you for any input you have! Found two forums to post this

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Love that area of AZ.

Do the current windows have Low-e?

Can you post up the sticker?

cmort
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#3 Post by cmort »

Hello and thank you! Yes it is a beautiful area, another reason I'd like to get rid of all the grids in our windows!
Uh, can't seem to get pic inserted. It says Low-E SC, double glaze, air fill, U factor 0.53, SHGC .23, Visible Transmittance .40 and air leakage less than or equal to .3, structural rating DP +20/-20
Will work on insert, would like to send pic of existing window that shows inside/outside.
Thank you :)

cmort
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#4 Post by cmort »

Hello, best I could do is link to copy and paste into browser...sorry for the inconvenience. Included a pic of existing. I like the minimal look of not a lot of trim but not sure if that can be accomplished with a retrofit.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=312

download/file.php?mode=view&id=311

Thank you !
Attachments
window pic 2.JPG
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window .JPG
window .JPG (93.47 KiB) Viewed 3919 times

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#5 Post by Windows on Washington »

And you do want to get rid of the grids?

cmort
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Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#6 Post by cmort »

Hi yes, no grids, I would rather have a clean open view to the outside. Found out when the house was stucco'd they went right over the bottom rail of the windows. According to salesman here today stucco has to be broken out and that retrofits wouldn't work. He quoted Milgard Trinsic vinyl $35,200 and Milgard Ultra fiberglass 44,800. :shock: And we would have to paint the new stucco ourselves! Have 2 more companies coming over next couple weeks for quotes and will see what other mfgs. they can offer. Did some reading on here about the thermally broken aluminum that maybe will be less and have the narrow clean lines preferred buy availability could be issue.
BTW the quote is for 18 windows, fairly large, but still....it's not broken down between labor and mtl so I'm not sure, but for example for a 6' wide by 4' tall vinyl is 1770 and fbgls is 2350 for sliders. Maybe prices have gone up that much since our last purchase 2006!
Thank you for taking the time :)

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#7 Post by Windows on Washington »

TI Aluminum will give you the best lines. You could do a frame jump and while you would lose some opening size, you would negate the necessity to bust open the stucco.

cmort
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#8 Post by cmort »

That sounds like good news, but not sure what TI aluminum is or manufacturer to look for. :oops:
Appreciate replies so much!!

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#9 Post by Windows on Washington »

Thermally Improved = TI

i.e. Thermally broken Aluminum.

cmort
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#10 Post by cmort »

Thanks again. TI - that's what I thought! So a jump frame install with the aluminum could work even though the existing are set back into the stucco "frame" a few inches? (not flush with the house) The flange on the new windows would reduce glass size a couple inches on each side? But if we did a full tear out replacement we can keep the narrow lines like the existing? Sorry for probably obvious questions, just terrified of making an expensive mistake :?

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#11 Post by Windows on Washington »

No worries. Your summary is pretty on point.

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TheWindowNerd
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#12 Post by TheWindowNerd »

A frame jump may be a great option for you.
I would want to see a corner sample of the proposed product held up to each opening to understand the visible glass loss.

Can you find a Marvin installer? look at their Essential fiberglass windows.

theWindowNerd

cmort
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#13 Post by cmort »

Thank you for more info! And glad to know my thinking is on track. I’m still waiting on visits from two more companies, but everyone is backed up with work so I have to patient. Found a Marvin dealer but they don’t service our area, we are still kind of new here so I’ll keep looking. There is a local Window World but they don’t return calls or emails. I asked the one salesman we got the bid from about the Milgard A250 TI aluminum and he told me they don’t sell them here because of heat (I thought whole purpose of TI was specifically for hot areas) and why don’t I stick with Milgard vinyl or fiberglass. I’m checking on local building code.
Asked son-in-law, general contractor, his opinion on our first bid using one 4x6 as an example and he said it didn’t look unreasonable, but for whole house he’d expect some lower pricing where several windows are multiples of same size. Also the $1770 for Milgard vinyl 4x6 didn’t include additional (approx.) $400 for stucco repair.

In the meantime :idea: , I’ve cleaned and waxed slider tracks and graphited the steel rollers on some of the 4x6 windows and can now open them with my baby finger! So maybe “if it ain’t broke…”. Going to continue working on them and see what happens. Then I would really need to weigh pro’s/con’s for replacing them, and will post again for your much valued expert opinions/advice! Thank you for your time.

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TheWindowNerd
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Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#14 Post by TheWindowNerd »

Cleaning and lubrication does wonders.
People often do not know they need to do that to keep easy operation.

Good for you.

You still have the grids/muttins. You could look into reglazing the existing units. I would want a ten year minimum warranty on seal failure and would prefer a twenty year.

theWindowNerd

cmort
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Advice for Northern AZ

#15 Post by cmort »

Thank you! The 2nd window co. came out and after I told him they weren’t leaking or tooo drafty he suggested just re-glazing as well. They are quoting for Solarban 70 (2). I’m wondering what questions to ask about that glass and if there are specific upgrades or options I should consider. Seal warranty is 10 yrs. For now, we are going to only do the windows that are going foggy and the 2 “view” windows to get rid of the grids. We haven’t signed anything yet. Still in the back of my head is how nice brand new aluminum frames would look…. would it be smarter to just get all new now and not think about what the now almost 30yr old ones will be doing in 10 years from now. :?

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