Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

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barhoram
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Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#1 Post by barhoram »

Looking for some help/recommendations from the collective experts on this forum. We are dealing with original wood clad windows in our house that was built in the early 90's. We have been in the house 15 years, and there is a 50% chance we will be moving in the next 1-2 years, and a 50% chance we will be staying in the home long-term. I would say the windows are the worst selling feature of our home right now (it's probably a $400K home). Whole house is done with wood trim that matches the wood windows (think 90s honey oak...)

There are 32 total windows: 28 double hung, 1 picture window, 3 2-lite sliders. Most of the windows are in pretty bad shape. Several have water damage on the inside wood and many have lost their seal. The 8 in our sun-room and 8 in our front bay / bathroom are the worst and I originally got estimates just to replace those. Without going into too much detail, got estimates in the $11,000 range from several companies (Sunrise Vangaurd and Homegaurd Innovation both quoting vinyl inserts) for the 16 worst windows in a matching wood grain--so they wouldn't stand out too much vs the other windows. I'd then have to replace 3-4 seals and touch up the wood on the remaining 16 windows.

A couple of the salesmen recommended that we look at replacing all 32 of the windows with a tan/beige interior vs the wood grain due to it costing more. I really didn't want to drop $15-20K in windows if we were moving....but we are tying to get the house ready to sell if we find something in our price range in a different part of town (a challenge itself). Original "budget" was in the $10 K range to replace the 16 bad ones.


Here is what I have so far for vinyl inserts doing all the windows:

Sunrise Essentials: $17K
Sunrise Vanguard: $17K + 32X65= $19K to upgrade to the Vangaurd. He is going try and sharpen pencil on quote.
Homegaurd Homestar: $15K (general contractor that does windows)
Soft-Lite Barrington: $25K. Quoted included big foyer picture window that the others did not.
Soft-Lite Elements: $28K. Quote included big foyer picture window that the others did not.
Okna: $18,900 for 500 series. This company is an hour and a half away...since they closed the local office..

Do these numbers seem in line?
Thoughts/Recommendations?
Is it even worth considering trying to repair existing wood windows?
Is there another brand I should be considering to possibly get in under the $15K price point?

Thanks in advance
Last edited by barhoram on Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ricknez
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Location: southern PA, north east MD

Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#2 Post by Ricknez »

I would immediately dismiss the simrise essentials. The homeguard “ homestar” is their lower line.
What state are you in , that can give more clarity on abailability??

barhoram
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Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2019 6:23 am

Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#3 Post by barhoram »

Thanks for the reply. Am located in Ohio. Gilkey is big here, but I've heard estimates of $1K per window...so haven't had them out yet... which is going to be way more than we wanted to spend.

Okna rep is working up a quote after his visit this morning.

masterext
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#4 Post by masterext »

So far, i like the soft lite elements or the sunrise vanguard. I agree, do not consider the essentials.
If you see Okna tonight, you will like that as well. Let us the know which Okna window you saw.

barhoram
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#5 Post by barhoram »

thanks, mastertext

any thoughts on why the elements would be worth $9K over the sunrise vanguard?

masterext
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#6 Post by masterext »

I dont know how i can justify elements being 9k more than the vanguard unless they are using triple pane glass and a different install? Other than that the vanguard is the better option based on cost.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#7 Post by Windows on Washington »

Update us once you get the Okna number as well. You have a couple of really good options already.

barhoram
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#8 Post by barhoram »

Ok--got the Okna numbers.

He said he couldn't sell me the 400 series (?)....so only quoted the 500 series. In a double pane with almond inside and outside came in at $18,900 for 32 windows.

Soft-lite should be updating their quote to make it apples to apples since they quoted the extra foyer window.

Probably the wrong forum to ask this in...but should I be considering anything else since there is a chance we will be moving at some point?

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#9 Post by Windows on Washington »

The 500 is a better window than the Vanguard in my estimation if you are comparing similar glass packages.

barhoram
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#10 Post by barhoram »

the Okna 500 quote doesn't spell out what glass package is included although salesman noted double pane and "full filled" Low E argon glass.

The Vanguard quote specifies lowE 270 glass and commercial grade glass system in the Performance Options.

masterext
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#11 Post by masterext »

Regarding okna, when the salesman stated “ full filled” , i am quite confident he meant Foam filled.
My guess is he quoted you for the “deluxe glass package”.

barhoram
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#12 Post by barhoram »

the salesman was referring to how they vacuum the air out of the window to ensure it's fully filled with argon gas...vs other companies that may not be all argon. At least that's what he said.

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HomeSealed
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#13 Post by HomeSealed »

The argon fill percentage is fairly comparable across manufacturers, so I wouldn't get hung up on that. At the end of the day, the true measure of that will be how it effects the performance of the window anyway...

Other observations:
1) None of your quotes are crazy high, not even the Elements. That's a big spread between them no doubt, but there are a lot of factors involved, not the least of which is the size and business model of each company.

2) The Okna and Vanguard quotes have aggressive pricing. Of those two, the Okna is the better window by most metrics, however you won't go wrong with either.

3) The Elements is a strong contender as well, and on the basis of window quality and performance, I'd actually have this product and the Okna as the final two. Obviously there would need to be some other factor justifying that price difference though.

Definitely go through and make sure that these are all apples to apples. Double pane vs triple pane, color int and ext, installation type, etc... There are hundreds of dollars peer window at stake when you take a just a couple options into account, that can mean several thousand dollars in difference on 32 windows.
Lastly, this is just me and my own observations, but if you opt for a solid color interior, almond/tan is fading in popularity by the day. I'd probably go white in that case. Just my $.02 on the design aspect.

barhoram
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#14 Post by barhoram »

would the Soft-Lite Barrington or Elements line be a closer comparison to the Vanguard?

masterext
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Re: Really need some help with our 30+ Windows...

#15 Post by masterext »

The Elements compares to the Vanguard, not the pro. The sidt lite pro is ok but noy up there with vanguard.
The vanguard is an excellent window as well as the elemnts.

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