Alside casement widow review (Eastern region unit)

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Don K.
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:12 am

Alside casement widow review (Eastern region unit)

#1 Post by Don K. »

Alside only has one casement window which for some reason is distributed east of the Rocky Mountain area without an awning widow combination and Rocky Mountains westward that does include awning window combination. Below is my assessment (homeowner) of eastern region unit.

Had these installed 2/25/2016 about a month ago in eastern Virginia. I was little apprehensive as these windows were not held in high regard by most experienced installers on this sight. I found myself in situation that could happen to other homeowners, that of either buying a perceived high-end window with poor install or a less desirable window with a good install.

To this point I am still satisfied with these windows as they had almost all features as the high-end windows, such as stainless hardware, triple weather seals, multiple latch points, good performance ratings and lower sash support when in closed position. However over the last month I have stumbled on something that may be a factor that could cause some owners a headache and would tend to drive installers nuts if they had to make multiple trips to correct. They are all what I consider quality control assembly problems. It is mostly with larger units with the double actuator arms, causing a problem with hanging on each other where they cross over or lower actuator arm hitting (possibly damaging) center seal that it must pass over when closing. Having mechanical background I simply made slight adjustments to correct without little thought given. I felt this knowledge may be useful to homeowners and may explain why some installers do not rate these windows very high.

Endurance will take many years to evaluate, which if able at time I will do.

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Windows on Washington
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Alside casement widow review (Eastern region unit)

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Don,

Thank you for the thoughtful follow up. I think that the casements tend to be a bit more free from the tolerance concerns that I find troublesome on some of the other operators. The style and closing mechanisms on the casements tend to make them air tight (or close to that) unless they are just an abomination.

As long as the manufacturer stays within their happy mediums on what they can produce and what their hardware will support, they should be just fine.

Keep in mind, most folks that have an issue with casements will be after they have been open for extended periods of time.

Thanks again and keep us posted with any updates.

Don K.
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:12 am

Re: Alside casement widow review (Eastern region unit)

#3 Post by Don K. »

Windows on Washington wrote:.....Keep in mind, most folks that have an issue with casements will be after they have been open for extended periods of time......
Thanks for the professional insight. I will keep eye out for this when open all day, especially on hot sunny days.

Don K.
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:12 am

Re: Alside casement widow review (Eastern region unit)

#4 Post by Don K. »

As promised, this is update of endurance of these windows. At just short of 4 years since installation, I’ve had no problems with them other than actuator adjustments right after installation that I talked about in post #1 on March 23, 2016. This includes windows themselves and installation quality procedure that many on this site helped me learn what was best practices. Even applied exterior color endurance I was concerned about has held up perfectly.

At this point I’d say the Alside Casement windows are a good choice, but can’t speak to quality of their sinlge and double hung windows that some seem to rate low.

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