Looking for opinions on window quotes

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dinosnores
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:42 am

Looking for opinions on window quotes

#1 Post by dinosnores »

First, wanted to thank you guys for the wealth of information on this page, i've been searching and reading through here for a while, and feel like this place has made me a much smarter consumer. So thanks for that.

I got 6 quotes, and would like your opinion on them. First, some details on the house:

21 windows to replace in 12 holes, large, odd sizes. Big picture window that's 12' by 6', all of the double hungs are 6' x 6', and the awnings are 4'x 3'

Total breakdown:

4 picture windows
3 awning windows (frosted, bathrooms)
14 double hungs

Quotes:

1st quote. Castle Windows - $21k. They appear to offer a fully comprehensive warranty, including glass breakage, screen replacement and all parts/labor. They also claim to be a window manufacturer, which i'm not 100% sure I buy into. That makes it hard to evaluate the product. The windows looked and felt like quality during the sales pitch though. https://www.castlewindows.com/ Only negative was that the sales pitch felt like buying a used car. Dude definitely tried to pressure me into signing that day, and even pulled the 'let me call my manager to get a better price' trick. Just about eliminated them right on the spot, but don't want to be emotional about it.

2nd quote. Local remodeling company "TriState Remodeling"- $15k. They use 'WinCore 7700' vinyl windows, which seem ok and get decent, middle of the road reviews everywhere I could find. Haven't seen much bad about them, but in comparison the windows might not be the best. https://www.njtristateremodelers.com/

3rd quote. Renewal by Anderson - $48k. Lol. More than double the 2nd highest price. Sales guy was good, product looked really nice. Not sure how it could cost that much though. Pretty sure i'm eliminating these guys because of the cost. 'Senior Sales Manager' who called me a few days later was pretty slimy and tried to talk me into having another guy come out to 'verify the price' but would only come if my wife and I were home and he could sit down with us and an official contract. Nope.

4th quote. Local company - EarthSmart Remodeling, installing SunRise Windows I've heard a ton of positive things about this brand, so I reached out to the manufacturer to link me to a certified company. The guys who came out were great, family owned, in business 25 years, 2nd generation owners. I really liked everything they did, but the quote came in at $19,500, which is a little more than I expected. https://www.earthsmartremodeling.com/

5th/6th quote. Another local company - American Quality Remodeling, installing Okna Windows. Same as the SunRise, reached out to Okna to get a recommendation on an installer just because of the windows reputation. The guy who came out was great and very thorough. He also recommended I consider the StarMark windows because of the size of my windows. I didn't know much about the StarMark, but I think I really like them.
Quotes were $14k for the 600 series, and 18k for the StarMark. He didn't give me a price for the 800, but I may ask for one.

Honestly, in my head i'm leaning hard towards the StarMark. I liked the look and think that the composite is an upgrade over the vinyl, but i'm not sure if that's true. If you guys can help me out making a final decision, i'd really appreciate it!!

dinosnores
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:42 am

Re: Looking for opinions on window quotes

#2 Post by dinosnores »

Didn't get any responses from you guys, but ultimately decided to go with the StarMarks.

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Windows on Washington
Posts: 5308
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Looking for opinions on window quotes

#3 Post by Windows on Washington »

Sometimes you have to give the folks on the boards a few more days. Especially with the combination of summer vacations and the craziness of managing our own businesses in this Covid nightmare of a materials conundrum.

That said...I think you picked the right window.

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HomeSealed
Posts: 2996
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:46 pm
Location: Milwaukee, Madison, SE Wisconsin

Re: Looking for opinions on window quotes

#4 Post by HomeSealed »

Sorry for the delay, but a big +1 to WoW's comment, excellent window.

uncle eddie
Posts: 200
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Looking for opinions on window quotes

#5 Post by uncle eddie »

Sunrise, okna, starmark all good. Nice work.

Delaware Mike
Posts: 920
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:44 am
Location: South Jersey, Delaware, Philadelphia area

Re: Looking for opinions on window quotes

#6 Post by Delaware Mike »

Great choice! Castle offers a private labeled Soft-Lite offering based upon one of SL's lowest grade dated windows. It's not very nice. They did purchase the line that assembles them so there is a bit of truth to them claiming to manufacture their own windows, but it's not like they have their own manufacturing facility. Their installs are some of the most wretched jobs that I've ever seen too. Not a fan of Wincore so much either.

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