Window Vets please comment

[Laura0208]

Wow this board has been informative, especially all the old posts. I wanted to share my experience, and ask any of you seasoned vets what you think. I am in Pittsburgh, Pa. My first contact was Windows Unlimited. Prez of co. came out himself for sales call. Company has been in business for 46 years...they are advertising 46% off window installation. They carry Alside and Great Lakes Brands. Without the "special" quote was $10,068 for 15 double hung and one picture window. My windows are already capped, also, so less work for the installer. After researching this low-to-mid price brand that qualifies for tax credit, I am seeing that the "discount" is NO discount-after my 46% off and an "extra" 10% off I am still paying 326.20 per window- which is for the Alside Excalibur 0201 with Climatech Elite, (however they call it Energy Guardian 1 ) I know the comparative Great Lakes window is the Grandview 5000 series in this price range, but he steered me away from that. He only uses Great Lakes for high end windows it seems. I see that Window World uses the Alside Sheffield and costs $180.00 per window with installation. Windows Unlimited considers this to be a "step up" from Energy Guardian 1 and calls it Energy Guardian II. Window World is looking better and better to me if it weren't for the horror installation stories. I am on such a tight budget, my house is in the city and about 100 years old. I have 3 broken windows and one fell on my head, giving me a concussion! Can any of you give me what would be considered reasonable market value and installation cost for the Alside Excaliber? Thank you in advance for any replies!

[Windows on Washington]

The Excalibur is a decent low-mid grade window and probably does not deserve all the bad press it gets but it is closely associated with Window World and therefore a little more maligned than it should be.

If you are not going to be getting your windows capped and have no other options than the window, low-e, and installation, you will be hard pressed to get a cheaper price than what Window World quotes.

Window World makes money on the options and the upgrades. Their $189 window is $200 with tax, $65 for capping, $55 for Climatech elite (required to meet E-Star qualifications), and $40 for grids. When all is said and done, you have a $360 window. At that point, there are quite a few windows with much better track records that are within $100 and should be considered.

[Laura0208]

Thanks! Just got a call back from Windows Unlimited, said he called the factory (Alside) and they could do another 10% off with factory installation....brings it to $4400 for the Excaliber with Climatech. 14 double hungs and a picture window....hmm.I was just pi$$ed about the 46% off "special"-I hate when they over inflate price and then say they are giving you a special deal. I do not see a deal...I see a low-mid grade window that probably costs 50 bucks to produce, (at least thats what my research tells me) for this particular model. With reasonable overhead and profit to be expected, I was wondering how much an installer makes for each window he/she installs...what is the going rate for an installer? Maybe I'm in the wrong business. It would appear some of these installers are making about $800 bucks a day!

[Windows on Washington]

Not trying to offend you, but the math isn't anywhere that simple or profitable and that window costs way more than $50.

Good luck with the install.

Not a big fan of the big drop in price either.