Replacement Window Poll

I had a client that had a house full of Pellas that where 25 years old. Nothing wrong with them just old and not as good as the new ones. So he wanted to update them with new Pellas right up until I gave him the quote that is.
I have another client that has a house full of Anderson windows He had 4 fail and wanted new ones had him sold on Pellas right up to the point of ordering them. Then when I went to order them we took a look around and noticed that every window in his house is rotten and he needs to replace them all. All of them are Anderson clad windows apparently about 20 years ago they had a problem with the way they put the cladding on and it lets the water in instead of keeping it out. When you look at the Anderson's if they still have a seam in the cladding to the out side of the sill stay far away from them.
I will tell you that the absolute best French door I have ever put in (over the past 25 years) was an Anderson.
All most every window company has the best window. They all have the worst one two. It's all in what grade you go for.
Also if you are not hooked up with a contractor for the Pellas and you go that route shoot me an email I might be able to get a few bucks off on them for you.

Thanks for all of your replies I certainly appreciate hearing all of your experiences; they seem to echo what I have heard locally too.

Nancy, thanks for killing my first post, I was wondering how to remove it.
MJ Isles, thanks for the JD Power link and my apologies for mispelling Andersen. I spell things like trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and eicosatrienoic acid all day so I tend to go with phonetics more frequently than not. Then again, I am a nitwit at times also
Chuck, thank you for your kind offer. Where in NH are you located, I just may take you up on it! I find my way to goosebay lumber, highland hardwoods and fernald lumber every couple months or so.

To any late arrivals, keep posting your opinions/experiences; they're great to read and informative.

Cheers,
Nick

Anderson has a bad reputation here in Maine anyway. Between the cold of winter, the fog of the summer and the ever present humidity from the Gulf of Maine, windows are subjected to some extreme weather conditions and Anderson just don't hold up.

I got Marvin windows in my house and like them, though I am sure my local window place, Mathews Brothers, has windows of equal value. I voted for Marvin, but if you had a category that said "Anything but Anderson", I would have clicked on that.

I put Norco aluminum clad wood windows in my home about 4 years ago. Great windows and great customer service. (I had two windows that developed stress cracks and they replaced them both two years later with no hassle.)
Norco windows are manufactured by Hawkins Window Division, Hawkins, WI and is a division of Jeld Wen Windows and Doors.
These windows replaced some Weathershield (Thermoguard) windows that I was "screwed" on about 10 years before that! That is a whole another story!

I have Anderson windows and had a a picture window go bad. I think that if I could have actually gotten an Anderson Rep to the site they would have replaced it. A couple of different window people and the local yard all suggested that. The problem was that the Anderson customer service staff had no interest in helping out. For now I have turned the picture sash upside down and will try and build new framing at some time myself.

It had a size on the side of it and that didn't make any sense to the actual measurements to me and again Anderson customer service wasn't any help. Any place I could find wanted over 300.00 dollars to order the sash and it was mine whether it was right or not.

I got one local window guy here and he said he would fix it for 100.00 and I said go to it. He said no Anderson ought to stand behind it.

So even though the rest of the Anderson windows seem fine I am less than thrilled at the support level at Anderson.

Garry

Garry Foster said:

I have Anderson windows and had a a picture window go bad. I think that if I could have actually gotten an Anderson Rep to the site they would have replaced it... I got one local window guy here and he said he would fix it for 100.00 and I said go to it. He said no Anderson ought to stand behind it.

So even though the rest of the Anderson windows seem fine I am less than thrilled at the support level at Anderson.
Garry

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Hi Garry, just coming back to this thread. If Don (husband) and I were still together, I'm sure he would have made sure you received the proper service and replacement window. Where do you live?

Travis, Andersen's corporate headquarters is in MN so surely the cold isn't the issue, sounds like humidity is. Alas! One size does not fit all.

Nick, your spelling's just fine. My grandmother was a French Canadian with the last name Anderson, and before I met Don, that's exactly how I would have spelled Andersen. If we spelled everything phoenetically, there would be fewer problems with pronunciation, I suspect.

--MJ

Late to the party as usual.

I put Pella designer series casement windows in our home when we built it two years ago. I, like Bruce, like the mini blind between the glass. In actuality you end up with triple pane glass.

I will throw out another brand though. Eagle windows made in Dubuque, Iowa. When I worked for a home builder in Vegas, that's all he used on the very upscale homes he built.

Other than that there are always local window manufacturers. It's just a matter of will they be around if something goes wrong.

Karl

Karl,

I looked up Eagle windows, and they are (or are now) an Andersen Window & Door company... Yep, does look like they go in very upscale homes. Check out the Gallery.

Nick,
Something else to consider especially if you are going to move sometime in the future - what windows have been used locally in surrounding homes. (of equal value and construction.) We were going a similar route with the wood/aluminum clad windows and found that all except one house in our area have used vinyl windows. (The one is a very large, very stately older home.) We discovered two reasons - one - price point of our homes, and two - home construction type. Most homes in our neighborhood are masonry - and not just veneered. The typical exterior wall R value is somewhere around 4 to 8. Yes, I know masonry works a bit differently, but you get the picture.
After talking with neighbors and our contractor (whom I trust) we decided to go with a nice vinyl window (Paradigm). They were not my first choice, but when looking objectively, they seem like the right choice for our situation.

Just food for thought - good luck with your project,
Wes

Karl Laustrup said:

I put Pella designer series casement windows in our home when we built it two years ago. I, like Bruce, like the mini blind between the glass. In actuality you end up with triple pane glass.

Other than that there are always local window manufacturers. It's just a matter of will they be around if something goes wrong.

Karl

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Wait 'til that mini blind breaks... Seriously. That's when things will get interesting. I told Don I wanted nothing to do with that "feature."

I agree on the customer service and follow-up after you buy.

--MJ

Chuck Thoits said:

I have another client that has a house full of Anderson windows He had 4 fail and wanted new ones had him sold on Pellas right up to the point of ordering them. Then when I went to order them we took a look around and noticed that every window in his house is rotten and he needs to replace them all. All of them are Anderson clad windows apparently about 20 years ago they had a problem with the way they put the cladding on and it lets the water in instead of keeping it out. When you look at the Anderson's if they still have a seam in the cladding to the out side of the sill stay far away from them.

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I know this is an older thread... but re: Andersen windows.

This is very true. Back in the 1970's Andersen had a problem. At my old house that was built 78/79 Andersen windows were installed and failed.

I contacted the lumber yard, they contacted the Andersen rep. The rep can out with the free of charge replacement windows AND AND installed all the windows that failed at no charge!

I have Pellas on my business' windows, I like them, some were custom jobs. I have one window failing it is a 6x6 foot square glass. Pella will give the window but wants $400 for the installation.

Joe
I like Pellas, Andersens. At my new home I have a lesser known brand and they look to be very well constructed.

For those of you in hurricane-prone areas like Florida where I live, Stanek Windows (manufactured in Ohio) are a good choice. They've eliminated my need to have additional hurricane protection like shutters. I used WinDoor for the two HUGE sliding doors out back. Two sets of 2 doors each with each door being five feet wide and must weigh about 400 pounds. They are also hurricane rated. Ten windows and the doors cost nearly $30,000.