Replacement Windows — Looking for Recommendations

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  • GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mar 22, 2011
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    Mitchell
    My house was built with Kolbe windows. They are really nice windows except for one thing: mine were built at a time they were having some serious quality problems. They are metal clad-wooden windows. The problem they had was the defect(s) would allow water to infiltrate over time and rot out the wood. Well, Kolbe addressed the worst ones a few years ago under warranty. But, as time has gone by, more of them have started to fail and guess what—-no more warranty help. And buying replacement sashes from Kolbe—you’d think they were made out of gold. So, I’m looking to buy replacements.

    There seem to be a number of companies out there. Andersen Replacement, Bee, Champion, are a few that I’ve seen advertisements for. For those that have had to go through this, what have you done? Any of the companies you’d recommend? Any that you would specifically not recommend?

    Thanks in advance!
     

    amboy49

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    5   1   0
    Feb 1, 2013
    2,293
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    central indiana
    Windows/water damage

    I recently remodeled our master bedroom. When I pulled up the carpet I found the floor and walls had sustained substantial water damage from a leaking window. I got quotes from Bee Window, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. Bee Window quote was twice the others although to be fair they had lifetime warranty. Went with Home Depot. Installation scheduled for May 16. They have 20 year warranty which is transferable should we ever sell. Anderson all wood windows VERY expensive. Will wait for installation to be complete before I give final satisfaction rating.

    Attached are some pics of our water damage - which had apparently been ongoing for a long time. Sills and wall studs severely rotted. Luckily no floor joist issue. Replaced wall studs, sill plate, and band boards.
     

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    GodFearinGunTotin

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    1   0   0
    Mar 22, 2011
    50,580
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    Mitchell
    I recently remodeled our master bedroom. When I pulled up the carpet I found the floor and walls had sustained substantial water damage from a leaking window. I got quotes from Bee Window, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. Bee Window quote was twice the others although to be fair they had lifetime warranty. Went with Home Depot. Installation scheduled for May 16. They have 20 year warranty which is transferable should we ever sell. Anderson all wood windows VERY expensive. Will wait for installation to be complete before I give final satisfaction rating.

    Attached are some pics of our water damage - which had apparently been ongoing for a long time. Sills and wall studs severely rotted. Luckily no floor joist issue. Replaced wall studs, sill plate, and band boards.

    Thanks and Yikes! The windows you chose to install, are they vinyl? Composite? Or something else? Do you know who HD is going to use as the installer?
     

    spec4

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    Jun 19, 2010
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    It's been about 20 years now, but when we were prepping the house for sale, we found several had wood rot. We had Home Depot replace them and were very pleased with the whole process. Plus the new windows had no wood in them and we got a decent warranty which was transferable in case we sold.

    We have 16 year old Andersen windows and based on the experience I would never buy Andersen.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mar 22, 2011
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    Mitchell
    It's been about 20 years now, but when we were prepping the house for sale, we found several had wood rot. We had Home Depot replace them and were very pleased with the whole process. Plus the new windows had no wood in them and we got a decent warranty which was transferable in case we sold.

    We have 16 year old Andersen windows and based on the experience I would never buy Andersen.

    Thanks for the feedback. What were yours made of?
     

    spec4

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    Jun 19, 2010
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    NWI
    The originals were wood and vinyl IIRC. We were building the house and these were to be an upgrade. Can't remember the brand, but the company was in IA. They weren't Pella. What I didn't mention in the previous post was that I called them and squawked about the windows. Well, they were still under guarantee and without verifying my story they sent me a check for $9K.
     

    eric001

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    Apr 3, 2011
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    Indianapolis
    I don't think Bee windows are worth the extra $$. Within a couple years of install, we had multiple windows cloud up on the inside. Got them fixed under warranty--they came to the house and replaced them on the spot. Several more clouded after that, and was told we'd have to take the windows in to THEM to get 'em fixed under warranty. Screw that. I'd rather deal with cloudy windows than no windows at all for only God knows how long until they got around to fixing them so I could pick 'em up again.
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Aug 18, 2011
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    Southside Indy
    I don't think Bee windows are worth the extra $$. Within a couple years of install, we had multiple windows cloud up on the inside. Got them fixed under warranty--they came to the house and replaced them on the spot. Several more clouded after that, and was told we'd have to take the windows in to THEM to get 'em fixed under warranty. Screw that. I'd rather deal with cloudy windows than no windows at all for only God knows how long until they got around to fixing them so I could pick 'em up again.
    That's insane... they actually wanted you to live with large holes in your house while they got around to fixing their windows? Yeah, screw that.
     

    amboy49

    Master
    Rating - 83.3%
    5   1   0
    Feb 1, 2013
    2,293
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    central indiana
    Thanks and Yikes! The windows you chose to install, are they vinyl? Composite? Or something else? Do you know who HD is going to use as the installer?

    Windows are vinyl. Total for five windows (all roughly 52” square) was $5,200 installed. You can buy windows for roughy have if you want to install yourself, I found.

    Check into Menards re: purchase. HD wouldn’t let me buy the windows they sell with installation. HD had two levels if quality. I chose the highest since we plan on staying in the house for awhile. All three I talked to offered different quality levels.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mar 22, 2011
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    Mitchell
    Windows are vinyl. Total for five windows (all roughly 52” square) was $5,200 installed. You can buy windows for roughy have if you want to install yourself, I found.

    Check into Menards re: purchase. HD wouldn’t let me buy the windows they sell with installation. HD had two levels if quality. I chose the highest since we plan on staying in the house for awhile. All three I talked to offered different quality levels.

    Thanks.

    I’m always up to doing these sorts of things myself. But they’re all up on the second floor. I know one is leaking from time to time and maybe another. This may be easier and cheaper (in the long run) if I let a pro do this job.
     

    Rookie

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    14   0   0
    Sep 22, 2008
    18,155
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    Kokomo
    There's two types of replacement windows. I can't remember the technical terms, but one has a nail flange and one doesn't. If you get the ones without the flange, most of the installation can be done inside. I replaced 13 windows in my house for under $3,000. Two of them were large, around 54×100. They aren't top of the line, but they are fine. Double hung vinyl from Menards that came with a lifetime warranty.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    1   0   0
    Mar 22, 2011
    50,580
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    Mitchell
    There's two types of replacement windows. I can't remember the technical terms, but one has a nail flange and one doesn't. If you get the ones without the flange, most of the installation can be done inside. I replaced 13 windows in my house for under $3,000. Two of them were large, around 54×100. They aren't top of the line, but they are fine. Double hung vinyl from Menards that came with a lifetime warranty.

    Thanks. So you did the work yourself?
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    Oct 3, 2012
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    One of our chaplains at work has a construction business and I've used him twice now. If you like I'll see if he'll travel that far. I got bids from several places. Bee window was ridiculous, borderline scam with a slick presentation and ridiculous pricing. Kingdom Construction was reasonable and I would have been happy with them, but the good chaplain was even better on his bid and I'm real happy with what he did to my sunroom. Happy enough I had him do two more rooms and will have him do the remaining two windows this summer, big picture windows we wanted to save up for a bit before we did.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mar 22, 2011
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    One of our chaplains at work has a construction business and I've used him twice now. If you like I'll see if he'll travel that far. I got bids from several places. Bee window was ridiculous, borderline scam with a slick presentation and ridiculous pricing. Kingdom Construction was reasonable and I would have been happy with them, but the good chaplain was even better on his bid and I'm real happy with what he did to my sunroom. Happy enough I had him do two more rooms and will have him do the remaining two windows this summer, big picture windows we wanted to save up for a bit before we did.

    That’s at least 2X now I’ve read where Bee Window is high. I guess they have to pay for all of those tv ads somehow.

    Sure, if he’d be interested in a job down around Mitchell and you vouch for him, I’d be interested in hearing him out. Thanks!
     
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