Replacing the glass today

[My Old Tools]

We are having 38 IGUs replaced today. A few were fogging, all of them are 20 years old, and the wife wanted the internal grids gone. It really opens up the house, modernizes it, and new glass is much clearer than 20 year old glass. Added Low E as well.

 

[My Old Tools]

It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than new windows.

 

[dfiler2]

That looks great, I've got a couple of windows i should replace for the same reason.

 

[Skyking1992]

Wow, I can only imagine what that cost. I just replaced one sash from a pella double hung window. Almost $700 and I had to install it. I'm really, really disappointed in my pella windows that my builder told me were lifetime windows 23 years ago.

 

[dcg9381]

I'm really, really disappointed in my pella windows that my builder told me were lifetime windows 23 years ago.

It's worth what most lifetime warranties are worth in construction - at BEST the price of the product... Which is a fraction of what it'd take to replace them. They'll probably blame the installer anyway.

Pella (like many other manufacturers) has different series of windows. And you probably don't want the "builder grade" line. As a good GC friend of mine said "windows don't sell houses" - probably true if you're building homes in the "reasonable" price range. We doubled or tripled our window budget to get out of the "builder grade" class of windows. Went with Marvin mid-tier lines of fiberglass windows. How they will hold up in 23 years, TBD if I'll be around to tell you...

 

[nadogail]

Wow, I can only imagine what that cost. I just replaced one sash from a pella double hung window. Almost $700 and I had to install it. I'm really, really disappointed in my pella windows that my builder told me were lifetime windows 23 years ago.

If they were “Lifetime Windows” why should you be picking up the cost of replacing them?

 

[WisJim]

Thirty years ago we had done a lot of work on the old farmhouse we bought in 1989, and we installed new complete windows in three rooms because we totally changed the room usage and window sizes and types. We used Weathershield windows, aluminum clad thermopanes made of wood in Wisconsin. When we sold the house just a year ago, we had not replaced any windows, no internal fogging, no problems with operation. Some casements and some were double hung. Not sure if we were lucky or if they were really good units.

 

[dcg9381]

If they were “Lifetime Windows” why should you be picking up the cost of replacing them?

Because warranty details. Usually " Nontransferable Limited Lifetime Warranty" (Pella).

• Covers original owner/builder only
• Does not cover labor cost, after 2 years
• Product cost only, limited to the cost of the product 20+ years ago.

Basically about 5 pages of exclusions and fine print.

 

[Skyking1992]

I didn't mean to hijack the ops thread.

The pella windows I got were not builder grade - they were the pro-line, supposedly the same window as the designer line, but with less options, such as the encased blinds.

The warranty against wood rot is 20 years and my windows are now 23 years old.

Some googling shows that pella has a lot of complaints and even a class action law suit that paid out millions, but of course, I'm too late for that.

When I built, the builder gave me a choice between Anderson and Pella. I thought my dollar went a little further with Pella. I guess it's the same old "you get what you pay for"

 

[Magnum440d100]

One of the biggest improvements that I would see when I did glazing “service” work, was when people would order their replacement glass sans muntins, with black bands.

That really made the door/window frame pop, and gave it a modern look.


When my personal windows fail, I’ll do the same.

 

[My Old Tools]

Wow, I can only imagine what that cost. I just replaced one sash from a pella double hung window. Almost $700 and I had to install it. I'm really, really disappointed in my pella windows that my builder told me were lifetime windows 23 years ago.

$6800.