Excalibur vs. Preservation by Alside

After doing a lot of research and getting quotes my wife and I have gotten our choices down to two. I have been reading reviews here and other forums on both window the Excalibur and Preservation. From what I have read it seems that the Excalibur is a mid-grade window a step or two above new house quality and the Preservation is one of the top of the line from Alside. Since I'm no window expert or shall we say clueless I wanted to make sure my presumptions are correct. What you guys think?

I live in SE Indiana near Cincinnati. My house was built in 1984 and has aluminum windows just in case that matters. Thank you guys/gals.

Fergus Window Company
Window: Alside Excalibur http://www.alside.com/index.aspx?page=79
No. Windows: 14 (one in the garage)
Quote: $5,812.00
Warranty: 50 year life and a glass breakage warranty (labor and parts). Warranty can transfer if we sell the house but the glass coverage can not. We do not plan to move anytime soon.
No pressure sales, they have their own installers with at least 10 years experience each. They have had 3 complaints through the BBB in the past 36 months.

Factory Direct Remodeling
Window: Alside Preservation http://www.preservationcollection.com
No. Windows: 13 (forgot about the garage when he was here)
Quote: $5,785
Warranty: Double life time (labor and parts). Glass breakage is included and all warranty can transfer to new owner if we sell. 50 year.
He did the whole heat lamp test and it worked good. Not to much pressure, he gave us 30 days for this price. They have had no complaints from the BBB in the past 36 months.

From what I have read it seems like a no brainier to me to accept the quote from factory Direct. But when he was here he said they were a double pain and I thought the Preservation windows were triple pain. EDIT: I spoke with Factory direct and he said this would be double pain. If that is the case I wonder if he made a mistake on the name of the windows on our quote.


I wanted to get your all's opinion on our choices. What ever one we go with I will post a review after install and another one a year or so after here. Thanks again for any thoughts you have on this.

I must have asked a stupid question or something. Just for reference I went with the Excalibur. From what I have found they are a step down from the Preservation. The reason I went with the Excalibur is because the salesman for the Pres. wanted to change the cost by 1k because he wrote up our front bow window wrong. I spoke with his boss (owner) and asked about the Excalibur and he told me that the Pres. is a little better window but there is nothing wrong with Excalibur. He then told me he would have the sales guy send me a quote over for them and that I would be very pleased with the quote. When I got it he quoted me a crazy price that was more than the Preservation. I think (and I could be wrong) that the main difference between the two is the divider. Needless to say I didn't want to deal with this sales guy and went with another company that had a no pressure sale. She gave us the information and price, told her we were still shopping around and she told me to take my time and let her know. When I called her a month later (I never received a follow up) she told me she thought she lost the bid. I told her she got it but we needed to wait until we got our tax returns for the 20% down. She waived the down payment and told us to send it in when we got the check. She went ahead and had the windows measured and placed the order. This was two weeks ago and they should be installed in two weeks from today.

If anyone is in the Cincinnati area and wants the information on either company just ask. I don't want to bash the first company because I was told by the person that called asking why they did not get the bid that our sales guy was going through some personal issues and would not be working until he got them taken care of. Who know, BS or could be true. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So bottom line: 14 Excalibur windows, 2 sliders, 1 slide and clean and 11 DH. Price: 6k installed. 50 year warranty (service included) and 50 year glass replacement.

Good deal?

I'm sorry but your post is a bit confusing. You mentioned something about the quote for your Bow window being incorrect but, in the pricing breakdown you gave, there was no mention of a Bow window. I can't quite understand what's included in your post but I would go with the Preservation over the Excalibur even if it was 20% more. I may be misreading you but it sounds like you acted a bit snarky over the salesman's mistake and ended up buying a lesser quality window as some kind of retribution.

The bow in our front window is 4 DH. I should have pointed that out.

I did not get snarky with anyone. Maybe again I did not make my self clear. I didn't say I called his boss complaining. In fact I could not get a hold of the sales guys so I called the 800 with a question where the owners son happen to answer. I spoke with him about the difference between the two windows and didn't say one negative thing about our sales guy (he was winning the bid at this point, before he changed the quote). The owners boss sounded surprised at my quote for the Excalibur windows and that is when he told me he would have the sales guy send me over the quote for them and that I would be very pleased when I seen the price compared to what I was quoted from another company.

Before I got that quote the salesman called me and told me he looked at our bow window wrong and the wood ledge would have to be replaced. He gave me the new price for the pres. windows upping the price around 1k. He then gave me the quote for the Excalibur windows which turned out to be more than the pres. windows. As you could guess I was surprised with that quote. I told him I was confused and that I thought they should have been cheaper than the Pres. windows. He told me that is what he came up with. I thanked him for the quote and letting me know about the price change on the pres. windows and told him I would let him know.

After sitting back and looking at our choices and the confusion we had with the first company we decided to go with company #2. They had a better price, have their own employee installers with a min of 10 installing each and she threw in the 50 year glass break package on top of the 50 year service package.

Once I called company #2 and told them they won the bid she got things moving for us quickly. Company #1 called a couple days later and asked questions on why they did not win the bid. I look at these kind of calls as they want the truth to help them in the future. He asked if the sales guy was nice and I said yes. He asked if the windows were good quality. I told him as I see them then yes. After researching windows and local companies that they carry pretty much the same thing as everyone else (Excalibur is the biggest seller around here I was told more than once). He bluntly asked me why they lost the bid and I told him it was confusing dealing with them. Everyone basically has the same windows and it all comes down to the dealings and comfortableness I had with the company. I explained about the price change on the pres. and how the Ex. windows turned out costing pretty much more than the Pres. windows through them. I also told him that the other company did not use contractors to install but they had employees that work for them. That is when he told me the sales guy was going through some personal issues and that he was now off working on them. He thanked me for the information and that was that.

Was I snarky? Was I trying to "show my power" as a customer? Was I trying to get over on someone? Was I trying to throw that sales guy under the bus to try and gain something?

After shopping around and we decided with what we were going to go with and who. When company #1 contacted me I was not going to give them some BS answer and blow them off. If they wanted that then they would not have contacted me.

Skydawggy, do not take this post the wrong way. I'm trying to clear up what I meant and nothing else. I did not take your post as an attack and hope you do the same. The first reply I made I was trying to add content to this forum that would help it. A post with no reply is a worthless post. I was trying to give what I did and why and put myself out there asking to be contacted if anyone had any questions about my dealings. If you goggle "Excalibur vs. Preservation by Alside" this topic would be the third link to click on. I was trying to make this thread worth something and help out other people with the same question if searched.

I will still reply to this thread once installed and will do a install review and a one year review. I believe in the more content in forums like this one the more people that will be helped to make informed decisions. Windows are a big choice and a big buy. I would never buy a lesser quality window for retribution. The decision you go with is 6k one for me. I would have found another company to match their price.

My decision was made for this reason. From what I have read and heard the main difference between the windows is the glass spacer and $1,500.00 (after new quote). I didn't think $1,500.00 was worth the upgrade. If the price would have stayed the same and the quote did not go up I would have went with the Pres.

Thanks for clearing that up. I can understand now why you chose the company you did to do the install. I probably would have done the same thing myself. Good luck with the windows.

I'm guessing Ferguson is the window company you went with? I'm in hte Cincinnati area also.

Thank you, I think we will be happy with our choice. Anything is better than what we have now. Aluminum windows in a 1700sqf house with a heat pump. Our electric bill hit $450 this past month. Broken seals and a window that will not shut correctly with a half inch gap. I had to use weather stripping to close that gap.

We knew they had to be replaced when we bought this house back in March of last year but planned on getting the roof done first. A huge wind storm came through and took a bunch of shingles off and our home insurance picked up that bill (new roof) giving us the opportunity to get windows this year with tax returns.

Anyway thanks again and I will post a first impression when installed.



Good guess, yes it is. Have you used them?

No, I am still in the process of collecting quotes, and I will add them to my list to call.

Thanks!

If you do not decide in the next couple weeks check back here. I will let you know how the install goes.

I would review with your rep to check the U values on both these windows.
I do not believe that the excalibur will meet the new energy star requirements listed in the 2009 stimulus package.
You could be missing out on 1500 in tax credits.

Take a look at the Bainbridge window from softlite. It compares very favorably in price and styling with the excalibur, but also meets or exceeds energy start requirements.

S

Thanks for the reply. I have already signed the contract and the windows are on order. Would have loved to got this before. I will have to check but I'm pretty sure it has the same U values as the Preservation. I was told it is the same glass just different spacers.

i don't sell Preservation but would feel very comfortable doing so.

I spoke with my sales rep. and she told me that the package we got does meet the requirements for this. We will be getting the paperwork to submit with our taxes. I believe she said it needed to have a U rating of .3 (or .03 I can't remember) and our windows have a rating of .3 (or .03) and just makes it.

Looks like you got an average deal...at least based on what I've seen in the Milwaukee area.

I've been looking into replacement windows for about a year now since I need 18 windows and plan to stay in my home for as many years as I can.

Originally Excaliber was on my list but I found that the Excaliber is more for apartments and income properties. Their frames are not good enough to withstand temp. changes in WI.

Additonal research pointed me to the Alside Sheffield (step up from Excaliber), then even more research pointing me to the Preservation (step up from Sheffield).

If you really could have gotten Preservation around the same price as Excaliber, shame on the sales people for not explaining the upgrade in mechanics.

You never posted a follow-up on the installation...how did it go and are you still happy with your choice?