Alside v/s Seaway. Info on Seaway.

[rbsheba]

I live in PA and have been looking for 11 vinyl replacement windows. A salesman suggested Alside & Seaway. From the blurbs I read it appears Alside has had good reviews but I have not seen anything for Seaway.

Could someone please give me their thoughts & experiences on the Seaway line?

Thank you.

[Windows on Washington]

Next to Ohio, Pennsylvania is window heaven. You have your virtual pick of the litter.

One of the better brands currently available on market, Okna, is based out of Bristol, PA. I would give them, Sunrise and Simonton a look.

[Briant73]

I live in PA and have been looking for 11 vinyl replacement windows. A salesman suggested Alside & Seaway. From the blurbs I read it appears Alside has had good reviews but I have not seen anything for Seaway.

Could someone please give me their thoughts & experiences on the Seaway line?

Thank you.

Where in PA are you? Seaway is located in Erie, PA and has been operating for about 50 years or so. The routinely do factory tours and open houses if you want to check them out. I know this since I went on one of those open house/tours.

I live in the NW part of the state and tried to get OKNA to give me a dealer to contact but never got anything back. I pressed on and got four quotes, two for Simonton, one for Seaway, one for another PA company. I kept going over all the quotes and two stood out one being for the Simonton 5500 and the other for the Seaway Encore product. Both had similar specifications and both seemed to come with good installs. I chose the Seaway being in the area and also I preferred its look over the 5500.

The installers from my perspective seemed to do a great job and took their time. As they were done with the window install I noticed a few issues with the sashes/spacer in them and told the installer. On a few windows there was a tiny speck on the inside and the spacer was wavy or sticking up (superspacer). He took some pictures and told me they would call me in a day or two with a response. A week goes by with no call and I start to worry so I call, they take my name and message and two hours later they call back saying replacements are already being made for all the windows and they apologize for the issue saying it was way out of norm for them. Now nobody who has seen the windows really could see these issues without me pointing them out so it wasn't anything show stopping but I am glad they are going to make things right, without me doing anything but asking if things were wrong and pointing out possible issues.

They haven't installed the new sash units yet but I can say that the install they did good work and I am overall happy. Noise levels have dropped; the windows look great from the outside and inside, no water or air leaks that I have noticed. The company seems to stand behind their product.

Now I can say that the Simonton 5500 has very good reviews and I think I’d be just as happy with them and their level of support if I went that route but as I stated above I had my reasons for my choice.

Good luck with your window purchase and remember a window only performs as well as it’s installed.

[rbsheba]

I live in PA and have been looking for 11 vinyl replacement windows. A salesman suggested Alside & Seaway. From the blurbs I read it appears Alside has had good reviews but I have not seen anything for Seaway.

Could someone please give me their thoughts & experiences on the Seaway line?

Thank you.

Where in PA are you? Seaway is located in Erie, PA and has been operating for about 50 years or so. The routinely do factory tours and open houses if you want to check them out. I know this since I went on one of those open house/tours.

I live in the NW part of the state and tried to get OKNA to give me a dealer to contact but never got anything back. I pressed on and got four quotes, two for Simonton, one for Seaway, one for another PA company. I kept going over all the quotes and two stood out one being for the Simonton 5500 and the other for the Seaway Encore product. Both had similar specifications and both seemed to come with good installs. I chose the Seaway being in the area and also I preferred its look over the 5500.

The installers from my perspective seemed to do a great job and took their time. As they were done with the window install I noticed a few issues with the sashes/spacer in them and told the installer. On a few windows there was a tiny speck on the inside and the spacer was wavy or sticking up (superspacer). He took some pictures and told me they would call me in a day or two with a response. A week goes by with no call and I start to worry so I call, they take my name and message and two hours later they call back saying replacements are already being made for all the windows and they apologize for the issue saying it was way out of norm for them. Now nobody who has seen the windows really could see these issues without me pointing them out so it wasn't anything show stopping but I am glad they are going to make things right, without me doing anything but asking if things were wrong and pointing out possible issues.

They haven't installed the new sash units yet but I can say that the install they did good work and I am overall happy. Noise levels have dropped; the windows look great from the outside and inside, no water or air leaks that I have noticed. The company seems to stand behind their product.

Now I can say that the Simonton 5500 has very good reviews and I think I’d be just as happy with them and their level of support if I went that route but as I stated above I had my reasons for my choice.

Good luck with your window purchase and remember a window only performs as well as it’s installed.

Thank you. Do you mind me asking how long it has been since you have had these windows installed? I live near Quakertown so going to Easton is no big deal for me. As far as my installer - they have a good reputation on Angies List. My main concern is that the salesman also recommended Alside & I notice from the blurbs that there is a problem with water (also received an average rating from consumer reports on the water venue).

[Briant73]

Thank you. Do you mind me asking how long it has been since you have had these windows installed? I live near Quakertown so going to Easton is no big deal for me. As far as my installer - they have a good reputation on Angies List. My main concern is that the salesman also recommended Alside & I notice from the blurbs that there is a problem with water (also received an average rating from consumer reports on the water venue).

I just had them done a few weeks ago. I have read enough on here from the experts that a true sloped sill is what you want in a DH window instead of a pocket one. Seaway claims to have a true sloped sill and I know Simonton does also on their Double Hungs. Installers usually cary a few lines of windows with varying quality and features but the products they sell may have no relation to the quality of their work installing. I would interview the installer and get a feel for how they will take out your old windows, install the new ones and finish them off and will they also be there if a problem occurrs and if so for how long?

I never saw an Alside but I did stop and look at the vinyl windows in Lowes/HD and wasn't overly impressed especially since their display windows wouldn't open or close correctly. Most of the larger window companies have a search that helps find dealers in the area.