Adersen Renewal Replacment windows

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researcher
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Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:11 am

#16 Post by researcher »

[quote="steelersfan"]The Renewal by Anderson folks here refused to come over to my house unles both me and my wife were present. For that they lost a potential sale and from what I've read about the Renewal, I'm glad they played the sleezy hardball card.[/quote]

If they said that to me, i would say, OK don't come over. I had Sunrise, Visra, Schuco, and Renewal come out and none of them asked this of me. I could have gotten Vista for under $10,000 but could not live with what they looked like for one thing.

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Window4U (IL)
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#17 Post by Window4U (IL) »

researcher wrote: We almost went with Schuco but went with Renewal instead because Schuco could not meet our needs is several areas. The lowest we could Schuco down to was just under $19,000 for inserts. I paid 25,000 for Renewal but that included casements. Schuco could not give me casements because they would sag because of there size. Schuco could not give me the exterior color we wanted nor the wood interior we wanted. The Renewal's price also included finishing the wood interior that did take four steps to complete.

Renewal also did not give us inserted, it was a complete tear out as to not reduce the glass area. We like a well lit home. The south side of our house can gets really hot in the summer and the windows are long, so we did not want a material that would expand that much. And i do not like the looks of aluminum capping. We have aluminum capping around a service door and it looks cheap compared to what the windows look like. We are very pleased the looks of the Renewal windows in and out. Schuco may be fine for some homes but not for ours.
Hey, if you are happy then who is to say you made a wrong choice...not me. There are some homes vinyl just doesn't work in. Renewal windows with wood interiors are very beautiful windows. If there are no tolerance problems and you got a good install I am sure you will be happy for a long time.
I had some issues with them because of the welded frame corners being very brittle. I was told I was a liar by some Renewal salesmen visiting the site when I made the comments. To Andersen's credit they recognized the problem and stopped welding them and went to a butt joint frame corner. Now if they would just lower the price in line with what they are worth.

They are not the most energy efficient window in the world, but hey...there is a place for almost everyone in the market. I say almost because there are some I wish would go away.

researcher
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:11 am

#18 Post by researcher »

[quote="ANOTHER WINDOW GUY"]Nope, comes std with your choice of five different ext colors and if theres more than five windows on the job we'll eat the setup and the customer has a choice of a thousand colors.[/quote]

Well if I were still shopping I would look into them. I am courious, what window is it?

chrisexv6
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#19 Post by chrisexv6 »

researcher wrote:
steelersfan wrote:The Renewal by Anderson folks here refused to come over to my house unles both me and my wife were present. For that they lost a potential sale and from what I've read about the Renewal, I'm glad they played the sleezy hardball card.
If they said that to me, i would say, OK don't come over. I had Sunrise, Visra, Schuco, and Renewal come out and none of them asked this of me. I could have gotten Vista for under $10,000 but could not live with what they looked like for one thing.
Our Schuco salesman tried to pull this BS. I really wanted to see the windows, etc. so I let him tell me I had to have my wife at the presentation, but once I explained why she couldnt be there (c-section 2 weeks earlier) he backed down. I appreciated that and let him know that anything he felt my wife needed to see could be told to her when we went upstairs to measure the windows. He didnt bother. And I dont know if he knows that was worth at least a little when it came down to the sale. Granted many other salesman never asked my wife to be there, but at least the Schuco guy wasnt hardnosed enough to lose a sale over it.

-Chris

jdegeorge
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Location: Central New Jersey

#20 Post by jdegeorge »

I had a Schuco dealer come over last week and I thought I was sold on them. Last night I had a Renewal By Andersen dealer come over. Yes, I know it's a bit more expensive than Schuco, which itself isn't cheap to begin with, but having had more time to spend with the Andersen window (sounds like a blind date!) my wife and I got to like it more.

I've read some of the posts on here, many praising RBA and many praising Schuco. They each have their faults. They each have their good points. They're both good windows. They're both expensive. I think that Andersen is the better deal for us.

chrisexv6
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#21 Post by chrisexv6 »

Funny you say that......Schuco was actually more expensive than RBA for us. In fact I thought the Andersen price was completely nuts until I had the Heat Shield 19 guy out. And I actually had a quote for Certainteed that came in close to RBA because I wanted to change sliders into casements because the Certainteed sliders did not install any confidence in me in regards to actually sealing air out.

Once that RBA price was our new "baseline", the extra 2K for Schuco seemed like a no-brainer. I was set on RBA too, but the fact that they wont divulge any specs scares me. I also didnt like the "vinyl stinks" vibe from the salesman, considering he couldnt really answer when I asked "if vinyl is so bad how come Andersen doesnt make *all* their windows out of Fibrex?"

The salesman and I actually called Schuco directly and they gave us the numbers over the phone. And he didnt knock any other types of windows (even saying that the Andersen is a decent window if you are looking for colors and a nice woodgrain appearance).

-Chris

jdegeorge
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Location: Central New Jersey

#22 Post by jdegeorge »

crisexv6 writes:
Once that RBA price was our new "baseline", the extra 2K for Schuco seemed like a no-brainer. I was set on RBA too, but the fact that they wont divulge any specs scares me. I also didnt like the "vinyl stinks" vibe from the salesman, considering he couldnt really answer when I asked "if vinyl is so bad how come Andersen doesnt make *all* their windows out of Fibrex?"
I asked that of my RBA dealer. He said that the Andersen company invented the Vinyl window years ago but never produced it. They never felt that it was strong enough to withstand the expansion and contraction and still hold the seal. 30 years ago they came up with Fibrex as a replacement for 100% vinyl and tested it for 20 years before introducing it to the market 10 years ago. He also said that Trex decking, a similar wood/vinyl composite product, is also based on patents and formulas from Andersen.

Other than RBA, the dealer said Andersen makes only new construction (not custom) windows. They are wood with vinyl cladding. The trees are purchased from Boise Cascade and 2 other wood producers. The wood is farmed and very young when cut. As much as they dry it out it still is a wet product. Pella, Marvin and others get their wood from the same places and have the same problems. They don't last very long and that's why they don't guarantee them for more than 10 years. It would be a lesser guarantee if it wasn't for the vinyl cladding.

They have a 1,000,000 piece NJ distributor that they're making a new construction Fibrex window for. He said the name but I can't remember it. This could be the proving grounds for Fibrex in the new construction market for Andersen.

My RBA dealer was very open, so I don't know what type of specs you were asking about that he wouldn't tell you.

But, if it wasn't for my wife and I not being happy with the Schuco dealer we might be having Schuco windows installed instead of RBA.

We're happy with our decision.
Last edited by jdegeorge on Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The U Factor
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#23 Post by The U Factor »

I don't want to rock the boat, but that RBA story is well...a bit of a stretch from the truth that I know of. Maybe some of the big guys can chip in here to clear a few points..


Anderson invented Vinyl windows? I don't know, is that true?

The invented "fibrex" 30 years ago, tested for 20, available for 10? My understanding was that the "Fibrex" was a solution to dispose of there waste while creating a new product. All of this done in the last 5-10 years or so. What is the case?


1,000,000 piece distributor? I have heard they are moving to the lumber yards this year, or a variation of RBA, is this true?

Thanks in advance window4u who always has the answers!

jdegeorge
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Location: Central New Jersey

#24 Post by jdegeorge »

The U Factor wrote:I don't want to rock the boat, but that RBA story is well...a bit of a stretch from the truth that I know of. Maybe some of the big guys can chip in here to clear a few points..


Anderson invented Vinyl windows? I don't know, is that true?

The invented "fibrex" 30 years ago, tested for 20, available for 10? My understanding was that the "Fibrex" was a solution to dispose of there waste while creating a new product. All of this done in the last 5-10 years or so. What is the case?


1,000,000 piece distributor? I have heard they are moving to the lumber yards this year, or a variation of RBA, is this true?

Thanks in advance window4u who always has the answers!
Yes, Fibrex is made from the saw dust, wood chips and vinyl remnants from their new contruction line. He said that.

Maybe it was $1,000,000 not 1,000,000 pieces? I could be wrong (won't be the first time...ask my wife!) :-)

"Inventor of Vinyl" I guess is the one that needs to be substantiated.

The U Factor
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#25 Post by The U Factor »

also what kind of warranty were you given? Just curious.

jdegeorge
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#26 Post by jdegeorge »

20 year warranty, full parts, labor, etc. Won't cost us a penny for any service call for 20 years, even if the window needs to be replaced. Each window has a bar code in it which tells them exactly which window is the issue, and should they need to make a new sash, or the whole window, they'll already have the dimensions to expedite the replacement replacement.

I thought it was comparable to Schuco's warranty.

steelersfan
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#27 Post by steelersfan »

Anderson makes a wood replacement window called the Woodwright. Wood on the inside and vinyl clad on the outside. Outside availble in four colors. Inside available in different woods.

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Window4U (IL)
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#28 Post by Window4U (IL) »


I asked that of my RBA dealer. He said that the Andersen company invented the Vinyl window years ago but never produced it.
http://www.dashwood.com/ourcompany/

WindDoze
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#29 Post by WindDoze »

jdegeorge wrote:There has to be some way to have the government or someone control the pricing in this industry! It's not fair. There's no proof that the prices are good. They can charge whatever people are willing to pay.
There already is something regulating it...a free market. As the internet and forums like this grow in popularity, the dinosaurs in our industry will eventually die off. Government regulated price controls don't work. They've failed every time they are instituted.

By the way I can list literally hundreds of products that have higher margins than replacement windows.

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Window4U (IL)
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#30 Post by Window4U (IL) »

WindDoze wrote:
By the way I can list literally hundreds of products that have higher margins than replacement windows.

Amen to that!
Anyone that thinks most companies are getting rich doing windows is quite mistaken. It's a tough business....

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