Simonton or Milgard Windows

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Dublee702
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 1:10 am

Simonton or Milgard Windows

#1 Post by Dublee702 »

I currently live in Southern California and i have 13 windows and one patio door to replace. Recently i installed a milgard bay window into my kitchen. Lately i have done research and contractors have referred to me to Simonton instead of Milgard. THey say that Milgard is behind in there technology and Simonton's superspacer is one of the best in the market. The quotes on the Milgard and the Simonton's are very similar. They referred me to Simonton 7300 series. I want a window that has a very good UV rating,. R-rating and U- factor. The contractor is called Fine Finish. They have a contract with Home depot but i am not signing with Home Depot. What is your take on simonton and Milgard. I just want the truth behind both windows.

lruby
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:35 pm

#2 Post by lruby »

Hi,

I've been watching this post and hoping someone knowledgeable would reply. Although, there was another thread at some point regarding Simonton vs. Milgard. I live in Southern California and am also looking at Milgard Classic, Milgard Styleline and Simonton 7300/7500. (Some of our windows may have to be 7500s). We've received quotes for both, and there isn't much of a difference.

I'll give you my take on what we know so far. We have been able to check out Milgard Classics at a showroom and at a neighbor's house and were able to get into a home that has the Simontons. I think the Simontons seem to be a little better quality. We like the smaller profile of the Simontons as they will require us to relocate fewer of our window blinds than either of the Milgard lines. Based on our research I would agree that the Super Spacers Simonton is using are a lot better than the Intercept spacers that Milgard is still using. I also like the Simonton cam locks better. They seal the window up better and it's a lot easier to tell when the window is actually locked. The Milgard locks are convenient when opening the window but they don't seal the window as tightly. Milgard charges extra for argon, Simonton always uses argon. I like the fact that the Simonton single hungs tilt for cleaning. Milgard only does that on their double hungs.

I think the warranties are a wash. Simonton has better language so we can actually understand exactly what they cover, and they cover more of the product than Milgard (screens, hardware and glass breakage), but Milgard states that they cover labor. Which I don't think anyone else does. So if we go with Simonton we'll be trying to go with someone who has been installing them for a long period of time in our area so we can feel more secure that they won't be going away anytime soon. If the installation company disappears then we'll be stuck with labor costs if we need any warranty repairs. Based on my interpretation of the warranty, this wouldn't be the case with Milgard.

I'm wondering a little about the wheels that Simonton uses on the horizontal sliders. The plastic ones seem to be pretty useless. They now offer a brass wheel, but one of the sales people told us they leave dark marks on the tracks. I don't think either the Simonton or Milgard horizontal sliders slide very easily when the windows get larger. We were able to see pretty good sized horizontal sliders from both companies at the homes we went to.

At the moment we're leaning towards the Simontons for the reasons I listed, but are still looking for the right company to buy them from. Right now I'm more comfortable with the companies in our area that install Milgard. We have someone coming in a few days to give us a quote who sells both Simonton and Milgard. That should be interesting. I was already told by the person who took my call that they prefer to sell Simonton, but I don't know the reasons just yet.

Lisa

contramoy
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:45 am

Simontone

#3 Post by contramoy »

Lisa, I know that Sears installs Simonton windows as well. Have you tried them yet?

lruby
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:35 pm

#4 Post by lruby »

We haven't tried Sears. My preference is to stick with someone whose only business is windows and doors and who doesn't subcontract labor. I'm not sure who Sears uses for installation, but based on other products I've bought from them I think they probably subcontract. I think we've found the company we want to use.

Lisa

Dublee702
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 1:10 am

#5 Post by Dublee702 »

Thanks Lisa for sharing your thoughts about this. By any chance can you tell me who you are getting to install your windows.

Thanks

lruby
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:35 pm

#6 Post by lruby »

We're going to go with Brothers Home Improvement. They were the first ones that sent a sales person out who could actually answer my technical questions and was willing to admit when he couldn't. They have a spotless record with the BBB. They gave us a lot of addresses so we could do drive bys to look at the outside of homes they have done, and there were multiple cases of multiple addresses on the same street. To me this means there must have been a lot of happy customers. From a visual external standpoint the installs were some of the cleanest we've seen. I've seen a lot of sloppiness with caulking with many of the installations we've seen in our neighborhood that were done by other companies. They've been in business for 12 years, 7 in San Diego. A lot of the companies who do Simonton windows in San Diego haven't been here even that long. (We started out thinking we were going to go with Simonton and we may still make that choice.) On top of these positives the quote we got from them was very reasonable.

Lisa

dschuman
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:51 pm

lruby question

#7 Post by dschuman »

Hi lruby,

We are also looking at brothers to do our windoes in northern california.
Are they doing reto fit or new construction windows for you?
Also, which window did you go with?

Thanks

lruby
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:35 pm

#8 Post by lruby »

We're still deciding on which windows, but we're now leaning towards buying Brothers Home Improvement's own windows. Our final measurement is scheduled for next Wednesday so we have to decide by then.

The Brothers frame seems a lot sturdier to me than Simonton's and it has a better AAMA rating. The NFRC ratings are pretty close. I posted some info on it on another thread. We were able to see both Brothers and Simonton production windows and sliders that they had in their storage area waiting to be installed, and there was a noticeable difference in the frames. I also like the wheels better that they use on their sliders. The main downside with Brothers is that they use capillary tubes so we can't get argon. Well we could, but it would be a waste of money because it will leak out of the tubes pretty quickly. We also discovered a weakness in the hardware they use at the bottom of their single hung windows. We ran into one that was broken in their showroom. I asked if they have had any problems with this, and was told they've had to replace four of the parts in homes where they have installed the windows. That concerned me, but the parts are very easy to replace. Their operations manager fixed the window while we were standing there. So I asked about getting spare parts (in case they go out of business for some reason) and was told that should be doable. I offered to pay for them, but the sales person said he would give them to us. They probably don't cost very much.

I got some reference phone numbers today for people that have Brothers windows. I plan on calling this weekend. The sales person down here did not do a major hard sell on the Brothers windows, but he did a good job of making us aware of them and telling us what he feels are their strong points.

Lisa

joe123
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 12:13 pm

#9 Post by joe123 »

I looked at Simonton 2-3 years ago when I was looking at retrofit vinyl windows.

Simonton looked like very nice windows, but a recent search I did on the internet reveals folks who are complaining with problems about Simonton - like air leaks, etc.

What was alarming to me was not one or two cases, but some.

Anyone else have experience with Simonton windows?

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