Softlite Imperial vs. Alside Excalibur

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jlowen
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:54 am

Softlite Imperial vs. Alside Excalibur

#1 Post by jlowen »

I am shopping replacement windows and would like some guidance if possible. So far I have looked at Renewal by Andersen, Softlite Imperial DH-11 and the Alside Excalibur. I have a Pella representative coming later in the week to talk to me about the Pella Impervia. While the RBA windows seemed like a solid product, they were very pricey and I have eliminated them from my short list. The Alside Excalibur and the Softlite Imperial were shown by two local windows contractors who have very good reputations and are very highly rated for window and siding work. I would feel very comfortable with either contractor. I am wondering if the windows are comparable in quality and if not which is the better window from a reliability/efficiency point of view. BTW, contractor selling Excalibur came in considerably cheaper than the Softlite contractor. But that may partly be due to the amount of overhead since the cheaper contractor did not have as large an organization, i.e. no office staff, etc.

Thanks for any responses,
John

InfoSponge
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:25 am

#2 Post by InfoSponge »

The overhead of the dealer is definitely one aspect of the pricing, but the Excalibur is also a lower-midrange window, so it should fall on the low end of your estimates. The Excalibur is a popular window used by thousands of installers and a good installer can make it work well enough, but it isn't the type of window that will last you 30 years either and the frame isn't sturdy enough for large windows, in my opinion (those tiny demo models are always sturdy!). It all depends on your budget and needs. Either way, be sure you get LowE and Argon and compare u-factors if energy efficiency is a concern.

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