OK, after reading through the old forum and this new one for the last 2 hours. I get these feelings:
1. Best brands: Alside, Simonton, Schuco, Pella, Anlin, Gorell
2. Stay away from Home Depot, Lowes, Champion due to low end choices and iffiness of installers.
I have 2 identical windows, they are currently VERY low end slider type windows, about 6 feet wide by 4.5 feet tall. I want to replace both of these with double double hung windows (meaning 2 double hung side by side) with tilt in cleaning, argon gas, low e, and grids on top only. I did get the following bids:
Lowes: Thermastar by Pella: $420 @ (not installed) - these were single hung as the salesman said they had no double double hung
HomeDepot: Milgard Classic: $700 @ (not installed) - double hung
I know the Thermastars are no good, so I will stay away from them. The Milgards seem to be a mixed bag here. I liked their operation, but they look really plain. I don't think I can get Anlin here (in Boise, Idaho) or Schuco. But there is a local Alside dealer/installer and I think I can get Simonton through Sears (? confirm please). And I am not sure about Gorell. We have a local Pella showroom here I'd like to visit too.
How do Alside, Milgard, Simonton, Gorell and Pella stack up against each other? What makes the good ones better than the fair ones?
So far, my read of the overall opinions is something like:
Simonton>=Alside>=Pella>Gorell>Milgard. Is that the general opinion?
How much might I expect to pay for the Simonton or Alside alternatives?
Great forum, thanks in advance for help!!!
EDIT: looks like Simonton and Gorrell are out of the picture...no Sears window install locally and nearest Simonton dealer is 200 miles away...[/code]
Which vinyl replacement brand??? Poll included!
Which vinyl replacement brand??? Poll included!
Last edited by bones on Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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As I said in first post, Shuco is not available here, so I didn't include it in the pollHipKat wrote:I know people are mostly torn on the price, but I can't see anything beating the Shuco in any other category.
I'm surprised it's not in the poll as you included it in the post as far as the better windows go
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