Discussion Board Forum for Vinyl Windows

FWIW, when I was window shopping, I started paying more attention to windows and trim detailing on other houses around my neighborhood. One thing I noticed was that a lot of houses had windows and/or trim around the windows deliberately chosen to contrast with other trim on the house, rather than be...

Building codes vary from state to state. Here in MA, I believe that both sashes of the bathtub windows need to be tempered and the stairway windows do not need to be tempered at all if each sash has an exposed glass area less than 9 square feet. (I found the building code online but it's been a coup...

I think that if you look in other threads here, you will find the window pros mentioning a number of brands of windows which are considered to be better than Alside. I'm not sure why you'd want a window "comparable" in quality to the Alside instead of a better one. :? Based on the research...

It's really hard to say what a fair installation price is without seeing the house and existing windows. I found that my quotes were all higher than what seems to be "normal", even for this area (Boston). After a while I realized that my installation is not "normal", either -- my...

can they be screwed into the vinyl? I'm sure you could mount the alarm sensors that way, but why would you want to make holes in your new windows? :? The new sensors I bought are about half the size of the old ones.... they do have a tab for screw mounting sticking out on the side, but it's designe...

My old aluminum windows have surface-mount magnetic alarm sensors screwed in to the frame and sash. I looked around on the net and found replacements that mount with double-stick tape instead -- try techmall.com. They're very inexpensive. My alarm system is not under contract (it was installed 2 own...

The Sunrise windows actually come in two different brown colors.... the very dark brown is only available with white interior. You can get woodgrain interior with the medium brown, but I didn't care for either the woodgrains or that particular shade of brown.... it's got kind of a cocoa-pink tone to...

I'm a homeowner rather than a pro, but.... since nobody has spoken up about Harvey.... Harvey is based in Massachusetts, where I am, and has a huge market share here. It's considered a good-quality mid-grade window here. One advantage of going with a local company is that you save a bit on shipping....

I can't believe how hard it is to get companies to respond with their proposals. I finally get someone to come out and show me the windows I want to see... and then no response. Is it something I said??!!! Yeah, isn't that the pits? I had the same problem with one of the dealers I was trying to get...

Let me try to explain a bit here.... bear in mind that I'm an engineer, not a window pro.... The thing that decreases the SHGC on a window is a low-E coating. A low-E coating will also block light. Tinted glass is different than low-E. It will block light, but it may or may not decrease SHGC. If you...

You don't necessarily need a dark tint to get the effect you want; the number you are looking for is a low SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient) rather than a low VLT (visible light transmission) rating. The low-E coatings on the windows nowadays are designed to reduce SHGC, but most folks still want t...

You might look at a window and door specialty retailer instead of a "big box" store. Around here there are at least 3 that I know of, that sell brands like Marvin, Andersen, etc. Also there is a Pella dealer with their own store. You could get better quality windows at any of these places ...

I would have to guess that the ones that are $185 installed are probably very low-quality windows and even lower-quality installation. :? At least it is very hard for me to see how they can put in a quality product for that price; to some extent, you do get what you pay for, or what you don't pay fo...

I agree, I had that experience as well -- I was interested in Marvin Infinity windows, but it took 2 weeks to get an appointment with someone from the local dealer, when the guy came out he showed up without samples or brochures and left without giving me an estimate, and after another 2 weeks of tr...

Hmmm, that appears to be correct about the regular Sunrises -- I see the fiberglass sash reinforcement is not mentioned on the web site materials for that brand, while it is shown on the Restorations and Vanguard sites. It sure would be less confusing if they'd just have one site with a comparison o...