Window Selection Recommendations

[rdpecken]

Hello All...
It's time to buy windows for our 14x24 little house. It has 4 openings (36" x 36") and 2 openings (48" x 48"). We're leaning toward sliders for their simplicity and clear view.
We would like double-paned, Low-E glass, and probably vinyl frames to make them somewhat energy efficient.

We've looked at the local Home Depot and Lowes stores. They mostly have Pella, Jeld-Wen and Betterbuilt brands in stock.

I know Pella has name-recognition going for it, but most of the display models we saw had broken latches, etc, whereas other brands did not. They just felt kind of cheap.

The Jeld-Wen appeared to this novice to be well made, but we would have to order them, as the tan color vinyl was not in stock. (We like desert colors... There is nothing white in the desert.)

We really liked the operation of the Betterbuilt brand windows. Their latches felt really good, and they slid open/closed very easily.  These would have to be ordered as well. However, a search on Google only turned up a couple of bad reviews by installers.

We've also looked at ordering online from customorderonline.com.  One of our neighbors up at the ranch ordered from there.  His double-paned looked reasonable, but he had not installed them yet, so we have no idea about the overall quality.

So our questions are:
If you have experience with any of these brands, have they been good?
Did you have any problems with your order from Home Deport , customorderonline or Lowes?
Should we just call up the local Anderson distributer and order our windows from there?

Thanks for your input... Randy

[PEG688]

Yup used all of them , Better builts are pretty good of the Home Despot bunch. I know HD sells the cheaper / lower lines of most stock items . So the Pella's your looking at are not "top of the line" Pella windows.

You'll do OK with ordering from HD , just allow time for dilevery and time to reorder IF or WHEN they come in damaged. And inspect every thing BEFORE you except them.

Generally we use Marvin's they're made down by Seattle and can del. in two weeks to us on Whidbey / PNW.

THay all come with warrenties that are similar. I'd watch "dark" colors in a very hot climate , all of them stopped the dark brown vinyl windows due to heat warping failures of the frames. Some years ago.  

G/L shop in advance and shop wisely, PEG  

[rdpecken]

... Better builts are pretty good of the Home Despot bunch.
...
I'd watch "dark" colors in a very hot climate...

Thanks for the quick response, PEG. I'll have to take another look at the BetterBuilts, as they were our first preference.
The house is at 5700 feet in Northern Arizona, so not too hot. We're thinking a Tan or sandstone color.

Thanks again... Randy P.

[MountainDon]

I've never had a problem with an order from either Home Depot or Lowe's [highlight]that they couldn't correct[/highlight].    They were aplogetic, courteous and all. As PEG mentioned stuff comes in damaged. It also sometimes arrives sized wrong, wrong color, or all of the above.   :'(  Example; I ordered a skylight at Lowe's recently. There are 5 size, color and type criteria. First time they got 1 out of 5   , second time 4 out of 5  :-/ . Third time was the charm.   So allow extra time just in case.  

Re the Pella at Lowes... here most of the real Pella line have to be ordered. But they do carry the Thermastar windows made by Pella (white) in stock. I've used a couple of them and they're after a couple years in NM sun. They're the light tan color.

I do have a personal soft spot for Pella casement windows tho'. Pricey. I have a house full of them that are now 22 years old. Wood with aluminum cladding.

[tc-vt]

Make sure to give your local privately owned building suppliers a look.  I have three near me which sometimes beat Home Depot or Lowes on price.  I ordered Marvin Integrity vinyl clads through one of them for around 250-300 each, I think.

Tom

[rdpecken]

I've never had a problem with an order from either Home Depot or Lowe's [highlight]that they couldn't correct[/highlight].    

Good to hear, MountainDon...
I'm not planning on doing the install until the first week in November, so that should give me some time to re-order once, at least.  If it isn't ready by then, I'll just reschedule my time off of work.

[rdpecken]

Make sure to give your local privately owned building suppliers a look.
Tom

Good idea, Tom.  I checked just one local distributer here in Mesa, but he just wanted to steer me into $350 windows.  They are nice, but my budget for the whole cabin is only around $10,000. So at this point, the $150 ones at Lowes look pretty good for the price.  The good news is that they are built locally, in Prescott Valley, and they were actually able to answer questions on the phone (I reached a human! ).

[FrankInWI]

  I was on the road for an appointment and I stopped at the local Habitat Store (Restore) and I fell for a HUGE combination of over/under windows.  The biggest over/under Anderson makes, and then two smaller ones on the sides.  There goes the country look on the south gable of my garage / loft, but WOW will that baby let the light in!  Tilt in, Low E, inside pine outside clad, screens, the whole thing... NEW too.

I also picked up 6 new sidelight type windows and a BIG Pella over/under with a Crecent window atop that.   ALL new (well, the pella has been sitting though).  

All for $325.   Big Time!  My son thinks I'm nuts... not sure how we will get it up to the second floor, but hey we'll figure something out.  

[rdpecken]

...
I also picked up 6 new sidelight type windows and a BIG Pella over/under with a Crecent window atop that.   ALL new (well, the pella has been sitting though).  

All for $325...

That's a great deal, Frank.
I ended up going back to Lowes and ordering the BetterBilts.  4:36"x36" gliders, 2:48"x48" gliders and 1:24"x54" single-hung. All with low-E dual-panes and vinyl frames. $975.
They should be here next week. I'll keep the group informed as to how things turn out.
Thanks to all... Randy P.

[FrankInWI]

that good deal big window is for the upper gabel end.  I still had to buy windows for the lower garage and the upper bonus room.  

I am putting dormers in the bonus room, and gave windows a lot of thought.   Like you I determined that sliders would work best for the garage, but I suddenly realized the same would be true for the 4 dormers upstairs.  The shed dormer type wall lends itself to more of a horizontaly longer window.  Why pay for two double humgs to get this effect, when you can do it with one slider.  

I went a bit high end, got the inside in real wood and the outside clad. Low E of course (only upstairs).  We have a regional building material et al competitor to HD that beats them at their own game; Menards.  Some of their low end stuff is crap, but it you buy right.... Anyway, I went with "Crestline".... they rated good in Consumer Reports, and there is a an additional -15% sale on right now!.  So...in two weeks I should have my windows.  Almond on the outside, not white.   OMG I can't believe how much money I am spending.    I am excited about how great those dormers are going to be though....and the windows looking out over mostly trees.  Yummy.....

[FrankInWI]

oh yeh..... HD said they'd beat any lumber and materials price I got from Menards, just give them the bid and they'll beat it, and by around 10%.  What a joke, they turned all the plywood into OSB, messed up on some sizes, and forgot a few items.  Then they came back $300 less on a $3.5 K bid.   Goodbye HD.   Menards is growing, they have some cheap crap...but can buy up too.  I do like to see "an independent" beat the big boxes at their own game....

John R. Menard, Jr. (born 1940) is an American entrepreneur who is the founder and owner of Menards, a major Midwestern home improvement store chain. Menard is also a partner in Robby Gordon Motorsports with NASCAR owner/driver Robby Gordon, and is the father of NASCAR driver Paul Menard.

As early as 1959, Menard ran a business constructing pole buildings with friends from college.[citation needed]

A 1963 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Menard opened his first hardware store in 1972. As of 2005, his company owned 203 stores resulting in an estimated $5.5 billion in sales. He makes his home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His son is Paul Menard, driver of the #15 Menards Chevrolet in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Menard also owns an engine shop in the United Kingdom that produced engines for Team Menard and Robby Gordon Motorsports and was the owner of Team Menard which won the 1997 and 1999 Indy Racing League championships.

Menard had a net worth of $7.3 billion in 2007, according to the Forbes 400, and is the richest person in Wisconsin.[1]