OK
Maybe not all,but I am noticing a disturbing trend of poor quality vinyl windows to the point I wonder if telling people to upgrade from single pane with storms is always a good idea.
I see busted seals at an alarming rate and lets face it buying a simple double hung to replace the warped ,not matched,tight,loose upper which falls when unlocked along with bad caulking makes me think.
I used to call casements “Florida windows” because they were made only for that climate and not Chicago’s with all the drafts but now the casements seem superior along with "Horizontal sliders) which have the fewest issues of all.
Some brands are better than others .
"Climate Guard seems to be the best that I have inspected with fewest issues.
how about the kind that have no metal retainer over the butel gaskets .
Facing south I sometimes find them melting and dripping in between the glass.
Anybody have an opinion on good and bad types or brands here ?
Thanks
Bob
You get what you pay for, labor wise and material wise.
There are a lot of quality double hungs out there and there are a lot of quality craftsmen out there but if you buy cheap windows and hire cheap labor you shouldn’t expect quality results. When I say “you” I don’t mean you personally, just in general.
I have never had a complaint on any vinyl double hung that I have installed over the years…maybe You are just running into a bunch of economy grade product…In my experience crap is crap…vinyl,wood, casement ,slider, double hung…
What I am having a hard time with is finding brand names on the bad ones.
Is there a tip for finding the manufacturer or just too many names to make it worth my while ?
The names I see are Traco,AWA,Pella and of course Climate Guard.
Those are usually not too bad.
The metal frame seem to be much higher quality as well.
I completely agree. I put both Jeld-wen and top of the line Marvin large double hung windows in my house in chicago. After 10 years, there’s a literal breeze coming through between the sash and casing on some of the windows. In both cases, they are interior wood with aluminum cladding. They still look great, but when it gets below 20 degrees and windy, they are not performing. I will only install casement windows from now on that have a “real seal”. These were installed by professional carpenter, not DIY. There’s no shifting of the house, its 110 years old brick, not moving.