The Elements of Quality: How to Select Quality Windows

We all know that a quality product is always a wise investment, it is a matter of knowing what a quality product is. That is hard to determine unless you are educated about the industry that you are buying in which of course was the purpose of this site from the beginning. Purchasing a quality product will definitely pay great dividends over time. By buying right from the beginning you will not have to hassle with replacement windows in the near future, or the constant maintenance of low quality replacement windows. Not only will you be able to enjoy less maintenance, but if you research the right kind of replacement windows, you will enjoy energy savings as well. We will go into the passive solar qualities of windows in future posts.
When you are remodeling or building a home, you need to be thinking of the long-term effects of the decisions that you make when it comes to the structural elements of your home. So, when it comes to doors, windows, roofing, you will want to buy quality products that will not create the pain of constant maintenance or worse yet, replacement.



So what actually makes a product high-quality? One example of a high-quality product in the world of windows is Pella. Pella windows definitely stand out among many of the other window manufacturers in the industry as they are definitely considered a "benchmark" when comparing windows against other manufacturers.


So we have already decided that usually, you get what you pay for. True, you can over pay for replacement windows; however in the end overpaying for quality will still usually mean that you will own high-quality windows. The only time that it is not worth overpaying for a window is if it is a "builder grade" window. These windows usually come installed with the construction of track housing, and while they are not altogether horrible, they do usually tend to fail faster and you will have to replace these windows much quicker than you would high-quality windows. In some cases it may make sense to go with lower grade windows. For example, it was about three months ago I received a phone call from a landlord who had just suffered severe vandalism on his rental property. It seems that the vandal broke every window in the rental property. In the landlord's case, it made sense to go with the cheapest possible solution as it seemed likely that he would have to replace these windows again the future. There are definitely many options with several manufacturers, so it really depends on the project and what you are looking for. For most of us, we will be purchasing replacement windows for our primary residence so it is imperative that we buy right the first time.


A high-quality replacement window will have an excellent warranty in most cases. Make certain that you review the warranty in it's entirety. I know that I get lazy (most of the time) and reviewing warranties is not something that I like to do in my spare time; However, taking the time to review the warranty will only benefit you. I say this because it is always the fine print that comes back to haunt you in the end. Comparing the different warranties from different window manufacturers will definitely tell you how long the manufacturer believes their windows are good for before the window will start to fail. Once you know this, price is secondary in making a decision. In our next posts will we cover the difference betweeen window finishes.