The house was built in 1920 and the windows are still in decent shape, but the aluminum storms from decades ago are kaput. I live in a rural city that does not have expensive homes, so I don't want to put diamond class windows in a purely functional home. But I also want the windows to last the rest of my life. I am retired so it may not be more than a 2-3 decades.

If you have any recommendations they would be much appreciated.

There are quite a few good brands in the MA area.

I would also look at windows made by Sunrise, Okna, Softlite and Gorell if you want a good quality vinyl window.

Opinions?

You cannot replace them with anything that will last as long as they already have.

You can remove and replace the storms without replacing the windows.

Solid product and company.

Thanks all for your help.

I did my due diligence, I have almost always hired locally, but it was more than a matter of price or loyalty. Long term satisfaction was the main motivation.

I had talked with a well known windows company in Pittsfield, they advertise a lot, and they have a showroom, but the number of unresolved complaints deterred me.

So Home Depot got my order. Clarity and specificity counts. I will report back on my experience with them later.

The Home Depot people took care of all the licenses, and because of the lead paint in older houses, also complied with the abatement rules. They showed up exactly when scheduled, and even came back six weeks later for a couple of minor fixes. The whole process could not have been easier. The only snag was two windows came with half screens instead of the full screens I ordered, but they were replaced within a few weeks, and they left the half screens behind which is great for summer when I stick an ac into two of the windows.

I admit the costs were higher than some other contractors offered, but I had the advantage of being able to look at their windows next to cheaper ones my neighbor had installed. Mine are of thicker material, and the installation was far more detail oriented. The team that did the work stuffed the ballast pockets with fiberglas insulation, and best of all did the most thorough job of silicone sealing both inside and outside that I could have asked for.

And did I say it looks great? The sound level has dropped a lot, and while I don't mind paying for quality, they also financed the whole deal, and since I will pay the whole job off before a year is up, I pay no interest.

So on a scale of 1 to 10 you could call this a 9.9.

1. RRP is not abatement. Abatement is removal of all the lead containing materials in the abatement location. RRP is simply minimizing the risk of exposure to lead, albeit grossly overblown.

2. There is absolutely nothing formatively different about the Home Depot Simonton window and what you would get from a local Simonton Dealer.

I am glad that Larry had a good experience and Home Depot/Lowes certainly serve a purpose in the market. That being said, they do not offer the oversite and management that many window specific companies would provide.