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| Hey Folks,
I'm about to take the dive on some impact windows (thanks to a My safe florida home grant).... need some advice on what brand to go with.... I've read a ton of posts on here but get a bit overwhelmed with the technical jargon.... I've gotten quotes on ES Windows, Lawson, and PGT.... which one should I go with??? Or None of the above? Thanks in advice... Feel free to be jaded and opinionated.... if you think something is junk, I'd rather know about! Thanks, Carlos- |
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| I have never heard of any of them as I am form NY. Florida is somewhat unique unto itself as there in no energy code there. I would check with your local better business bureau. |
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| I had 23 windows replaced 2 months ago with PGT Winguard and I'm happy with them, even more so now that Tropical Storm Fay is here. They cost around $21,000 installed. I live near Ft Lauderdale and had them installed by East Coast Windows and Doors. They were very professional and did a good job. The PGT website is awful however and darn near useless, so the sales people at East Coast were crucial. I have a combination of casement, fixed panel, sliding and even a couple single hung. They are VERY solid and make a big difference in the noise from outside. Also, despite being non-thermally broken aluminum frames my electric bill has gone down meaningfully, though that may be more a sign of just how crappy my old windows were. On the front of the house I had the wood-grained look installed (large casements with Brittany muntins) and they're pretty convincing unless you get right up on top of them. They all crank/slide/raise well, but they're only 2 months old. I was happy to kiss my hurricane panels good-buy. I had also looked at Simonton (didn't like the distributor at all), Pella and CGI. I almost went with CGI, which were really beautiful but would have cost about $7K more. I had qualms about the Pellas due to customer service complaints I've read about here and again, I didn't like their local distributor/installer. In fact, the one thing I really learned from this process is that you can love the window but a particular brand may only have one or two companies locally who carry it, and if they don't seem up to par or get bad reviews when you do your due diligence you can forget about it for replacements. I really wish window manufacturers had more of a role in the sales/installation end of things but they don't. Some of the window installation companies made used-car salesmen look good. |
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| In Dade County, we chose CGI aluminum casement hurricane windows. We love them and did not find them to be too much more expensive than a PGT estimate. |
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