Alside Windows - Why So Cheap?

[DarkHelmetII]

Looking at window replacement. Quote from a contractor using Alside vinyl coming in at under $15,000 installed whereas other companies are in the $30 - $50k range for Anderson / Renewal by Anderson / Marvin. Is Alside complete garbage or what's going on here?

Solid reviews. Validated with references.

I just can't wrap my head around the price differential. I could buy these windows twice over and still come ahead - so even if they are somewhat inferior (which is a maybe) to some other options could it really be that much worse? I could go triple pane and still be well under these other quotes.

Like with HVAC and many other things ... installation is very important. Based on references and reviews that checks out very positively as well.

[bombcar]

Anderson / Renewal by Anderson

These guys send salesmen to your house. They're famous for being really pricy.

[scophreak]

Haven't heard of Alside in particular, but I am aware that other brands (e.g., Okna, Sunrise) have scores of high ratings and are also significantly cheaper than options such as Andersen/Marvin/etc.

[gotoparks]

Renewal by Anderson spends a lot on marketing and is overpriced. Marvin is a good brand but are also expensive because of the name. Never heard of Alside but they might be a regional company. I purchased ProVia brand mid-level windows and a front door and they are very good. I never heard of them until I started researching. They turned out to be a well-known brand.

[ETK517]

If Alside had engineered a way to make good quality windows for less than half the cost of Marvin and other popular brands, wouldn't they be the biggest window brand on the market?

[bombcar]

If Alside had engineered a way to make good quality windows for less than half the cost of Marvin and other popular brands, wouldn't they be the biggest window brand on the market?

No, because making windows is the easy part. Selling them is the hard part.

Especially remodel windows. You can make a perfect product, but nobody knows you because the only people who WOULD know you are builders, unless you have a marketing budget big enough that random investors on a forum know your name.

You probably don't know the name of the concrete company that poured your foundation, because concrete is local. And you likely don't know the name of the lumber supplier, because you don't buy it. It's the builder.

Windows, doors, fixtures, and appliances, those market because they can get value from having the end customer recognize their name.

You're not going to go wrong choosing a national well-known brand, but you're probably not getting the best bang for your buck.

[mkc]

What level windows are the Anderson (Silverline, 100, 200, 400, etc.) and Marvin you're looking at? Are they also the same construction, glazing, U-factor, DP, etc.? You want to make sure you're comparing similar lines.

There are a lot of window manufacturers that are regional (unlike Anderson, Marvin, Pella, Milgard) so there might not be a lot of "press" or advertising for them.

[bbqguru]

Windows are going to be like HVAC companies. They have efficiency/construction standards from Energy Star that they're going to meet. After that, it's all going to be in the quality of the installation.

When we built our first house and remodeled our second, we got trapped in the window rabbit hole. We've used both Pella and Marvin because they had some sizes/features that we wanted that other's didn't. (Mainly fiberglass vs. vinyl or wood).

Window companies tend to be regional, with only a few national players. Our builder uses a company that's well known in our state and the surrounding parts of others, but get more than 500 miles away and you're going to get blank looks when you ask about them.

[DarkHelmetII]

What level windows are the Anderson (Silverline, 100, 200, 400, etc.) and Marvin you're looking at? Are they also the same construction, glazing, U-factor, DP, etc.? You want to make sure you're comparing similar lines.

Great point. Anderson 100 coming in at low $30s and Renewal by Anderson $50k. The price differential is so extreme unless Alside is a complete scam or POS I couldn't justify 2-3x price.

[vinhodoporto]

Alside is a nationwide brand. They’ve been around a long time. They don’t do much marketing so they are less known to consumers than some others like Anderson. From what I have heard they also have a good warranty, but I have no first hand knowledge.

[lazydavid]

We put Alside windows and patio door in our first house 20 years ago. Not one issue while we lived there, and on the occasion that we drive by there (it's nearby) they still look great.

We liked them well enough that we put Alside windows in our current house 7 years ago. Our installer was a reseller of both Alside and Pella, but as you found, Pella was dramatically more expensive. He did put in a Pella patio door for us though.

[Jack FFR1846]

We had windows done a year ago. Priced by Anderson, Rite Window, Pella. Involved building a 2 foot wall and then 6 large windows. All these 3 came in at $40k. Anderson was the biggest hard sell with discount on top of discount ONLY if you sign TODAY. We contacted our contractor who had done other work for us and he came and looked, analyzed and figured out that the roof outside needed to be reconstructed as it was too flat, thus encouraging water infusion. We hired him and he did the complete job including painting that wall, reconstructing the roof and replacing cedar shingles on the wall as needed. $27,000.

The difference as we saw it was that the salesman built companies were looking to figure out how they could fit their cookie cutter designs into our need which required some custom work, so to speak.

Find a "real" contractor. They can buy Anderson windows at Home Depot and put them in. They order them just like Anderson orders them. If they come across an issue, like rot or other damage, they'll be able to fix it. I would be concerned with a window installer that they'd just install the windows over the problems, wipe their hands and walk away, taking away the big check and giving the salesman his 25% commission.

[lthenderson]

I just can't wrap my head around the price differential. I could buy these windows twice over and still come ahead - so even if they are somewhat inferior (which is a maybe) to some other options could it really be that much worse?

I bought some cheap vinyl windows for a greenhouse I built two years ago. In those two years, all the lock mechanisms have become hard to operate and one has broken, the lower sashes take two times the force to lift as they did when new. I’m not disappointed as I got what I paid for and they still function but I certainly wouldn’t want those same windows in my house for the rest of my occupancy.

P.S. Reviews on items that should last decades are worthless as most people leave reviews within a day or two of receiving. By the time problems start occurring years from now, reviews aren’t on their minds.

[bogles the mind]

Andersen is a name. Quality is questionable. I built my house in the early 90s and all my Andersen windows had defective glass. No recall was issued. I stumbled upon the problem and the company gave me 2 choices, they would send a guy out to drill them at no charge or supply replacement sashes but I would have to install them. Turns out the drilling only fixes the problem temporarily, it comes back(google collapsed glass). I also had a expensive storm door made obsolite because replacement parts were discontinued after 10 years. A perfectly good door made useless because a roll up screen could not be replaced. Luckily I was able to rig a replacement screen myself. I would consider the off name local company, just ask for references. I have installed a good number of replacement windows and found them very good. I can't say how well they stood up after a number of years but at the time they were about $100 a window.(pre covid).

[nisiprius]

Since someone mentioned the problem of online reviews always referring to recently-installed windows, in our previous house, we used a local contractor and went with the windows they offered. A few years later we used a different contractor and their windows. Both SO long ago I don't remember the date, but over 30 years. One batch was Harvey, one batch was Marvin. About eight of each. They all seemed to be in OK shape when we sold our house two years ago. Just checked with my spouse: she doesn't remember the brand, she said that two of them opened and closed OK but could no longer be tilted because some plastic tabs had broken.

So our experience is that ordinary midrange vinyl windows looked like they were OK after 30 years.

I never heard of Alside, but here's a list of window manufacturers, grouped by company size. I see Andersen, Marvin, Pella in the "over $1 billion" list, Alside and Harvey in the "$300-$500 million" list, so Alside isn't a tiny company.

If you are replacing old wooden storm windows with cords and sash weights, believe me the difference between them and vinyl will be spectacular.

[Believeland]

I had the top of the line Alside model windows installed with full glass warranty back in 2010. 19 windows for about $7500 installed.
The price differentials you note are about the same as I recall back at my install time also. I went thru the why issues you mention
too and ended up choosing Alside. At the time there was an energy tax credit that was due to expire that year. I've also thought that
in retrospect the timing might not have been the best as all the window companies were banging out windows with the tax expiration
and I think the quality suffered some.

In respect to the windows still look nice and aren't falling apart. That said were not real heavy users opening and shutting the
windows to let air in due to allergy issues. Some of the windows operationally seem to have marginal quality. Leaning windows in,
locking, tight opening, catches, handles, etc. Not sure if that is related to the timing of the purchase as mentioned. I guess if I
was a heavy user of the windows I'd probably get them out to fix this under the lifetime warranty so that's on me. I also don't find these
windows as quiet to outside noise compared to other houses I've been in with different windows, but not terrible. I think I got a good install.
Home energy study didn't find bad leakage thru window or surrounding area. Draft wise it does feel cool around the windows in the winter.
I've been told by a friend/contractor (didn't do install) our interior shutters can act to trap the cold air inside.

Hope this helps you. Don't really regret buying them. Price and the rebate made it pretty cheap. If I was doing again I'd might consider
Marvin. Anderson just way too expensive vs relative quality.

[PottedPlant]

You may want to consider windows with self-cleaning glass.

[windaar]

Our contractor years back warned that the business model of many window companies is making money through financing, not offering a quality product. So continue to do your research!

[rufflesinc]

Andersen is a name. Quality is questionable. I built my house in the early 90s and all my Andersen windows had defective glass. No recall was issued. I stumbled upon the problem and the company gave me 2 choices, they would send a guy out to drill them at no charge or supply replacement sashes but I would have to install them. Turns out the drilling only fixes the problem temporarily, it comes back(google collapsed glass).

If they were under warranty that is absolutely terrible for a supposed top line company to take. Making the customer install the sashes, one might say that bogles the mind

I had windows put in a rental by home depot in 2012. In 2019, when house was vacant, two windows were broken by burglars . Home depot replaced the sashes for free, Including coming out and installing them.

So I don't really understand, was Anderson going to have a truck come and deliver the sashes... and just drop them?

[finite_difference]

We are happy with our mid-grade vinyl windows. I think they are Simonton.

[bogles the mind]

Andersen is a name. Quality is questionable. I built my house in the early 90s and all my Andersen windows had defective glass. No recall was issued. I stumbled upon the problem and the company gave me 2 choices, they would send a guy out to drill them at no charge or supply replacement sashes but I would have to install them. Turns out the drilling only fixes the problem temporarily, it comes back(google collapsed glass).

If they were under warranty that is absolutely terrible for a supposed top line company to take. Making the customer install the sashes, one might say that bogles the mind

I had windows put in a rental by home depot in 2012. In 2019, when house was vacant, two windows were broken by burglars . Home depot replaced the sashes for free, Including coming out and installing them.

So I don't really understand, was Anderson going to have a truck come and deliver the sashes... and just drop them?

They ship FedEx. FedEx broke about one third of them. Andersen reshipped them without question, sometimes 3 times. One large one was broken numerous times until they finally trucked it to me. The guy Andersen sent out to look at my windows told me how to drill them so I opted for sash replacements and I drilled mine myself and kept the replacements for the future. The drilling process lasted about 10 years but the condition that allowed the gas to escape from between the panes still existed so after a while the glass would collapsed again. The people that chose that remedy all got screwed because by the time they collapsed again they were out of warranty. Also, only original owners were covered.