Are Andersen windows @ HomeDepot inferior quality?

[bebster]

A friend of mine said he had heard that Andersen windows & doors distributed by Home Depot are of lower quality than the standard Andersen product. Has anyone heard of this or experienced it?

 

[shvl73]

I think it depends on how you mean it. I don't think Home Depot specifically has inferior Andersen windows as compared to other dealers, if you mean made specific for H D. The Andersen 200 series is certainly nothing special. The 400 series is the line that has been made for years with minor changes & I feel a lot of other brands have surpassed them on features & overall quality. The new Woodwrights series is suypposed to be the top of the Andersen line & still seems a little cheap on the construction. One thing that Andersen usually does very well is back their product with no hassles on warranty issues.

 

[bebster]

Yes, I mean as compared to other dealers, is an "Andersen 200" window the same product? I realize that it's not the highest end window, but then again it's for a workshop. For example, HD quoted me a price of $168 for a 3' x 4' double hung window with low-E glass and divided lite grills. Seems like a fair price for a reasonable window for a utility structure. My highest priority is that the windows be energy efficient given the cost.

 

[OkeeDon]

I can't answer you about the windows, but I have some experience with product models at different box stores, because I sold the same products in my store. Take a Weber grill, for example. I sold the standard Weber Genesis. HD sold a slightly different model, Lowes's a bit different than that, Sears had a pin stripe no one else did, and Ace/True Value had some different colors. None of the model changes were earth-shaking. The grill I sold had porcelain coated steel grates; the HD model had uncoated cast iron grates. Mine had wood shelves with a fruitwood stain; theirs was a little cheaper wood with paint. Otherwise, the guts were identical.

Why do they do that? Because of their low price guarantee. They advertise, "Find the same model at a lower price, and we'll refund the difference plus 10%." Of course, you can't find the same model anywhere else -- the one they sell is slightly different.

Now, as I said, I don't know if that's the case with the windows. It's no longer the case with the Webers -- Weber finally tired of the game and started shipping the same grill everywhere. There was no real difference in quality, except possibly for the painted wood shelves.

 

[Junkman]

I don't believe that there is any difference between the Andersen product no matter where you purchase it. I would suggest that you shop around for the best price. I found that there is a whole lot of price differential on Andersen window products from one lumber yard to another, but in the end, they all purchase them from the same distributor.
As for service, Andersen has changed how they handle warranty service through the years. I have tri pane windows in my home and they have been failing for years. For a while, they were replacing them at no charge and with no hassle. After 15 years into the 20 year warranty, they started giving me a problem about getting replacements for about 3 years. They just ordered another 4 last month and they are in now. They replace Tri-Pane with High Performance Glass. So far, I have replaced about 75% of the glazing in the home due to seal failure. I believe that the Andersen Company is a good company, but they have gone through some tough management times in the past and now they are back on track of customer satisfaction.
Considering the overall cost of your building, I would spend the extra and purchase their top end window. Also, consider a awning window. You can leave it open and if it rains, it doesn't rain in if you are not there to close it.

 

[JimR]

I replaced almost every window in my house when I added on a second story edition and two story garage in 1993. All the glass is Anderson and came from HD. I have yet to have any problems in 11 years of service. I chose the low E glass also. There are 28 combination windows, an 8 foot slider, 12 foot double French door, two oval top windows, a 10 foot bow window and a triple opening window that is 5'x7'. I will reccommend these windows to anyone who asks. With weather changes from -20 in winter to close to 100 in central Ma. in the summer. These windows have performed extremely well. There have been no gas leaks or broken swing arms or any other problems.

 

[snmhanson]

We just built a house this last year and used all Anderson windows from Home Depot. We used a mixture of the 200 series for double hungs and 400 series for casements. All low-e insulated double pane. The 400 series is a step up from the 200 series quality wise but they are also more expensive. Visually I actually liked the 200 series better for the double hungs as there didn't seem to be as much vinyl visible on the inside. The one thing I did not like about the 200 series double hungs though is that all the windows are sized for 2x4 walls and for thicker walls you need to add an extension jamb. When you do this there is a seam where the window meets the extension jamb. To make matters worse, we had all of our extension jambs pre-stained by the company we got our trim from but the windows were hand stained. Even though it was the same stain, the windows ended up slightly darker in color than the extension jambs and doing it that way probably didn't save us much money anyway. In hindsight I should have realized that was going to happen but there was so much going on at the time I didn't even think about it. I still think the windows look superior to most vinyl windows I've seen.

It's too early to tell how the windows will hold up but they made it through a farily snowy and icy winter here in Washington state just fine. They also seem to be pretty efficient as far as the cold weather goes. I'll admit they aren't quite as nice as some of the other window brands but they are a heck of a lot cheaper and still nice windows in my opinion. From what I understand, part of the reason they are cheaper is because they offer them in limited sizes and with limited options. Of course they also use pine rather than fir or hemlock on all their windows and the hardware isn't necissarily top of the line (but I have no problems with it).

As far as Anderson customer service goes, I only had to talk to them once about a window that one of the subs chipped some of the exterior vinyl off. The sent me out a repair kit and a small pouch of paint free of charge. So far I'm very happy with them from the PR side of things. Oh yeah, I did have a question for them early on about installing the windows. I can't remember what the question was but they were helpful in that case also. The staff at Home Depot that I dealt with were fairly helpful and knowledgable about the windows. I think the millworks staff is often a little higher caliber than some of the other HD employees.

If we were building another house I would probably use Anderson windows again and would probably get them from HD again if they had the best price. I may do a few things different (stain the window, extension jamb and trim all together on-site and install the extension jambs before putting the window in) but the product was acceptable to me. If you decide to go with HD, talk to them about pricing and if they are having any sales coming up. For me their regular prices were comparable to eneryone else and then they had a sale so I got ten percent off which saved another $1,500. They always seem to be having some sort of sale. Also, I'm not sure if they are doing this right now but opening a Home Depot account if you don't already have one can sometimes get you ten percent off your total purchase the day you open it.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I could post some pictures of our windows if you wanted but most Home Depots have a few Anderson's on display. Good Luck!

Matt

 

[JDgreen227]

My father and I put in double-hung Anderson windows in our house back during 1976, these windows have a date stamped on them so I know they are close to 30 years old. One of the 18 is beginning to have a seal failure and three have sills that are starting to rot...for their age they have been great windows. When we built our addition in 2001 we went thru HD and bought Series 400 casements with Low-E glass, the quality is excellent and we have been very pleased with them.

We ordered the windows thru someone my wife's brothers has for a neighbor, he is in the door and window department of HD. Checked with him, and he said Anderson makes no lower quality windows for Home Depot or anyone else. We went with 2X4 construction in the addition partly because of the extension jamb issue, but to remodel part of the original house we had to use specially ordered 2X6 jambs for the one window we changed. I can't see any difference between the 2X4 and 2X6 jambs myself.

I'll concur with you about the millwork staff at HD being more informed and helpful than other employees, it was one reason we went there to get the $5000 window order we placed. The prices were pretty much the same everywhere, but we also got a discount of sorts by ordering there.

IMO, you can't go wrong with Anderson products.

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> Also, consider a awning window. You can leave it open and if it rains, it doesn't rain in if you are not there to close it.

</font>

Awning window? Junkman you really are showing your age. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Junkman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Awning window? Junkman you really are showing your age. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

I said awning not jalousie's!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif