[MassHistPres] Fibrex/Renewal Windows

[jade]

not long ago, i had a repair person in my home to repair 28 of my anderson windows...fortunately, the attorneys at anderson understood that it would be better to make these repairs at no charge to the homeowner rather than deal with class action suits and bad publicity...my windows are 17 years old....of the top three or four manufacturers--jenweld, marvin, pella and anderson, i would rate anderson the higest--perhaps a D+...

read the small print in the '20 year warranty'...it typically covers faulty manufacturing in the first year...after that you may be offered replacement parts at no cost but must absorb the cost of labor...after the 10 year mark, you may be required to pay 50% of parts cost and 100% labor costs...

the best way to care for your home is to maintain your existing windows, after all they have survived 50,100 or 150 years of weather and all manner of abuse...they are, in reality, irreplaceable....i agree that adding a storm window will protect your primary window's exterior and offer a means of better efficiency...

no plastic window will ever hold a candle to an old mortise and tenon wood window....

please feel free to copy and handout the New England Window Restoration Alliance's 'Top Ten Reasons' put together by our own Alison Hardy of Window Woman of New England...
http://www.windowrestorationne.org/topten.pdf

here's another good one:  http://www.restoreomaha.com/resources/WindowEnergyAnalysis.pdf

argh, this is so funny (sad, really) and timely....i just got off the phone with a woman whose next door neighbor is an anderson salesman...he quoted her $17,000 INSTALLED to replace 54 wood windows that are original to the house..."don't worry about the old windows, we'll bring a dumpster and get them out of your way"....he touted the benefits of this new FIBREX material!!! kudos to her for  wanting to find a home for the windows rather than having them end up in a landfill...

call your friendly window restoration specialist today, you'll be happy you did!!!  historic commissions love us......

....jade
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Smiledge, Lynn W 
  To: MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu 
  Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:48 AM
  Subject: [MassHistPres] Fibrex/Renewal Windows


  Does anyone have experience with "Renewal" brand windows by Andersen? They're made of a plastic polymer/wood fill material called Fibrex; the salesperson claimed that the windows are gaining acceptance in historic districts. They are paintable and available with divided lights. The warranty is only 20 years, which should concern homeowners.

  Lynn Smiledge, Historic Planner
  Dept. of Economic & Community Development
  City of Methuen
  41 Pleasant Street, Suite 217
  Methuen, MA 01844
  (p) 978.983.8564
  (f) 978.983.8976
  Mon. through Thurs. 8:00 - 4:30 pm



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