I like the Sunrise product, but $450 per window disqulifies that choice for me. Is this a reputable company with a showroom, employees, etc? If so, the cost + overhead exceeds that price and is not a sustainable business model. If not, I would not trust a company that is not established with a physical location, etc with such a large investment.
On the remaining choices, I also have concerns with the Vytex warranty. Okna looks like the obvious choice. Price is solid too.

Agree, 450 for sunrise, how in the world is he making money. The okna is the obvious choice.

Thank you for the feedback. The company with the Sunrise estimate does seem too good to be true but they're highly reviewed on Angie's List and Yelp and they have been around for decades.

If the installations were equal in their quality would you still go with the Okna 500s over the Sunrise even if they were $200 more per window?

This post was edited by Actaeon on Thu, Jun 12, 14 at 16:05

As a person that is in the business, I don't know how $450 for a well installed Sunrise window is sustainable.

Is that job profitable when you pull out of the driveway...most likely as I am sure they aren't doing it for the fun of it.

My problem, is how do you expect to possibly service that window after the fact?

There were two companies of notable size in my area that recently closed their doors for reasons unknown to me, but both used to come in around that price point.

That all being said, we have gotten numerous service call requests to come out and fix their installs in that same time frame.

This post was edited by windowsonwashington on Thu, Jun 12, 14 at 19:17

Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but I read references to concerns about the Vytex warranty. Can anyone expand on those concerns? I am considering the Vytex Fortis and not sure what I'm missing about their warranty.

Based on my research most of them seem to be centered around Vytex denying warranty claims after the purchase.
It also looks like they only offer a 10 year glass warranty which is the worst I've seen among the "better" vinyl window choices.
A simple web search will turn up most of this info.

I can't speak to Vytex denying claims - I have to look into that more. However, from what I read on the warranty itself, glass breakage is covered for life for residential. There is a 10 year limit on glass breakage for laminated and tempered glass, but I am only replacing windows so this should not apply to me.

I included a link to Vytex's warranty on their website. Maybe one of you who have seen more window warranties than I can decipher if I am missing something. Thank you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vytex Warranty

Every company had some sort of warranty issue but this doesnt seem to be something on going with vytex. You also never know what the true circumstances were, could of just been a few unreasonable home owners. Looking at the warranty, it seems to be life time and up to speed with other warranties you would expect from a higher end window company.
Looking at your sunrise quote, it seems suspect. That is a much lower price than the norm around here and begs the question; how can they even make a profit at that price point?

Yeah, based on what I have learned here I have it narrowed down to the Fortis R6 package or the Okna quote I have received. The R6 and the 1800 Okna seem to be the closest match performance wise, however there is about a $2400 premium on the Okna. I'm trying to narrow down my decision (the Okna 1800 triple pane discount appears to be ending this week) and I'm trying to decide which way to go. If there were warranty issues with Vytex, it might push me to the Okna.

Besides price, the only other major difference (if manufacturer warranty is basically the same) is that the Fortis installer warranties labor for 10 years, the Okna installer for life. Again, not sure if that is worth $2400...

we offer a 2 year labor warranty. truth is, if a window isnt adequately installed, you will know within 6 months. it will not take years for an install issue to rear its ugly head. there is no difference beteen a 2 year labor warranty and a life time.
warranty on a product is more important.

Looks like Vytex was warned by the FTC about some potentially misleading claims as well.
The warranty itself reads soundly, however, it is the complaints about difficulty in getting those claims honored that caught my eye. Looks like bbb and other reputable sites, but I can't comment on specifics further than that.
Just too small and regional for my taste, the other items not withstanding.

Here is a link that might be useful: vytex warned by FTC

The ftc letter vytex received is very common in our industry when it comes to energy savings, its impossible to quantify. i really would'nt base a decision on a warning letter regarding advertising. That letter is insignificant and not a reflection of the manufacturer or product quality in my opinion.
Plenty of other companies actually paid fines for more significant infractions.
I dont believe vytex ever had to pay an actual fine.

I agree that a decision should not be based on that alone, however it is what it is, and should not be completely discounted.
There are only a handful (no more than a dozen on the list that I saw) of the hundreds if not thousands of companies nationwide that were singled out by the FTC. The actions must be pretty egregious to warrant such a response, and it raises an eyebrow at the very least. I believe that several of the other companies on that list are now out of business.
Often times there may not be one big hairy issue that indicates the way a company does business, but an array of smaller things that can fly under the radar can often establish a pattern.
Take it for what it's worth.

Karate guy, their warning letter telling them to ease up on the energy saving claims was just that, a letter and nothing more,
There are some companies that were actually guilty of some real nefarious practices . know what i mean????

Jjdidod,