Do you know if Pella has re-designed their windows and fixed the problems? My contractor wants us to go with Pella. I'm sure because he gets them for a good price but definitely concerned about the history of leaks and shoddy manufacturing.

Nadia,I do not know the answer to that question. Further, it assumes the allegations against Pella are true. I pointed out earlier that at this stage in the litigation these are just allegations. It is up to you to find out for yourself whether there is any truth to the allegations.

If I were buying windows from a manufacturer, I might find it relevant to my decision that there are pending lawsuits against that company. In this instance, the court said Pella had suits pending in NY, PA, LA, NV, IL, OR and another "four related" lawsuits in AL, MN, MS, and WA.

This forum helped a lot in opening my eyes to information when I was doing my inquiries into buying windows. I hope I am doing the same by passing on this information.

You ultimately must decide how to use the information or whether you chose to use it all.

If you are interested, the case citation is 2014 WL 576099 (WL is short for Westlaw, a paid legal subscription site). The case is titled: IN RE: PELLA CORPORATION ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER SERIES WINDOWS MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION. I've also attached the link to the opinion, which is on the non-paid US Court website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pella Court Decision

This post was edited by ode4minerva on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 21:10

Thanks Ode!

All I know is that I live in a home with Pella Prolines from the 90's and they behave exactly as all the lawsuits have alleged. Rotting and leaking, failures. On some of the windows, the rot is so bad you can literally put your finger through the mushy frame. I was told that if I participated in the class action suit, all I would get--besides a burden of paperwork--was a discount on more Pellas. The last thing I want in my house is more Pella windows.

I have been slowly replacing the Pellas as I can afford it. I started with the Pella sliding glass door (the worst offender in the house! what idiot at Pella designed that thing?) which cost several thousand to replace with a Marvin Ultimate sliding glass door (my HOA requires wood-clad, and I decided to get the best). Then I replaced 5 bedroom casement windows last fall with Marvin Ultimates - just in time thank goodness for this past extreme winter. The bedroom comfort was like night and day to what it was before, even with record-breaking polar-vortex minus-20 degree temps. And next week I replace my kitchen's Pellas! Yay! The ice dams on the inside of the Pella kitchen windows this past winter had to be seen to be believed. I wish I could afford to do the whole house, but I have to do it room by room. I just keep saving every 6 months or so until I can afford to do another room and get rid of those horrendous Pellas. My windows contractor is very patient and understanding,

This post was edited by Mrs_Nyefnyef on Fri, Jun 6, 14 at 20:55

Mfn in San Franciso,
You raise an issue not addressed in the court's opinion: do the alleged defective windows share a common manufacturing date? So, were the allegedly defective windows made, say, for example, between 2006-2008?

Assuming there is merit to the allegations in the complaint, Pella will want to show that the time period involved in manufacturing these windows were quite narrow. Otherwise, this could become costly from a settlement standpoint and a nightmare from a public relation standpoint.

I'm certain Pella is taking these suits seriously since it likely does not want any further tarnishing of the brand in light of the class action lawsuits filed over the Proline window series.

I moved into a house with all Pella Designer windows and doors last Aug. Later I found the windows in master bed were seriously rotted and leaking. I had to use silicone caulk to seal the outside here and there to prevent further leaking damage before I could replace them. In one big arch window I found Pella's seal between glass and aluminum clad was really a joke in term of engineering design. No wonder it's so easy to leak and then cause internal wood to rot.
Now I have decided to replace them all with Milgard Essence, which I found to be a really excellent fiberglass product with wood inside. Marvin's Ultimate/Integrity are also great but in my opinion Milgard Essence is better in combining fiberglass and wood, and in the availability of customized size opions. Integrity is pretty limited in size and the Marvin dealer had to use another company to offer the big arch window for me.

I was hoping to find that others had the same problem I am having with my 2001 Pella Architect Series French Doors. I've posted here under "Pella Design Flaw" if anyone cares to read further. We spent $42K for our 14 French doors (and casement windows). No troubles with the casements so far, but there is peculiar weather stripping on the French Doors; a portion of the weather stripping is *exterior* and is rotting.

I'd like to know when Pella stopped using this kind of weather stripping, and if it was due to complaints. (Their current French Doors have no portion of the weather stripping exposed.)

Pella quotes me $83 per door for replacement weather stripping -- plus labor.

Does anyone know the current status of this lawsuit? All of the Pella Architect series windows installed in our new home in 2010 are seriously defective...frost forms on the inside of the windows and the leakage has damaged the trim. All must be replaced. Pella claims no liability.

Don't hold your breathe. I have not heard one iota of Pella losing or paying anything out.

Not to beat a dead horse but my designer series casements suddenly revealed to be basically powdered. Sawdust.