Loewen price quote

17 years ago

I would like to thank everyone for all the information I have already gleaned from the site. My wife and I are building a small house. Our longterm plan is to have a large house and a guest house on a 8 ac property we recently bought. We plan to build the guest house first live in it for several years and then tackle the larger one. Our architect is finishing the blueprints but the floorplans are complete and we are starting to get bids for the house. We just got back our first window bid from Loewen. I knew they were going to be expensive but I was a little shocked. We have a total of 22 windows and the bid came in at about $21,000. There were a couple of mistakes on the bid but I think adjusting for the corrections it will be 21k +- 500. None of the windows are huge, but 4 of them are eyebrow(curved) tops. This feature seems to more than triple the flat top window cost.

I was wondering if I can expect a significant price drop if I go with a different manufacturer but still have aluminum cladding outside, wood interior, and double pane. The most expensive window is a 40 by 48 french casement(needed this for egress codes) in upstairs bedroom that is $2941.50 ouch..

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Comments (11)

lakedog
17 years ago
Keith,
Yes, you can find less costly windows than Loewen, BUT staying with Loewen will have its rewards. I just installed 11 Loewen units in my home ($28,000 + labor) and I'm very satisfied. You don't mention the type of glazing you are buying, but this has a huge impact on price. We used the SmartGlass 3 triple glazing with 2 coats of Low E, everything was tempered glass.

Immediately, we experienced a reduction in heat gain and the windows are so quiet you can hardly hear any exterior noise. I shopped around and had other prices between $15,000 and $140,000. (Yes $140K, don't ask). I've been a contractor for over 35 years and this is the first time I used Loewen, it's a very impressive product and is well worth a few extra dollars. They are very quality oriented at the plant, the packaging, cleanliness, hardware and everything they do is first class. Quality isn't for everybody, but if it's for you, buy Loewen.
Michael
17 years ago
That's a fair price! There really is no other wood window to compare it to. They exceed all expectations of a wood window. Their glazing systems are tough to beat.

Study the entire window and you'll understand why it's worth the investment.

The big name competition can't come close!

Michael
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sandyponder, thanks for the details. That is a good deal, to be *sure*! I went to the local Sierra Pacific rep on Wednesday; he took all the specs and told me he'd e-mail me with a quote for pretty much what you got except brown on the outside. He has never written me back. Maybe time to call him. Where do you find auctions that have those kinds of things??? Do you go to them often? People find the most amazing things at auctions. I can tell you that reclaimed probably old-growth DF flooring goes for *quite reasonable* prices out here...no more than any other wood, and less than some...we're in the PNW, though. Now that you've told me the price, I'm going to bug the SP guy...maybe he thought I wasn't serious or was just blowing me since we're just buying one door? I don't know...but that's at least $1K less than other similar doors. Hard to resist. If I can just get him to offer it to me LOL
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No, actually I was having a bit of fun with your post while at the same time making a serious point. Sorry if you took it the wrong way. Loewen is a top quality window and if you have read these and other forums for a while, they are littered with people who start out with "I thought we were getting a good deal" or " it seemed the 2 were comparable, boy were we wrong". You are talking Douglas Fir on the Loewen compared to pine with many other windows. Since you failed to mention what price you have gotten, it's a little hard to discern what you consider a better price. The only other window I would consider would be Marvin but don't expect to get them cheap either. Have you tried the dealer locator on Loewens website? Repeating my other suggestion, can't you make cuts in some other area of your project so you can afford to put a better window in? Perhaps use carpet in some of the rooms instead of hardwood floors and then replace the carpet later or something similar? You will always regret putting in a window that isn't what you really want and MAY join the chorus of unhappy Pella and Andesen buyers. Ask yourself which you will care more about in 5 years, the money you saved or that you got the right window? I'd look at Marvin and Loewen and then decide between the two. Here is a link that might be useful: Loewen
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Don't necessarily want to get into technical detail "debate" but Loewen claims to use Coastal Douglas Fir. The April 2010 Forest Service labs Woodhandbook (http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fpl_gtr190.pdf) does NOT test vertical grain DF as a category; Loewen website simply cites the handbook findings and seems to be in ballpark of accurate in claiming that their DF has better performance characteristics to Ponderosa Pine IF I am understanding things correctly. While I am interested in performance numbers and especially glazing performance, I am equally interested in forum "expert" opinions on functionality, customer experience, warranty service, etc. Thanks for any other input. And yes I will seek out looking at more things live, but while that is what I see and touch, it is what is under the hood that probably will have greatest influence on long term satisfaction. Added via edit, and in case like me you need a resource that describes in plain English what some of the measurements mean and in what circumstances they might be important you might find this page valuable the table on that page(http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow/Design/Nature_of_Wood/3_Wood_Strength/3_Wood_Strength.htm) also supports claim that DF is stronger than PP.
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kavo
17 years ago
A cautionary note...we are having a major problem with some of Loewen windows just installed on a new addition to our house. The service from Loewen has been terrible and their rep is unresponsive.
pnwarchitect
17 years ago
Kavo:

I'm not surprised. Loewen has been going downhill since it (over)expanded a few years ago. Sales have become more important than quality. I think that attitude will catch up with Loewen soon, I've heard many negative stories about Loewen from builders and other architects recently.

What type of Loewen windows did you install in your home? Some are better than others.
ekoreilly
17 years ago
How Funny, I am composing a list of windows that can help reduce my teraffice noise I hear from the Thruway (1/3 mile away, don't ask) and Loewen is one of these windows. I am also considering Weathershields new Zo-E triple paned windows and possibly Pella Desingner. I wanted to use Milgard BUT nobody in New York services them. I do have a Loewen rep that lives about 5 miles awya and have to return his call.

Anyone have an idea on how much a triple paned DH 3x5 window would be, round about; "We used the SmartGlass 3 triple glazing with 2 coats of Low E)

I heard Marvins are quiet too?
tvalenti
17 years ago
We are also looking into high STC windows. For Loewen 35.25"x53" double hung with tranquilty glazing came to be 1120 each (not with install). Eagle came in about 20% less (with install).
ekoreilly
17 years ago
Loewen, $1120, HOLY !!!! Did I hear that Loewen Requires their reps to do the install?

Does Eagle offer hight STC? Not on my list, but I do have a local dealer , actually just 4 miles away. I have heard they are comparable to Marvin in terms of quality.

$1120, OMG. My wife would kill me if I spent that much. I wonder how much their triple glaze is.
tvalenti
17 years ago
The price (which was the best Loewen quote of 3) was from the Loewen distributor. They have a seperate contractor he recommended but we did not need to use. The install without the contractor coming to the house to give an actual quote was quoted on the phone as up to $450 per window. So as you can see the prices were getting a little high.

Eagle offers a laminated glass which matched Loewens STC rateing. Eagle also offered the high STC glass in double hungs where Loewen only did it in casements. I can see how casements would be better for sound but it is nice to have the option. My Eagle quote (includeing install, tax, etc) was about 5900 for 6 windows (two the size mentioned and 4 a little taller).

I have not tried these yet - has anyone tried the laminated (high STC glass)? We are probably going to purchase in the next few weeks.
ekoreilly
17 years ago
Wow, my contractor only charges $150/per to install windows. On Mondya I will have to get to the Eagle place and pick their brains.
tvalenti
17 years ago
Just wondering if you had a chance to go to your eagle rep. Find out anything new/different. We are trying to purchase soon.
shaqd
15 years ago
Loewen arch and radius top stuff is expensive. Very expensive. It's difficult to bend wood like that and make it all work. Only true craftsman should try such a thing.

Loewen price quote

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lakedog

Michael

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