A warranty is not something that a lot of people spend much time thinking about. Maybe they will when it comes time to buy a new car or a major appliance, but even then, they likely won’t devote too much of their time reading over the terms or really trying to understand what the warranty covers and what it doesn’t. As a result, people rarely make purchasing decisions based on the product’s warranty.
When it comes to deciding which windows to buy for your San Diego home, however, you should definitely take the window warranty into consideration.
Contrary to their appearance at first glance, windows have a lot of parts to them—not just the frame and the glass. This means that there are more than just one or two things that go wrong with any given window. Within the frame, you often have two panes of glass. In between these two panes is a spacer. There might also be a special type of gas (typically Argon) tightly sealed in between the panes of glass. Then you have the window hardware and the screens. A window warranty will cover most of these elements to varying degrees.
Some window warranties will only cover windows for a few years, while others will cover the windows you purchase for as long as you own and live in your home. Typically, higher quality windows will come with longer warranties, such as a lifetime warranty, or even a double lifetime warranty. (A double lifetime warranty is one you can transfer to the next owner of your home.)
When deciding between window brands, you should definitely take the warranty into consideration. Here are some questions you ask about the warranty:
- What is the warranty period?
- What is included in the warranty? (Does it cover broken glass? Screens? Hardware? Specialty glass?)
- What voids the warranty? (Some examples include improper installation, failure to keep windows maintained, living too close to the ocean.)
You’ll also want to look into the window manufacturer’s reputation for honoring their warranties. This will involve doing a little bit of online research. You’ll want to find customer reviews and see what they say about how the manufacturer handles warranty claims. In the worst cases, a manufacturer will outright deny many claims. In other cases, the manufacturer will take weeks, or even months, to take care of the warranty issue, leaving homeowners with broken or defective windows in the meantime. Other window manufacturers are great about honoring their warranties and completing repairs in a timely manner.
Michal Bohm, who sells windows in San Diego, had this to say:
There are a few manufacturers that are really good about honoring their warranties, and many that aren’t. Both Anlin and Monte Verde have been really great to our customers when they have issues. They will repair or replace any defective windows in a timely manner—even if the issue shows up many years after the windows were installed. Our replacement window company has been selling Anlin and Monte Verde windows in San Diego for a long time and we’ve been very impressed with their level of service.”
