Atrium's quality has maybe gotten worse. I like Simonton's 5500/9800/platinum line. Is Soft-Lite available ?

The building supply company does have Simonton windows - tks! I'll check in to them tomorrow.

I am in NW Washington and my builder also recommended Atrium. I am interested on what people have to say. He said they were a local company that has proven well in the price range for him over the years. I keep reading terrible things online but I do trust my builder and most of the reviews are not current. I am having him price out a Milgard package too. I haven't heard of Simonton.

Simonton is more popular in the midwest and east coast but are starting to gain more market share in the west. Good window. For the west coast the models are a little different. They have the 7300 "narrow frame" line and 7500 the "wider frame" line. Either one is good. Just gotta see which one is appropriate for your home. Any other lines by Simonton are ones that are exclusive to the big box stores (which I would avoid) or for the east coast.

MFatt16 - My builder too is stating that he has not had any problems with Atrium. I called the building supply company and told him of the not so good reviews. He said that they sell more Atrium windows than any other brand and have not had problems. He gave me his cell number and said that I could call him directly if I had any window problems and that he would personally come out and make it right. (I live in a small town. We all live within 10 miles of everything.) The Atrium windows are in my budget. We have a lot of windows so I have to trust the building company and my contractor. I will post more when the windows come in. Praying for the best as I know people would not make up the things I have read.

Give me an update with how they turn out. I hope they work well for you.

I have never been a fan of anything Atrium.

What about Milgard? GC says they are similar quality and that the Milgard are more. Its a custom so we can pick whatever we want but he felt we were paying more for a different name, not better windows. I have been working on doors so this window brand selection just hit me a few days ago. I have to do some more research to see what, besides Milgard, I want bid out.

From what I have been told Milgard's are not a bad product but as all some lines are better than others. I do not have personal experience as they were never available to the Long Island market.

Thanks for the input. I value so many opinions here, surprisingly moreso than my face to face GC. I don't know why but it just feels more legit.

*** Dam duplicate posts, must be the dam Grumpy Cat!!! ***

This post was edited by millworkman on Thu, Jul 25, 13 at 11:54

Not to fault your GC, but they take info they are given at face value quite often. The products may seem fine and solid to them but without knowing the nuts and bolts as well as performance values it is tough for them to tell. Plus they generally only deal with the product when it is new, bright and shiny and when the windows need repair work down the road they pawn it off on the distributor and really don't get involved. Here your dealing with the guys who sell and service the products on a daily basis and see the crap that is passed off as windows everyday.

You should prefer brand so that cheaters can not cheat you.

Of course they say " they never have problems with atrium"..i can guarantee that if you go to any one of those consumers on a very cold day, you will definitely feel cold air coming through that window. I also venture to guess most, if not all woukd say the atrium window looks very cheap.

I have read these forums and it seems like there are general conclusions about ALL of them. Just remember they are all tested by independent labs and are rated accordingly. General statements of Air coming through the window or Moisture on the glass in the winter are just thrown out there. Saying Cheap or anything of the sort just diarrhea of the mouth and have little no backing because everybody's experiences are different. There are so many levels of windows from each manufacture that it is impossible to throw out everything ANY manufacturer produces. Such a depressing blog. WAAAAY more people have positive responses about ALL the window manufacturers across the country.

Here is a link worth looking into. http://www.efficientwindows.org/

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.efficientwindows.org/

Makael - great website! Thanks! Lots and lots of information.

Makael,

While I appreciate your feedback and opinion on the matter, both Millworkman and Masterext have probably sold and serviced more windows than can be imagined.

They don't require my defense and don't take it as such but I am going to give you some of the rationale and reasoned observations that are the basis for their comments.

Builders and Building supply counter people are not going to have any real grasp of unit quality after they are done selling and delivering it. This is why the JD Power Rankings are also flawed when it comes to looking at window quality.

If there is an issue with the delivery (i.e. damage, options, etc.) or very early initial quality (i.e. seal failure), I am sure that they would be aware of that.

That being the case, the builder and supply houses would be able to intelligently comment on initial quality and support to resolve any issues.

Once the builder is 1 year removed and the Building Supply House net 30 removed, their breath of knowledge on the window and performance after the fact are limited if not non-existent.

Builders are looking for properness and basic functionality. Some of the energy savvy guys that are building super efficient structures are worried about air leakage and other items but they represent about 0.01% of the builder and home building personnel out there.

The quality after the fact that Masterext and Millworkman are talking is air tightness and structural performance.

None of that is identified or even quantified by the link you posted as they are focusing on more broad based information.

If you are ever around our area, I would be happy to show you some of the issues that we see with products that would commonly be referred to as quality after a couple of years. You would see that it is not just "diarrhea of the mouth" at that point.

BTW, I am not commenting on Atrium or the brand. My commentary is aimed at how we arrive at the opinions that we do.

Where are you located at?

Washington, DC.

The place where all you hard earned tax dollars get dispersed from.

Washington DC, hmmm Im in Washington State. I guess I wont be in the area. lol

I will start posting up some pictures one of these days for the future readers.

Given the relatively low opinion of Atrium windows around here, I'm curious if that refers mostly to the builder grade or lower line windows, or if it carries through to the higher end Atrium windows too.

We have a quote from a very good local installer to replace several of our windows with Atrium 9000 (same as 8900, but different region?) triple pane windows. They appear to be the top line of Atrium's replacement windows.

Even with a good installer (references from trusted sources) am I asking for trouble? Or does Atrium's quality improve in the better lines?

From my perspective the next quality product in any building product Atrium makes will be the first as I like nothing they sell.

Atrium is more geared to those who's primary concern is price not quality.
Vinyl is a great product as long as a high quality brand is chosen; as most pro's would agree, Atrium is not one of them.

Ouch. Ok. I was hoping that moving to one of the higher end lines within the brand would mean a corresponding increase in quality, even if the lower end lines were substandard.

Back to the drawing board. Thank you.

I chickened out and went with Milgard. We haven't gotten far enough to put them in but I am happy with our decision. I wouldn't want to second guess my choice all the time and even if I am just paying more for the name, it also came with a piece of mind. Hopefully I made the right choice and good luck with yours.

Milgard is a solid window so I wouldn't worry about that.

So its been months but as an update. I get to my build last night and they installed Atrium, their preferred brand. I flipped, the builder apparently never heard back from the Milgard rep and then sort of forgot. I am livid. On the other hand, my cousin bought a "green" home and I checked out her triple pane Atrium windows and they were quite nice, however, I do not have that line of Atrium so I am in a real pickle.

Do you have it in writing?

Nope. I totally dropped the ball on that. We had everything spec'd out but when I went back to the contract the windows are not specified. I am sick over how I missed that. I am trying to just embrace this and move forward as I am partially responsible. My new mantra is "make sure its in writing, make sure its in writing...."

I am sorry that you are having to deal with this.

Sounds like you know where it went off the tracks.

Hopefully these units will perform like your sisters.

Good luck with the rest of the construction.

We had several recommendations from builders to go with Atrium vinyl casement and picture windows. Several of our windows are 4'+ in height. They have never closed properly. An atrium service tech has visited 3 times to try to fix the issue, to no avail. The seal on 1 picture window had to be replaced year 2 as moisture is between the windowpanes. Quality is lacking.