Thanks WOW. Appreciate it. I did hear back from OKNA and there is no dealer in my area. I have an appt next week for the Soft Lite rep. Depending on the estimates that come in for the Imperial or Elements, I’m hoping I can decide on a SoftLite window and be confident in my choice of window manufacturer. I do so appreciate reading through all the previous posts and replies by you and others, to be better educated as I’m foraging through this unknown territory. Thanks again for commenting!

Its a bit overwhelming at first and especially so when there is so much...let's just call it manure...out there.

You are in the right spot and WAY ahead of the learning curve that most ever achieve. That that, you BS Sniffer...should be much more finely honed.

Post back with updates and any picture of your current set up will help us evaluate installation types and what not.

Feel free to ping me directly at our website and ask for Eric if you need too.

Cheers and have a great weekend.

The estimate I received for Soft-Lite Element is a good price I think. And I liked the window features a lot. $15,540 for 17 windows including replacing wood rot. Plus, I can replace 3+ windows at a time instead of all 17 at once with no increase in cost. Anyone have thoughts on that estimate? Thanks!

How about the company? Sounds like you are leaning in that direction and there aren't many windows that are performance equivalents to the Elements.

That price sounds very good for a window that is heads and shoulders above your other choices, not to mention potential install question marks from the others as well. Big blue and orange pay their installers a fraction of the market rate in my experience, and that other choice is not high on that scale from what I've heard either, nor am I a fan in any way of a business model that is predicated on quoting/selling projects site unseen. Assuming that this company is reputable ( I assume that they are as Softlite reserves the Elements for their best dealers), it sounds like you have a winner.

We just had all the Soft-Lite windows installed and I love how easy they are to open, and they definitely keep the heat out during our Kansas summer. But we are having an issue with closing the windows. It seems that the top sash drops a bit when the window is open, so when we close the window the latch isn't matching exactly for easy closure/locking. We have to raise the top sash a bit to get the latch to match with the lock in order to close and lock the window. That doesn't seem normal, shouldn't the upper sash stay in place, unless I physically lower it for cleaning? I've got a call into the installation company. We actually have to have two sashes be replaced on the kitchen window as the installer said it was too difficult to unlock the windows and open them, so I'm thinking there might be something not right with the other windows that are not able to be closed easier. Thanks for insight.

Does the top sash drop slightly only when you close the lower sash, or does it seem to drift down, as if the balance system (part the holds it up) may be undersized for the weight?

Did you opt for triple pane?

The balances are prescribed by the size and weight of the panel, they aren't "one size fits all". Its possible that yours are on the borderline from one size to the next and just need to jump up to the next size.

In the event that it only drops slightly when closing, then its probably the interlocks hitting a little bit. Either way, you did the right thing by contacting the installation company, they should be able to diagnose and correct it.

They are not triple pane. It doesn't appear to drift down...when I close the window, I have to use my left hand to raise the upper pane, and then use my right to press harder on the lower pane to get the latches to match to lock the window. I don't feel that the window should need that much work/maneuvering to get closed and locked. The installer said when they replace the two panes in the kitchen, they'll re-look at all the windows and see what the issue is. I wanted confirmation that this wasn't typical of the Soft-Lite windows. Thanks!

They shouldn't drift that much. How are you shutting them? If you come in "hot" on the shutting motion, the interlock can drag it down slightly.

I don't know if you've solved your window manufacturer issue yet, but we had all our windows replaced with Marvin windows. We did it one window at a time. We absolutely love them. We got the tilt-out double hung for ease of cleaning. We contacted a local lumber yard first, found the Marvin windows there, and proceeded to find a contractor for installation.