Andersen windows

Greetings,

I am in the works with my sun room and we were considering replacing all windows and doors. We had one guy come over to measure and give us an estimate. He said that the windows we have now are Andersen and it is no more than 5 years old. They are sliding windows and most of the times are had to open. Well, after looking at the costs and with this new information we are considering just during some work on our windows and replace just the doors which is a piece of junk.

The question is: how hard is it to work on those windows? I would like to have them open/close more smoothly and also take a closer look on the weatherstrips for replacement. Also, does anyone know I can find out which model the windows are? There are some info printed between the panels, but it means nothing to me. In one of them, for all what I can tell, it read: A27689X27B1. I am not completely sure if the number is correct....

Thanks for your help. Be well

Miriam

Hello Mariam:
You could contact the local lumber yard that deals in Andersen products. They will get a factory representative on it pronto.
Glenn

Andersen does a very good job of standing behind their products so contact them before you do anything else.
AndersenWindows.com | Window Manufactuerer's Contact Information

Thanks Glenn and jdougn. I did call Andersen and gave the info on 2 of my windows, out of 4. The lady spoke to said that those are no Andersen windows. Oh well, now I do not know what to think about it. In any event, we are probably going to try to work on them regardless and replace the tracks and weatherstrip. Once the weather gets better we will remove each sash to clean and work on them. Any ideas as for where I can find tracks to match the current? Also, any suggestions on where to look to find guidance and help on reconditioning windows?

Thanks. Be well

Miriam

Miriam, if these windows are indeed only 5 years old then I'm not sure they're worth spending much time or money on just to get them to last another 5 years. If the sunroom was a package deal then these windows would've come with the sunroom.

Most window hardware is unique to the specific manufacture so you need to figure out where these windows came from. You will have to do a lot of detective work. Andersen windows are usually easy to identify but many other brands are not. Here's some suggestions (in no particular order):

- Check for brand names on all the window & door hardware.

- Is the sunroom a package and is there any branding on the sunroom in general? If so, call around to sunroom installers to see if they recognize the brands or windows & doors.

- Double check the information on the windows.
- Andersen etches their name on the glass in the bottom corner of each sash. They are only manufacturer I know of that does this.
- Look on the strip that seperates the two panes of glass to see in there is a manufacturer name or addtional coding.
- Also, look on the top and bottom of the sash to see if there is information there.

If all else fails, get additional quotes on replacing the windows & doors. Also, if you are very handy you could do the job yourself. At least get pricing on the windows & doors from a local supplier such as Lowes or Home Depot. They may also have literature on replacing doors & windows that will help you determine if this is something you can do.

hth, Doug

Thanks Doug. I did remove 2 sashes and could not find any info on who made those. The "serial" number between the panels lead me nowhere, so I am empty handed.

It is hard to say who or when the sunroom was made, so I guess I will just leave that alone for now. The window quotes I got are above our budget, so hence the idea of reconditioning them. Yesterday I worked on the 2 removed sashes (since the weather was nice) and figure it will not be that bad to have them all worked on. It will be way cheaper at this point and still effective. The door, however, we have no choice but replace. It is a piece of junk and I would not spend any time on it.

Some of the cheaper windows we saw had such a higher U-factor that would be a complete waste of money. Once we are done working on the existing windows we may make some inserts to use during the winter.

Thanks. Be well

Miriam