American Craftsman Window and Door Company review: windows 23

We too had a custom window made for us at Home Depot by American Craftsmen. The window was delivered with caulking dripping down the tear drop. We were told that it would not interfer with the function of the window and it had a life time gaurantee. Two years later the window is fogging up and the black seal at the top is now dripping down. They say they will replace the glass, it will only cost $450.00 to replace it...HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT! WE ONLY PAID $400.00 FOR THE TEAR DROP TO START WITH...I hope anyone that is thinking about ordering windows from Home Depot or American Craftmen run the other way...and we are stock holders in Home Depot...This is not good... Linda Taber bobtaber@att.net

American Craftsman windows are just plain junk. We bought them at Home Depot. Within 5 years the plastic sash stops were all broken and the UV coating was peeling.
American Craftsman will not sell parts At All. And, if you don't have your original receipt or a label, which by the way, conveniently disintegrates after a year or two in the Florida Sun, you are out of luck
Lousy company, lousy product and lousy customer service.
Don't do business with Home Depot or American Craftsman.

i have 18 of 20 panes of glass where the seal is broken, American Craftsman states that since they were painted the warranty is voided but it does not say that in their warranty. I have tried over and over to get them to provide me a copy of the warranty from 2002 but i cant seem to get it, any help from anyone would be appreciated

I have 10 American Craftsman vinyl single hung windows with insulated glass that were installed during an add-on room in 2005. Several sashes have developed problems with their insulated glass panes such as cloudiness, streaking, etc. Fortunately, I do have good records where I bought them through Home Depot. I have previously replaced a couple of the operating lower sashes which is simple. But, I have not tackled the upper fixed sashes and do not care to try it myself.

Any advice how to approach American Craftsman Reps to get them to honor their "Lifetime Warranty?"

I admist, that they appear to be pretty poorly constructed, but considering the Energy Star tax credit this year (2010), they should just about be "free" for me, since I installed them myself, and I installed them inside of the existing exterior windows (which now act like storm windows), so I don't think I'll experience many of the problems other people have noted. The bottom line, Home Depot tends to sell "cheap" goods. I bought five drop-ceiling fluorescent light fixtures there, the kind with two U-shaped bulbs, and after about a year, 4/5 of the ballasts died. That was about two years ago, and I'm still trying to find replacement ballasts.

Wow! The local window installers have been lying up the ying-yang about the Energy Star credit. They have been telling people (I had two companies come to my house for estimates) that their installations qualify for the $1500 tax credit. Well, I finally went to the government site that explains the "credit", and you can only deduct 30% of up to $1500! (never trust any company involved with installation of anything made of vinyl ;) )

They definitely lead you to believe you will be able to write off $1500 of their total price! The 30% is only for the cost of the windows, not including installation! I was getting quotes of around $4000 for 5 window replacements (about $800 per window). The do-it-yourself installation I'm doing costs about $225 per window.

My bad. You can get up to $1500 credit (30% of the total window value), so you would have to have about $5000 in windows to receive the full $1500 back. (Looks like my installation isn't paying for itself, but is still a big savings off the pro installers)

Not really a complaint... yet.
I ordered the 9500-impact american craftsman window with low E and Argon for about $460 each for 2 windows. The home depot rep told me the exact same window cost more if you go through their installation services...in addition to the installation cost...I thought that was strange. In any event I plan to do the install myself and like another poster indicated I will install them inside of the existing windows so they will function like expensive internal storm windows...I have been warned that this type of install is a bad idea but no one is able to give me a good reason why other than it may invalidate the manufacturers warranty...and from the sound of it, the warranty is not worth the paper it is written on... Hopefully I will never have to test it to find out for myself.
Key1

For the most part, All of the complaints I hear here are do to Cheap People buying the cheapest product and then complaining that it is not the best. For what it is worth Premium Quality windows do not cost 450.00. I had windows installed in my rent home and used the American Craftsman PREMIUM window. It is a good window for the money. I also had it installed by Home Depot's Installation services. I paid around 800 a window. This included everything. Permits, fixing a couple pieces of wood and installing the window and had a great experience. I really wanted to have them install the other line of windows but they were more. If it would have been my home I would have installed the Simonton windows. The old saying is you got what you paid for.

Looking at some of these installing inside behind the original window ideas... well glass magnifys heat from the sun so if you have glass magnifying the heat on a new window it could cause damage... if you look at remodeling magazines cost vs value reports the average price of replacement windows in my area is 1000.00 per so when you buy a 300 window at home depot or anywhere for that matter you canle better understand what you are getting... Don't. Mess around with your most important investment protect your home with a quality product. Home depot installs Simonton with their at home services and backs them for a lifetime. American Craftmans warranty is on their website and I believe the waranty does state "unless altered" so don't paint your vinyl windows

It's quite simple really, read the warranty (which states labor is not included), keep your receipts/window label numbers (validation of the original purchase) and take some responsibility and make sure they're installed correctly. If the air is coming in around the frame of the window (not between the sash/frame but the frame and opening), durrrr it's an INSTALL problem. I don't care how much you pay for a window, if it's not installed right it will not protect your home. But as with most of society people have this sense of entitlement. I've done the whole "Not keeping good records" thing which bit me in the rear and taught me to do start doing it, but I didn't bash a company for not honoring a warranty that I never read, when I was asking for something it didn't cover, and couldn't prove what I bought to begin with...wake up 'murrica!

I installed American Craftsman casements in 2006. Recently 3 panes fogged from the gas leaking. I took my receipt to the Home Depot, he found the order in their system and called them. I picked up replacements in two weeks. No questions asked. Very easy I think they are better than the Andersen windows.

We built a new home in 2006 and we purchased 28, 000 worth of American Craftsman windows with a lifetime guarantee from Home Depot. Within a year they were fogging up and leaking. We had just the glass replaced three times. Home Depot sent out an Anderson rep. and he said there was a problem with the windows. Then Home Depot said they decided that the windows were all installed wrong and our warranty is void. They will not help one bit. Customer service at Home Depot is the worst and we went to corporate. So do not buy windows from Home Depot, they will not stand behind their warranty.

1) AC windows are cheap.

2) Cheap windows can perform OK with a good install.

3) When you factor in labor and inconvenience, cheap windows are not practical.

4) If you want to complain here, file a complaint with yourself for being cheap and ignorant.

DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY WINDOWS

I have installed two of these in my house. One is a cheap 70 series which I did 3 years ago...no issues at all to date. The other is a custom 8700 slider that I did 2 years ago...honestly I am impressed with how well that one performs. Total cost for both windows was less than 400 bucks and about 2 hours labor on each (taking my time, doing all the little things right, at my own pace). Both of these replaced windows that were totally shot and costing me a fortune in energy. I didn't have a lot of $ to spend so I went with the cheap fix. As far as I'm concerned I already got my money's worth. They're a reasonable stopgap, nothing more.

I purchased twelve windows from Home Depot in Sebring Florida. Several have cloudy panes and so I sent all of the requested information to the warranty department. I received a rejection stating that I didn't provide serial numbers for the windows. There aren't any serial numbers on the jambs or any other place on these windows. They will not accept the UPC codes on the original receipt. I filed a complaint with the federal consumer protect bureau and the Better Business Bureau. Still no response from any of them. I tried to talk to someone from the Home Depot corporate office and they are no help. The best we can do is post complaints about the business and the product.

PEFarhood: The Serial Numbers/Stickers were on the perimeter of the frame on mine if I recall correctly. I removed & saved them at installation. You might find them on the mating surface of the top sash. If not, chances are high that you'd have to completely remove the window to have any chance of finding them.

they stink

Please I need a contact. My window cracked due to cold weather ittied calling customer service and was on hold for an hour and a half to only have the system hang up on me

Do American craftsman windows have available storm windows?

I have five two panel slider white windows on my porch. two of the two pannel slider white windows are fogged in glass, These windows were originally purchased from Home Depot in Appleton WI. American Craftsman Windows ref# S0101 SKU 741-247 Two pannel slider white 48" W x59-3/4"H Low E glass. $222.30 each. Original order #1457005